STREET & NYE ADK 46'ers (The "Goodbye Beard" Hike)

I joined my hiking buddy Chris (FreezeFrame) for a hike up Street and Nye mountains in the Adirondacks. We met at exit 16 on I-87 and he drove us to the Adirondack Loj RD near Lake Placid. The views of the High Peaks were nice along the road as always...

We paid the $10 parking fee at the booth and parked. We took the trail to Mt. Jo and saw only a tiny bit of snow/ice in the pines. The views from Heart Lake were very nice. We could see snow on the higher mountains like Algonquin as well...

The trail turned into the Old Nye Ski Trail and then veered off onto the Street/Nye herdpath which was un marked but easy to follow. After some hiking we came to the crossing of Indian Pass Brook, we crossed easily as the water was low, and found the path on the other side. The trail crossed another small stream then headed up a stream drainage towards the ridge. We started to get some snow higher up. By the time we reached the ridge between the two mountains there was at least a foot of snow, but snowshoes were not necessary as the trail was solid. This is the tree that marks the intersection between the mountains...

We headed towards Nye first as that was much closer, there were some nice views towards the Macintyre Range along the way...

Within a few minutes we had reached the wooded summit. It was Chris's 1st Adirondack High Peak! We ate some lunch and enjoyed the warm spring weather. The summit is marked, as are most herdpath summits in the High Peaks, with a trail marker with the mountains name...

Although not the best for open views you can see quite a bit from the summit of Nye...

We chatted up a couple young guys who showed up on the summit as we were leaving and then headed through what seemed like a winter wonderland back to the trail junction and towards Street Mountain... 

This hike was longer but also had some views along the way...

Shortly after we reached the summit...

Just past the summit was a really nice viewpoint, we spent quite a bit of time enjoying this spot and chatted more with the hikers we met on Nye...

We headed back down the mountain enjoying the warm weather and sliding down the snowy trail back to the valley. We came back to the Indian Brook crossing...

We hiked back to Heart Lake where we stopped to have a snack and take pics of the mountain view...

We hiked around to the Adirondack Loj and took a look inside, looks like a nice place to spend a night!

We stopped in at the High Peaks Information Center nearby and chatted up the clerk there, then we packed up and headed off. We decided to stop at the Cascade Lakes on Rt 73 so I could show Chris Cascade Falls, a waterfall coming off Cascade Mtn that was significantly changed by Hurricane Irene...

We climbed around and explored the falls for a while, but we were pretty hungry so I suggested we stop and get a bite to eat at the Noonmark Diner in Keene Valley on the drive out. We had a nice dinner and headed back to Exit 16, a great early spring day in the Adirondack High Peaks! (*Note: This hike was to be my last hike of the cold season, so my beard/hair was cut shortly after this hike.)