Sunday was a dark and dreary day, but not cold or stormy- so we visited Mt Arab in Piercefield. The trail is hard-packed and microspikes are perfect right now. The visibility was only about 100 feet, so the normally great views were absent. The now-retired fire tower usually offers even greater views, but not today.

The weekend wasn't the greatest weatherwise, but good enough to make the long-overdue trek to St Regis mountain in Paul Smiths. The Friends of St. Regis Mountain Fire Tower have been working hard at restoring the fire tower and are doing a great job. The '2,874 mountain originally had a wooden tower constructed on the summit in 1910 and was upgraded to a '35 Aermotor LS 40 steel tower in 1918.

Azure was covered in a layer of light fluffy snow, and just as we got to the top the sun broke through the clouds. For a relatively small mountain, Azure is always such a worthwhile hike and has some really amazing views.