Dudes, great vid! I've hiked Ampersand 10 or so times and it's an all-time favorite, fun hike with a beautiful view, I'm sorry yours got cut short by a storm. Between that and Cascade, there aren't that many more beautiful views you can get in the High Peaks
Way to go guys. I would have to say Ampersand was my favorite. The 360 degree views were amazing. I believe the staircase design was one of the first ADK original trail builds to prevent erosion. I can honestly say that "giant stair master" was probably the roughest on me. On a side note, It is too bad they removed the fire tower which I think would have been epic.
I would have loved to see the firetower up there ... Ampersand's summit was incredible - even as heavily populated as it was! The trail design was quite nice, albeit a rather steep leg burner for a bit.
I hiked Ampersand Mountain way back in the 1970s. We camped on an island in Middle Saranac Lake, took canoes over to the shore and then hiked to the summit. That was a tough day for a soft 13 year old. I'd like to take another crack at that one.
There were a few guys hiking up while we were making our way back down to the car that did what you did --- it sounds like an awesome idea for an adventure!