With 6.1 million acres to explore, the Adirondack Park is New York State’s ultimate playground, and it’s the ideal setting for an amazing weekend in the woods. Located about five hours northeast of Ithaca, the ’Dacks provide a host of outdoor activities, ranging from hiking to mountain biking to rock climbing to canoeing, plus anything and everything in between! In my effort to galvanize you to go out and explore New York’s backyard, I’ve come up with the ultimate weekend for someone’s first, fifth or twentieth visit to the Adirondacks:

Friday Night: Drive, Eat, Sleep

Before Fall Break, I sat down with Mike Roberts, the vice president of Friends of the Gorge, to ask about his organization and find out what they’ve been up to on campus.

Time and money are two things most of us never have in abundance. When it comes to getting outside, these two factors weigh heavily on most people’s ability to get out there and have fun. Few outdoors enthusiasts have entire weekends free to go off gallivanting in the woods, and even fewer have the resources to afford the gas, food and lodging expenditures associated with a weekend mini-road trip.

Armed with the right amount of enthusiasm and resourcefulness, however, even the most time-pressed pre-med can cut the time and trim the costs of any adventure. And the best place to start saving time and money is at the start of your outing: your campsite.

25 miles. Eight summits. 10,000 feet of elevation gain. 16 hours of hiking. Three hours of sleep. As I survey my map and realize that I still have one summit and 10 miles to go, with less than three hours of daylight left, I concede that this day is rapidly turning in to an arithmetic problem from hell. My six companions have already resumed the merciless up and downs of the trail, racing the sun for our elusive eighth and final summit.

As I watch Julia’s ponytail bob into the distance, I wonder aloud if the person who said that you have to crawl before you begin to walk ever imagined the reverse happening to some one. Groaning, I leave my comfy perch on a boulder and resume my trudging, promising myself that I won’t start crawling just yet.

I’ve compiled below a list of 10 ways to have a fun, do-it-yourself adventure while experiencing the great outdoors this weekend! For my own amusement and your burgeoning appetite for all things outdoorsy, I’ve organized the potential events using the Yosemite Decimal Scale for the grading of the length and seriousness of a rock climb. The scale goes from a Grade I to a Grade V, and provides a subjective idea of how long your intended adventure will last, and to what degree you will need to plan ahead. Here you go:

Rockin’ and rollin’: Guy Ross ’10 and Michael Zupancic ’09 scale the rock wall as they teach others how to rock climb.

As an outdoor enthusiast, one must sooner or later accept reality: You need a car. Or rather, access to a car. Ithaca is well situated for a variety of outdoor activities; however, few can be easily enjoyed without some form of wheeled transportation.

Enter my 2000 Chevy Impala. Too new to be a rapper’s whip, yet too old to be an undercover cop car, this beauty was made with the octogenarian Florida retiree in mind. With about eight inches of clearance and a “traction” function that screams on wet hills, this puppy is hardly the monstrous, rock hopping SUV you see in commercials.

Summer is still going strong, and as we all flock outside to stock up our melanin supplies before winter once again embraces this campus, we are all suddenly reminded of how out of shape we all are. Sure, everyone made plans to get/stay in shape over the summer, but that nine-to-five job with accompanying after-work drinks really got in the way. Now you’re stuck running up East Buffalo Street or pretending like you know what you’re doing in the gym, all in the name of reclaiming the figure and endurance you had in high school.

Rock out: The author (left) demonstrates bouldering, getting some help up a rock in the Gunks.

Confession: I’m no extreme backpacker, no daring mountaineer. Some of the most fun I’ve had outdoors has been within hours, if not minutes, of a trailhead.

That’s right, I love to car camp.

What Not To Do

A Dutch oven and more than one change of clothes aren’t the only advantages to pitching camp out of a car. I never need to pack (I leave my gear in my trunk year-round), can pick up lunch on the way (the freshest looking ham-and-American with extra mustard packets at a gas station on the way out of town) and always have a nice place to dry my gear overnight, even if it’s pouring.

Gear is a big deal. Whether its borrowed, bargained or inherited, appropriate gear is an essential component of any outdoor adventure. This week, I caught up with a few wizards of the outdoor gear world, Emily Stockwell ’11, James Broughton ’10, Laura Durgerian ’12, Devin Cowan ’10, Emma Stuhl ’10 and the wise Benjamin Blakeley ’97.

These folks shared some insight into the most reliable pieces they keep in their closet (or, um, the trunk of their Subarus).

Best mid-layer: A wool shirt, the original soft shell. The wearer doesn’t have to worry about it shrink wrapping onto her if she gets too close to the camp-fire.

Still searching for the perfect summer job? Give the commercial outdoor world a shot! Here are some of the best ways to get outside, and earn your keep this summer.

No Urban Cowboys In Sight

The Gig: “Trail Crew:” building and maintaining mountain trails.

Perfect For: Those of you that have done the Plantations internship are looking for something a bit more intense.

Location: The wilderness. Prepare to backpack for weeks, eat like a tree hugger and work your butt off.