Over at the DG, I write about my lovely hike up Crane Mountain in Johnsburg, N.Y., last weekend.

Here's an excerpt:

"The ascent to the summit of Crane is fairly short, but steep, and my hiking guide had me expecting the worst. (Or was it the best?) 'After an easy stroll for a few minutes, the trail makes an abrupt change,' explained the hiking guide, titled '100 Classic Hikes of the Northeast.' 'For the next half-mile it powers 700’ up the steep south face of Crane — one of the steeper trails in this book. The clambering ascent up through the smooth, gray boulders — call them elephantine — is so steep that it’s amusing.'

Crane is steep, but I’m not sure it deserves the book’s breathless description. It certainly isn’t as steep as the Tripyramids in New Hampshire, which I hiked on July 4th and subsequently lost four toenails. And I’m not sure it’s any more steep and challenging than New Hampshire’s Mount Monadnock, which I hiked a few weeks ago. But it is steep, and we did find ourselves making our way up and over rocks and ledges. 'This is so amusing,' we said, whenever we got to a steep section. 'Don’t you find this amusing?'"