Hurricane Irene's rain and wind had a major impact across the entire Adirondack Park. Many road closures and towns suffered severe flooding damage Sunday August 28, 2011. Please call ahead and check online for the latest information.

In short:

-- High Peaks eastern zone, Giant and Dix Mt wilderness CLOSED to all foot traffic. They're assessing damage and the preliminary reports are very, very grim.

-- Route 73 closed for long stretches. The damaged sections around Chapel Pond are going to take months to repair (road is completely gone from what has been reported at Adirondack Almanac, and DOT estimates repairs done "by WINTER").

-- Western areas of the ADK Park received less rain so the damage is lessened, but there are still scattered issues.

-- Lake George and Southern ADKs also impacted.

Smike - that photo of Rt 73 looks A LOT like it's 50 yd up the road from Sam's house.

looks like the locals are going to be lining up for a 1st ski descent on wright peak

And ascent, that new slide comes really close to Marcy Dam. Might be a new way to climb Wright (which incidentally already has some good climbing at the summit, though I only say that based on the adk guide and not personal experience).

Route 73 is supposedly going to be open by Sept 14. Many wonder how as the work it appears to need is likely to take longer. Maybe they expect to work around the clock on it.

BTW spent last weekend in the 'Dacks and everything is fine, roads and wildernesses are all open. Went to Poke-O and the Upper Washbowl. There were no issues with the access to Poke-O. As for the Upper Washbowl, the marshy bit between Rte 73 and the Creature Wall was QUITE marshy. Still, with careful stepping on well-placed downed branches I made it through. My partner was less fortunate, got a little foot dunking on the way in. Serves him right for actually knowing how to climb vertical cracks. I'd gladly trade a wet shoe for his jamming ability.

To add a bit more info... most major roads and trails have been opened for a bit. As for trails, there's a general disclaimer from the DEC (and anyone who's ventured deep) to be aware of slow going through stretches that are going to take some time to clear, as well as complete washouts of entire sections of trail. It seems the steeper the terrain the harsher the effects (duh). If you are expecting to climb anywhere with an approach that involves a steep ascent expect things to be different than you remember or the guide says. The good news is that most climbing areas in the ADKs are separate from the main hiking trails so we don't expect an easy approach anyway! lol

If anyone's been up there like Seth and has anything further to report I'd appreciate the update for our facebook page. The info collected will at least hold true until early next season. I suspect the issues are nominal for climbers since, as I stated, we already pretty much just bushwhack to the climbs and, at best, follow a faint path.