I just spent 5 days up in the Adirondack mountains in upstate NY. Normally when I go up to the Adirondacks I focus mainly on climbing as many big mountains as I can, but this times I decided to prioritize photography, particularly sunset/golden hour photography. I actually found a nice rhythm of hiking up a big mountain during the day, and then finding a smaller mountain with a nice viewpoint for an evening sunset hike. This also ended up being a great way to test my new headlamp!

This winter I decided to try some real winter hiking for the first time. I have been to the Adirondacks a bunch of times in the spring and summer, but with a few days off at the end of December I figured I’d buy some snow shoes and head up for a few days to give winter hiking a try. As someone who has been an avid three season hiker for awhile now, snowshoeing up mountains for the first time has opened up a whole new world to me. Winter hiking can require a bit more planning, as well as more gear, to fully enjoy it. So here’s a quick guide to getting started for winter hiking, alongside some of my favorite photos from the trip.