go hike a mountain

After finishing up on Mt. Mansfield, we took a ferry across Lake Champlain to put us in New York. The plan was to get to the High Peaks area in the Adirondack Forest early enough to see if we could find available camping and to cook a big meal. We ended up arriving at the Adirondack Loj (yes, correct spelling) at about 8:30 and because it was Labor Day weekend, there were no campsites left. The person at the desk told us about an access road about a mile back that we were allowed to park overnight on, so we drove back to it to spend a night in the car. It was already so late by this point that we decided instead of a large, more involved meal, we’d just have Ramen noodles. I think Jesse also ate part of a bagel. We took care of our dishes and rearranged our sleeping quarters and had both passed out by 10pm.

We awoke at 5 am and quickly made our way over to the designated parking lot at the trailhead. The daily use fee for this lot was $9. Here I made some oatmeal while Jesse began sorting the things that would go into each of our packs. At this point, he noticed one of the tires was lower than normal and we were afraid that by the time we returned from our day-long hike, it would be totally flat. We discussed whether or not driving back to town to fill it right then was the best idea, but we decided to just finish packing and go on. So, we brushed our teeth, finished getting dressed and started putting our packs on. The whole bottom of Jesse’s pack was soaking wet, including the waist straps. Apparently, the Nalgene reservoir that his pack had come with began leaking at some point at the area where the drinking hose attaches to the bladder. That was 3 liters of water we would be without. I made him pack one of the 3 liter plastic bottles we had brought, which would be uncomfortable, but would replace the amount of water lost from the reservoir. I also had to stand in the bathroom at the visitor’s center, holding his pack up to the hand dryer for several minutes trying to get his pack to dry. Although the extra water container would be uncomfortable, it would be worse to be wet. All of these mishaps put us on the trail at about 7:30 am.

Mt. Marcy is so far the tallest mountain (at 5344 ft) that either of us has climbed. In this case, we followed the advice of the High Point Adventures book I had brought along and took the shortest trail to the summit - 14.5 miles roundtrip! It would gain roughly 3200 ft over the course of 7 miles, reach the summit and return the same way. Right at the trailhead, you are required to register yourself or your group and check yourself out on the way back, with a description of your travel plans. I’m sure this makes the ranger’s job easier when they have an idea of where to look for lost hikers. We also took note that only about 10 groups had begun before us - so even though we had planned on leaving earlier, we weren’t off on a bad start. We basically followed blue metal discs nailed to trees for most of the hike which was the Van Hoevenberg Trail most of the way and at some point joined with what I believe was the Phelps Trail.

The first two miles had very little elevation gain and was heavily wooded. We took a side trail to a creek that ran over some big rocks, but wasn’t flowing very much. I had walked along this plank to cross some boulders and Jesse made me walk back over to snap a picture. It was the second time across that I almost lost my balance!

At the two mile mark we reached Marcy Dam which had a number of people relaxing on it. There was even a group that had an enormous camp stove going for some breakfast. The dam itself was nothing special.

But it did give us this nice view of some mountains off in the distance. I’m not sure the names of these because my map didn’t extend this far from the summit of Marcy.

It was pretty cold when we left the car in the morning, but after being on the trail a couple of hours, it was warming up, so we stopped a few times to strip some layers and to enjoy my new favorite, delicious Clif Mojo bars.

The path wandered close to Phelps Brook most of the next 2 miles, so we took some of the side trails to check out the brook.

At 3.5 miles in, we crossed Phelps Brook again and at this point, the trail really began to climb steeply. At 4.5 miles we reached an area called Indian Falls and deviated to check them out. It really just looked like a 6-inch crack in a rock that lead some water down to another creek, but it fell at least 45 ft. It also wasn’t flowing much, so there wasn’t much to see here. We did, however, sit for half an hour and have a chat with Michael, who told us he was visiting his last of the 46 peaks in the Adirondacks this afternoon. It was Mt. Haystack and he was going to have to summit Marcy to get there. We shared some stories and chatted about rechargeable batteries and took off at about the same time. He definitely has a faster uphill pace than me, so we didn’t see him again until we got to the summit. This is a clearing near the falls and in the background is what Michael said he believed is Alongonquin Peak, the second tallest in New York.

The next two miles of our climb had very steep sections with a few flat areas mixed in. We were still under tree cover for this portion of the hike. At about the 6.2 mile marker, there was another clearing with a view of Mt. Marcy. From here we followed yellow blazes to the summit and we were pretty much above treeline for the remaining leg.

At 12:30 pm, we finally reached the summit. It had taken us 5 hours to make the 7.2 mile ascent, including a half hour break at the falls. Because I’m really bad about not looking at a map while I’m on the summit, I can’t tell you what the names of these mountains are because I don’t remember my orientation when shooting them. I know the closest peaks are called Haystack, Colden, Skylight, Basin and Gooseberry and if someone reading this knows them by sight, I’d appreciate if you’d email me at gohikeamountain@gmail.com to inform me.

This was the first hike I think we both felt like our feet were so sweaty we decided to take our shoes off. Jesse guarded the socks and napped while I walked around the summit snapping photos.

Yep, high point 7.

After that long, well-deserved break at the summit, it was time to start heading back down.

At the point where the trail went below treeline again, I really tried to speed up the pace and Jesse says I was jogging down the mountain. I didn’t think so, but looking back at this photo, I guess I agree.

I was trying to make good time on the descent so we could get a hot meal in our stomachs and drive toward home a bit before having to stop and sleep. The first 3 miles went by fast, but I began to decline so we slowed a bit until we hit the bridge at Phelps Brook. 3.5 miles remained from this point. We took our first break here. We started off again and I went as fast as I could over the various rocks and boulders, almost slipping a few times. I just became so tired I didn’t want to pick my feet up anymore. I began slowing again. I think that’s when I noticed these.

We finally hit the checkpoint at Marcy Dam, meaning there was only 2 miles remaining. This gave me a second wind and I again started jogging down the trail. There were less rocks at this point and also was more gradual, making it easier on my knees. Jesse checked us off of the register.

A little more than a mile on, we saw the sign that said Adirondack Visitor’s Center 0.9 mi and took another short break.

This last leg of the hike was definitely the worst. Every corner we rounded, I was expecting to see the sign at the trailhead. I was so exhausted and ready to get off of the mountain. My knees and shoulders were sore and my feet were hot. I face felt salty from sweating all day. I was beginning to feel the weight of my camera in front of me. Jesse finally saw the sign. If I had the energy, I probably would have raced him to it, but I was too tired to even lift my pack off of my back.

It was 5:30 pm. The 14.5 mile hike took us 10 hours to complete. When we returned to the car, Jesse looked at the tire and told me we needed to change it. I told him I was going to take a quick shower, hoping it would give me another boost. The shower was .25 cents/minute and although I only rinsed off, the shower was one of the most satisfying I’ve taken in a long time. When I got out, Jesse told me to hop in the car because we were just going to try and go the 7 miles to Lake Placid to fill the tire with air. We made it and began our long journey home. We stopped and had dinner at a Cracker Barrel about 70 miles down the road and eventually stopped at a Service Plaza to sleep. The next morning we drove the remaining 3 hours home, stopping at REI on the way for the Labor Day sale. In all, we drove about 740 miles and only spent $170. We’re getting close to really ’scumbagging it’. I guess our vacation coming soon will put that ability to the test, mostly because we won’t have as much money for it as we had planned.