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FortMental wrote:

tlerunner wrote:Thanks for all of the great responses, this really helps. I currently live near Denver and work may take me east.

I am especially interested in trails local to Schenctady that I can hit before or after work. Also, the ability to drive a short ways on the weekends and get away from it all; miles of hiking over rugged terrain.

I do ski and am looking to get an AT setup.

Get snow shoes! AT skiing in the NE is a bitch. DEFINITELY not like CO. Get a road bike; you can really get away from it all a few miles out of town.

Oh... start buying stock in a bug spray company!

-Sorry about your move! But then there are worse places... like Houston, or Dallas, or Shreveport, or Miami, or Nawrlins, or....shall I continue?

Yeah, but think about all the fun tlerunner's going to have pronouncing and spelling out "Schenectady"!

tlerunner wrote:I do ski and am looking to get an AT setup.

Let's not forget how cool it is, you'll be along the Hudson River....

Busted, I guess I need to be more careful about spelling "Schenectady"

Lots of great info, thanks again.

One more question, how are the lakes, creeks, and rivers for fishing in upstate NY? I heard a few of them have been affected by acid rain.

tlerunner wrote:Busted, I guess I need to be more careful about spelling "Schenectady"

Lots of great info, thanks again.

One more question, how are the lakes, creeks, and rivers for fishing in upstate NY? I heard a few of them have been affected by acid rain.

Absolutely great for canoeing. Acid rain was certainly big in my days up there, especially in the smaller lakes, which might register a pH of 2.5 and were marvelously "clean." The larger lakes were little-affected; chub were more of a problem for stable trout populations in the larger lakes. I'd be curious to know what has happened since.

FortMental wrote:Get snow shoes! AT skiing in the NE is a bitch. DEFINITELY not like CO. Get a road bike; you can really get away from it all a few miles out of town.

I would qualify that a bit - AT skiing like in Colorado sucks out here. But AT-light can be a nice setup. I've decided to get waxless XC skiis with edges, add Silvretta 500s, and use those for XC-type use. For approaching climbs in the Adirondacks or just getting out, the XC scene around here is good, and something like AT-light or Tele-light with mountaineering boots is well-suited to the terrain.

But yeah, don't expect to skin to the top of some sweet downhill like out west, groomed or not. Those opportunities are few and far between around here.