A snowshoe trek in the Adirondack Mountains on a classic winter day

Brian Mann | February 25, 2025

It’s been a long, hard winter in much of the U.S., a bummer if you hate scraping ice off your car windows in the morning. But for people who love snow, like me, winter is a playground.

I set off on my snowshoes on a classically cold day, just 19 degrees Fahrenheit when I hit the trail. The trees are frosted with snow.

Deep snow, frosty temperatures and a whole valleys of solitude. New York's Adirondack Mountains, like much of the U.S., is experiencing the kind of deep, cold winter not seen in years. — Deep snow, frosty temperatures and a whole valleys of solitude. New York’s Adirondack Mountains, like much of the U.S., is experiencing the kind of deep, cold winter not seen in years. (Brian Mann | NPR)

I’m bundled up from head to toe, which means I’m warm. One thing I love about winter hiking is that the right boots and layers of clothes you really can feel cozy and comfortable, even when exploring places like this.

Soon the trail takes me along the edge of a cliff where there are cascades of ice, some bright yellow, some glowing blue. The fangs of ice are like sculpture.

Curtains of ice decorate boulders and cliffs along the trail. It's cold enough to make your breath freeze, but with proper clothing and boots, it feels cozy exploring places like this while warm and comfortable. — Curtains of ice decorate boulders and cliffs along the trail. It’s cold enough to make your breath freeze, but with proper clothing and boots, it feels cozy exploring places like this while warm and comfortable. (Brian Mann | NPR)

I’m not alone out here. Every half hour or so a flock of chickadees swirls around me. They seem curious, some so brave they almost settle on my outstretched glove.

I hike on. There are patches of blue sky through the trees, big sweeps of sunshine on the snow. It’s cold though. My breath freezes in my beard.

The trail winds through hemlock, pine and paper birch. In places the snow is waist deep, but for most of the route the snow is packed down and easy to travel on snowshoes. (Brian Mann | NPR)

I snowshoe up over a ridge and descend into a valley that feels completely solitary and wild. The stillness of deep winter is broken only by the drumming of a woodpecker in the tree canopy. Its echoing sound makes the forest seem even more vast.

Before long, I push beyond where anybody else has gone since the last heavy snowfall. That means I’m forced to break trail, wading through snow that’s up to my knees and sometimes up to my waist.

Adirondack 'lean-tos' offer a traditional form of shelter in New York's mountains. — Adirondack “lean-tos” offer a traditional form of shelter in New York’s mountains. (Brian Mann | NPR)

Finally I come to the edge of a frozen lake called Wolf Pond. There’s still running water here, a little river that flows under the ice, breaking in places over black rocks.

My snowshoes make a different kind of sound on the lake ice, a sharp crunch that breaks the stillness.

The big mountains of the High Peaks Wilderness rise on the horizon, glacial and white, the sky smoky with clouds.