ADK High Peaks 41-43/46, Mt. Marcy (tallest mountain in NY state), Mt. Skylight, Gray, and the walkout from hell with a trip through Shrek’s bog, but hey we saved a butterfly from being eaten by a spider so..

Let’s dive deeper into the logistics. First the Peaks- Mt. Marcy is the highest peak in the Adirondacks and all of New York state at an elevation of 5344 ft. She reigns in the heart of the Adirondack High Peaks Region of the High Peaks Wilderness Area. Mt Skylight has an elevation of 4,926 feet and is the 4th highest peak in the ADK. Mt Gray is the 7th highest peak in the ADK, at 4,840 ft. Cool things about hiking this trio, is you also get to see Lake Tear of the Clouds, at the col between Mount Marcy and Skylight, is the source of the Hudson River.

We knew it was going to be a long day. In the end stats varying– Strava had this clock in at 19.24 miles with a moving time of 9:44 hours, total time of 13 hours and 10 min with 5, 367 ft of elevation gain Garmin watch clock the hike as total distance 18.25 with a time of 12:39, and 5,374 elevation.

We had several variables to consider with this hike. We really wanted all the views of a clear bluebird day, but weather on the weekends in the ADK has not been particularly in the hiker’s favor. Factor in the smoke from Canadian wildfires, we knew the views would be moody and hazy if present at all. Becky and I chose to go for it. Although we have done longer hikes this summer season to complete our goal, it was the first time in a while we have submitted multiple peaks in a day.

Logistically, we knew on a holiday weekend may have the ADK LOJ buzzing with folks, and the forecast at the time of leaving was predicting potential rain around 5pm. Becky and I left my casa at 2am to head to Lake Placid, and begin hiking at 4am from the ADK LOJ Parking Area. We begin our trip to Marcy Dam in headlamps. And off we went for our big day of adventure in the wilderness. Once we arrived at Marcy Dam, I discontinued use of my headlamp. Holy humidity on this hiking day. It may have been one of the most humid days (but not hot thankfully) that we have experienced. The smoke from the wildfires was still causing haziness, which improved through the day, and thankfully no other issues with the quality of air, minus the humidity were impacting us.

We tackled Marcy first via the Van Hoevenberg Trail, which took us about 4 1/2 hours. This trail is really nice, and someone described it as a granite interstate pathway. Although it had been extremely high rains, it was a bit muddy, but otherwise, really great to ascend. Although it was hazy, the sun shone through many times during the day.

Once Marcy was finally in our sights, we could see a couple of folks at the summit, and began the final push. I really enjoyed Marcy, and she’s definitely a peak (along with Skylight) that I would do again. Just as we came to the rock scramble, I had an acute right calf cramp drank some pickle juice and thankfully it went away after a few minutes. We sadly had weather move in on us so no summit views and a lot of exposure to some high wind gusts, so we did not stay long and got down to a place where were more shielded to refuel and rehydrate.

There are plenty of spots thankfully to filter water as we summited Marcy, Becky realized she had already drank 3 liters of water as it was intensely humid and we were sweating so much.

We continued on to Skylight, and once we reached this summit, I definitely understand how great it truly is. We didn’t get all the clear views, but what a beautiful hike and scramble!

As we we got to the bottom of Skylight, we noticed a beautiful butterfly, but it seemed it was stuck in time, flapping its wings. As we got closer, we realized it was completely stuck in a spiders web. Becky freed him from the danger of getting eaten, but he still had a piece of the web inhibiting his freedom. I was able to fully release him without harming him, then he flew back over to Becky as if to say thank you for rescuing me from death! Certainly the spider has plenty of bug options to trap in his web, not a beautiful butterfly. Yay, one creature saved on this hike!

As we reached Tear of the Clouds, we were chatting about many things and completely missed the mark for the herd path to Gray, so we backtracked seemingly loving to punish ourselves with more elevation and mileage. Once we made it to the herd path of Gray, the bugs started come out with a vengeance. Out of the 43 peaks we have climbed, this was indeed the only one when I finally used my head bug net. The trail up Gray was thumbs down for me. I would not repeat. It’s just gnarly, and was not my favorite. But we made it safely up and down with just a few scratches. I think my face tells it all.

So we did it summit wise, 43/46 complete. Now came the TypeIV fun part getting back to the LOJ parking lot. I have a few non PC things to say about this Lake Arnold trail descending. First it was mostly misery. The body is so worn down by the summit of these peaks. We keep ourselves entertained as usual with singing, and cursing sometimes the trail. This particular trail I would never take again, if repeating, I would have no desire to do Gray, would just do Mt. Marcy/Skylight then back down the Van Hoevenberg Trail. This trail was horrible to descend, because you were still at a high elevation and kept gaining just a bit more prior to descending.

Once you were descending, the trail was typical ADK mud, and huge rock hopping which took a physical and mental toll. Then you had to deal with the infamous ‘floating logs’. The floating logs due to the rains have really become a bit of a Shrek’s swamp. As we were approaching, a young lady was coming from that direction and said I can’t find the trail. We advised her that indeed was the trail. She joined us for this part of the adventure as she was solo. We prepped our electronics away incase we did end up having to swim, but it was only a bit of wetness thankfully and not a full submersion into the swap. Yep, that’s the trail in the picture below. Thanks ADK, you’re always super funny.

We stopped to make a sock change and continued to soldier through, and finally made our way back to the ADK LOJ. The hike took us about 13 hours and we were thrilled the Hungry Hiker was still opened. We changed into sandals and comfortable dresses for the ride home! 3 more peaks to go which will be a big adventure to end this journey. Not sure how timing will play out potentially August or September. Until then, keep on adventuring, push yourself, challenge yourself. An ADK Tough Day!

It’s so sloptastic on this ADK Journey…40/46

Hiking windows can be short when time is not infinite, so the journey continued to ADK High Peak 40/46- Mount Marshall on 18Jun2023. Mt. Marshall is the twenty-fifth highest peak in the Adirondacks, and also the last peak in the MacIntyre Range. Dominated by its neighbors to the North, Algonquin and Iroquois and the large and dramatic cliff of Indian pass, this peak is largely ignored by the throngs of peoples who swarm over the rest of the range and the valleys below, and we didn’t ignore it, it’s on the list it had to be done. We had read and seen all the pictures of the history of the Plane Crash on Mt. Marshall, if you aren’t familiar with this back story it is an interesting read. https://mapswithnoroads.com/home/no0nzaumn4rnyguxj0p9yweb2yzadd

Because of the weather conditions and reported conditions of the Cold Brook trail to be overgrown and steep, we decided to skip this part of the hike and just stick with the most direct Marshall approach. Hindsight is always 20/20, so while we saved this peak for near the end not to have all the long ones at the end. Funny how most events aren’t planned or do not work out exactly as planned, that’s a part of the journey and the adventure! We awoke at 2am, and rolled out at 3am, and began hiking Mt. Marshall at 4:40am. Overall stats: Garmin Watch: 16.65 miles, 3,216 ft elevation gain, 9:05 time. Per Strava: 16.92 miles, 3215 ft elevation gain, 7:51 moving time, 9:22 total time. Doesn’t seem horrible, right? Well, let’s get into the real story.

The weather had been very wet all week and was not looking great. It stopped raining on Saturday, and was forecast to be cloudy on Sunday, so Becky and I took our window to get it done. Laura had already completed Marshall, and it was not a repeat value especially with the conditions, so we took old “Moose McNaughton” aka Tela with us today as I had researched the trail and thought she could manage it. This was Moose’s 12th ADK high peak, not too shabby for a 13.5 year old golden girl. It was great to be able to have her along for the journey as she cries when she doesn’t get to come along for the adventure. Oh, if we could talk to our fur babies and explain why, this would be easier. Picture below of the afternoon before, even though her ‘pack’ was all ready with mine, she wasn’t keen to leave this spot until she walked out the door with us.

After taking advantage of the “restroom” at the Upper Works trailhead, we signed into the register and began our journey with headlamps on. We didn’t need the headlamps for very long. The trail is beside the Calamity brook trail and you could hear the water raging from all the recent rains. I knew we had to cross the ‘brook’ 5 times up and 5 times out so in my mind this could be interesting. We were mentally prepared for ADK slop, mud and potentially sink hole bogs, but what I wasn’t exactly prepared for was to be pretty wet the entire hike. Since it wasn’t raining this was not really in my mind. Another lesson the good old ADK brought me! Because of the trail and thick herd path trail to the summit, adding in the adventure of these water crossings, the name of the mental state was sopping wet. In fact, even early on in the hike, I tried to take out my phone to grab photos and my hands and finger tips were already prune like, so all photo credits in this post go to Becky.

The first few miles in were not bad, we had the sounds of the forest coming alive around us. Birds, rushing water and frogs surrounding us. Tela Moose was a happy camper at this point and we were on our way. We navigated the beginnings of the trail, got a bit turned around a couple of times, then hit the herd path to Marshall.

Once we got on the herd path we knew we had some navigation across the roaring Calamity brook. Although it was beautiful, the trail wasn’t always the easiest to follow and we tacked on a bit of time and effort bushwhacking our way to try to get back on trail. Due to the rains, it made it a bit more difficult than advertised and so there was some assistance getting Tela moose up and over some of the roots, rock, and reggae this trail brings.

When we finally made it to the summit, we were all saturated with water. Getting food and energy into our bodies was critical as well as shedding the wet socks and clothes. Although we knew we’d be doing it all over again, it was critical. Sadly, no views today!

On the long descent, Tela Moose begin rock fishing as she loves to do and carried her rock along the trail. There were a few points where she was like, guys I’m good to lay down now, ok? What a trooper my girl is!

On our hike out we did see some forest wildlife, be careful for the baby newts while out there! Glad to have this one done, 6 more peaks to go before we reach our goal! Happy trails, mental and physical strength to all on this journey! ADK Tough!

Another one bites the dust -ADK High Peak 39/46- Allen Mountain

It’s been a week of poor air quality due to the wildfires in Canada, so since we all had this weekend open for hiking we were monitoring not only the normal conditions (weather, trail conditions/reports, YouTube research), but also the air quality. Thankfully, by Thursday afternoon the air quality was improving to good. Hmm.. Allen. When we embarked upon this journey this one definitely stuck out on paper as a beast of a hike for 1 mountain. While researching this hike, after completing quite a few of the 46, I felt maybe too much at ease with how demanding this mountain would be. A good reminder to never underestimate the potential effort mental or physical summiting a mountain would be. In the end, Strava recorded the hike as 20.43 miles, 3,881 ft of elevation vs. Garmin recording of 19.74 miles and 3,882 ft of elevation.

So all lights were a go, the weather was a crapshoot, but we decided the time had come. Becky Laura and I departed my casa in Saratoga Springs at 3am, and started our hiking adventure at 4:38 am. We signed into the register and were off with headlamps on. We knew weather may not provide views, but always we were heading in with optimism. Pictured below, the first water we came to on the trail, Lake Jimmy. We hoped to see some moose, but today was not that day.

The first five miles hiking in are relatively flat and not too rocky. This mentally was a boost, knowing that upon our decent on the way out, we at least would not be rock hopping while our body screamed more at us, “enough, what are you doing!?”. One of the major deciding factors of hiking this High Peak, is the Opalescent River crossing. All reports were in our favor, so when we got to the river crossing, we were able to rock hop across using poles to stabilize. I got my feet a bit wet, but this is the ADK, so mud and wet are par for the course.

We continued our ascent looking for that 8-9 mile distance, where we would meet the challenge of the notorious red algae slime on the upper slabs which are as slick as ice requiring microspikes to maneuver safely, gain our elevation, hopefully successfully reach our summit. The trail began to gain elevation, and we experienced typical ADK mud, roots, rock and reggae! The weather was holding for us, with peaks of sunshine and clouds. The little peaks of glorious sunlight and Vitamin D help give us a mental boost for what lay ahead.

We made it to the first section of slab which had water streaming over it, and I knew immediately when it was time to put spikes on when I felt like I was walking on marbles and ice. So around 2500 ft, the spikes went on. The red slime is indeed a real thing. The spikes helped tremendously with grip, and up we went. I had heard we needed to stay left, but it didn’t look good when we were first starting so we ended up a bit off trail as we were climbing the slab rather than being on trail for a few minutes. I gave Laura the nickname of “Bushwhack Laura” as she was a master of that on this hike. We made it back over to where the trail was, and continued the remainder of this beastly mountain. We were afforded the glory of these wonderful views as a great reward for our efforts.

We continued to push on, what felt like a never ending approach to the summit. We made it though, and had the summit completely to ourselves for about 10 minutes. My Garmin watch clocked 10.01 miles. We stopped for a much needed break, fueled ourselves, changed socks, and then lovely couple who were almost complete with their 46er journey joined us. They were kind enough to take our summit photo. We chatted briefly, ate and started descending. I was not playing with this descent and the weather, as it was forecast to rain, I didn’t want to chance descending the steep slabs in the rain.

We began the descent and I had some slowness to begin with due to some sharp pain in the glutes. As typical in the ADK, sometimes you have to contort your body around obstacles, down trees, branches that will stick out and grab you or pull your pack back, and in this case, I think at one point my left leg was stuck in an awkward position, crossing a huge tree, with my right leg extended. I was able to correct the situation, take some ibuprofen, and continued the descent. We could see the rain across the way, and were quite focused on getting down the algae before it likely came our way. Becky got this great photo as we were descending.

We were able to get down to the canopy of the forests when the rain started coming. We stopped took our packs off and put on our rain jackets. The rain thankfully was truly a shower, and not a downpour. It was also short lived, which was also a welcome factor. We were super blessed with being down lower at this point for the descent.

Upon our descent, we crossed paths with two very young guys who looked ill-prepared to be on this trail. They looked pretty rough and were clothed in cotton attire and shorts with no backpacks and no idea of where they were on the trail. I hope they made it out safely. I won’t go into a safety rant on unprepared hikers, but people need to know the 10 essentials https://americanhiking.org/resources/10essentials/ before embarking into a journey, especially a mountain as demanding as Allen or really any hike, but especially an ADK 20 mile high peak! You must do your homework and be prepared for whatever the mountain may throw your way obstacle wise.

So let’s talk about my overall readiness vs. execution on this adventure. I did my homework, but I was not quite all prepared for the challenges this mountain presented. Yes, we got a bit off trail right on the slab red algae slime but were able to easily recover, with a bushwhack, go Becky and Laura! Yes, one could argue minus the water crossing concern, to a point Allen is not as physically demanding as other high peaks due to the long flatter approach in, but this mountain was no joke for me. It demanded a lot mentally and physically as well as endurance wise with length but also with deliberate focus during the hike. When we reached the second time to cross the Opalescent River, Laura gave me a helping hand to ensure I didn’t slip and fall in. What a sweetheart. I’m am blessed to have Becky and Laura with me on this journey.

Would I ever recommend Allen if someone asked me for a ADK High peak possibility? Not bloody likely. Allen you do have have beautiful views, but I am positive this is the last time I will visit you. You fall 3rd place behind the Sewards and Santa ranges for least enjoyable.

This means Becky and I have 7 more peaks to go before we are 46ers! Laura is at 20/46, and I hope to have the time to repeat some of my favorites with her! Our plan is finish with Haystack, Basin and Saddleback. Peaks remaining: Marshall, Marcy, Skylight, Gray, Haystack, Basin, Saddleback. Happy trails all, and keep pushing yourself!

38/46- ADK High Peak- Mount Colden via Avalanche Pass Solo

So the weekend came, and the mountains were calling, even though I wasn’t feeling good part of being able to complete this journey meant catching up to Becky so we could finish together. The mountain weather forecast was looking sketchy then turned clear. I needed to hike on Saturday this week, so I was in bed early on Friday and the alarm went off at 0300 Saturday. I got up and tried to get ready without disturbing Tela too much. She knows when I’m going, but this time I think I was a bit more stealthy than usual- not to mention peanut butter ice cream at 0400 sure does sound distracting for a moment (and pre-packing the car so I could just walk out the door). Hmm… my first solo 46er was in front of me, Mt. Colden. Laura and Becky had two totally different experiences on this mountain, and I had a third, lol. All these variables that come into play when thinking back on a hike, weather of course can be a huge factor, especially on ADK hikes that go on forever. I caught myself as I was finishing looking at the map asking how much further? Oh, yes, that sign was absolutely an infamous “ADK Mile” sign, lol.

I had done my homework for this hike, but as much as you plan, you can’t control the weather. The forecast was “Clear” then as I began my drive, I started to have my doubts about what this day may bring weather wise. I was committed at this point, unless I felt unsafe, so onward to the ADK LOJ Parking area I went. I arrived at 0600, respectable considering a 2 hour drive, and there were only 2 more spots left in open lots! Wow, I guess lots of folks were out hiking today!

This area is a huge intersection of multiple trails, such a heartbeat of the ADK, so while there were many towards the Marcy Dam junction, post that things were pretty quiet. I did not see one person on the Avalanche Pass Trail (probably because they knew you couldn’t see anything. However, this area is so special, so I know I will be back some history around the Hitch-Up Matilda’s: https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2017/02/the-origin-of-the-hitch-up-matildas.html#:~:text=Two%20spans%20of%20catwalks%2C%20known,Mount%20Colden%20and%20Avalanche%20Mountain.

As always in life there’s good points and some bad points. Good points: It was not hot or cold around 55 or so. There was a strong (hold on to your hat) winds that kept the bugs and black flies at bay. Bad points- this hike has amazing views and Avalanche Pass is uber cool, sadly I could not even see the Trap Dike: https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/outtakes/trap-dike-is-exhilarating-risky. I was being somewhat deliberately slow waiting for the clouds to lift, but once 0800 rolled around and nothing was changing I starting moving with more focus. I made it up to the initial 2.1 mile sign for Colden, and bless whomever it was that advised it was visible only via the approach from the opposite side for the 1.6 mile sign as that turn would have been easy to miss.

I would be remiss not to talk about the ladders on this hike. I mean, other hikes in the world have ladders, but this one especially the route I took was over the top. The two longer sections were over 100 steps each. I will say this, at least they didn’t just put a yellow mark on it and say go up, as there are many of those moments in these mountains!

I had been hoping for the sun, and was happy when I could finally sing “Here Come’s the Sun” from the Beatles. Always takes my heart to a special place in time.

I only saw one other gentleman and his dog on my ascent, then near the summit two ladies came charging, one clearly had been on this mountain several times in different seasons, and visibility was getting quite poor with wind and misty mountain rain. We submitted then began the descent down the trail but these two 70+ year olds were moving way faster than I desired at the moment, so I wished them a good day. It’s very inspiring to see people in their 70s getting after it the way they were! I hope that this me one day!

Our next adventure will be the longest single peak hike in the ADK, so until then… Happy Adventures!

ADK High Peak 37/46 Rocky Peak Ridge via New Russia Trail, continuing the journey to being a 46er

It’s been a minute since our last adventure completing Street and Nye, as we have been patiently waiting for “Mud Season” to end in order to get back on target to complete the goal of the journey to 46/46. I “orphaned” this peak last summer as it is usually paired with Giant. Chris wanted to do a high peak that was short and had elevation pre our CO adventure last summer, so I decided I would do Giant without the usual combo of Giant and RPR, and resesarched a different way to accomplish Rocky Peak Ridge (RPR). Becky had already done this one so I needed it to catch up as she was 2 peaks ahead of me. In looking at this trail, the weather conditions were critical to be clear as this way was all about views, views, views!

So when Memorial Day weekend arrived the forecast was set to be nothing short of spectacular. Laura was in need of this peak so off we left, taking a risk that this trail (which is now my favorite ADK trail) was not so popular, and left my casa at 5:00, arriving at an almost empty parking lot on a holiday weekend, and started our hike at 6:34am. The first few miles of the trail on the way to Blueberry Cobbles was very forested and then POW, all of a sudden you are on a ridge with views all around you. Not only could you see all the ADK high peaks, but even out to Lake Champlain and the beautiful green mountains of VT. The trail has a lot of up and down, but was not technical in nature. We traveled through multiple diverse forests including a ‘fairy elvish” birch forest and some thicker forests. The alpine vegetation was truly magnificent in these forests, so when you weren’t getting views of the amazing peaks and hues around, you were enticed by the beauty of these forests.

After climbing past Blueberry Cobbles- the blueberries aren’t quite in season, but this trail offers wild blueberries as an added incentive if you choose your time wisely. We continued onward to Hedgehog Notch where we heard a porcupine in the bushes. Thankfully he was on his own adventure, and we continued on our way. This trail, over and over left you with views every few hundred feet on all sides that left you saying “HOLY GUACAMOLE”.

After moving through Hedgehog Notches, our sights were on Bald Peak. The entire hike, Rocky Peak is in your view. This is not to be confused with the High Peak Rocky Peak Ridge. So lots of people talk about ‘false summits’ on this trail, but really, it’s just understanding you have several other non-high peaks to reach in order to get to your final destination. There is no other trail in the ADK that I’ve been on that offers this type of ridge trail views. It easily won its place as my favorite trail in the ADK, moving RPR to my favorite high peak above Gothics, but I can say that is likely due to this trail approach. I’m not sure I would feel the same way if I approach from Giant, so again so happy to have discovered this gem, and will absolutely look forward to taking in some fall colors from this trail. As they state in the “Mandalorian”, “This is the way!”

We made it up to Rocky Peak, and then onward to our final destination, Rocky Peak Ridge. Yay, 37/46 for me and 19/46 for Laura!.Another great part of this hike was the fact it was an out and back as the views were just coming right back to us on the way out. What a gorgeous bluebird day, minimal mud, some bugs, but since it’s black fly season in the ADK, we lucked out as there was little wind. Highly recommend this trail to anyone in the #ADK and whether you have already done RPR with Giant, get after this trail on a clear bluebird day. You will not be disappointed! Hues and Views for the win!

“Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life.”
John Muir

Until next time, happy trails, friends!

ADK High Peaks 35,36/46, Street and Nye- Daylight Savings Time

Our awesome babe ADK hikers had been looking forward to this adventure, since our last summit fun to plan for the completion of these two peaks in the Winter, as it is a shorter hike (around 9.5 miles with 2700 feet of elevation). What a different adventure 9 miles vs. 18+ miles is! These particular peaks, Street and Nye are known for their water crossings, and so we were paying particularly close attention to the weather situation.It has been a fairly mild winter holistically speaking, but we were blessed in the month of March to get a good snow, and the temperatures were below or at freezing for the week leading up to our planned ADK adventure.

Becky was able to come up and we didn’t plan on departing until 6am the following day, so we could enjoy another good dining experience in Saratoga. Laura met us the next morning and we rolled out from my casa at 6am, heading to the ADK LOJ, and began hiking at 8am exactly. We were going slow and deliberate, since we had the extra sunshine and it was a bluebird day with no wind. The trail was in great shape too, completely broken out and packed, so we wore snowshoes the whole journey—including the two water crossings to our delight.

Just after we did our last hike peak journey, we selected some ADK46er trail names and I agreed to write a song about Street and Nye.

Becky’s trail name: Nippletop Santanoni,

Laura is Saddleback Colden

Tela is Moose McNaughton

I am Marcy Cascades.

Going with a tune everyone knew I did a poor job of not having the lyrics with me during the hike but wrote the following to the tune of “I got you babe” by Sonny and Cher:

“They say we’re going to climb 2 ADK High Peaks today. It’s finally Daylight Savings time, so we’ve got more sunshine to climb.

Babes, we’ve got each other babes, we’ve got each other babes.

Street and Nye you’re in our sights, we’ve been planning to summit you in winter for a while. Thankful for our adventure too, it’s been just a pleasure with you.

Babes, we’ve got each other babes, we’ve got each other babes.
 This will complete summits 17,18 for Saddleback Colden, babes it’s such an accomplishment babes. 37, 38 for Nippletop Santanoni, 35, 36 for Marcy Cascades, 10,11 for Moose Macnaughton , we sure are some awesome tough fucking babes.

On this ADK journey we’ve learned a lot mentally and physically tough to make the summits right!

Babes, we’ve got each other babes, we’ve got each other babes.

It’s a challenge we love and hate all the same time isn’t that great? Marcy Cascades is so happy for this journey with these awesome babes.

Babes, we’ve got each other babes, we’ve got each other babes.”

Next, it’s off to Switzerland for a quick week for work next week. Maybe I can get lucky with the weather and meet up with previous colleagues and friends.

#BeckySumber for some photo credits in this post.

Outdoors for the win!

A new chapter in MS Management, but so grateful!

So the song goes, “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end…”Tomorrow was supposed to be Infusion Friday, when I would receive my monthly infusion of Tysabri. Every month since 2010, I have visited an infusion center geographically beginning in PA->NC->CO->Switzerland->NY over the last 12 years to receive my Tysabri infusion. Minus one significant, scary relapse where I ended up in a wheelchair and fought like hell to retrain my brain to walk again, this medication has made my life pretty manageable with this horrible disease.

As I returned from my trip to Ireland in September, I was tested for the for the JC virus. Insanely, like an idiot, I had really begun taking for granted that I was JC negative. At least every six months I am tested for the last 12 years, I have always been totally negative- until a month ago. Sadly, I wasn’t just positive, I had a very high titer. Taking into account the amount of time I have been on Tysabri, with the duration and JC positive high titer, I had to stop taking Tysabri. Tomorrow starts a new journey, with Kesimpta.

But I would like to talk about the amazing things I was able to do while managing MS, a career, and adventuring,

L-I-V-I-N… on Tysabri, and thank you for being such a great hope for me over the years.

I danced a lot. I went to see live music routinely. I hiked and starting incorporating more hiking adventures into my life including national parks and 14ers. I got engaged on top of a 14er summit, Mt. Antero.

I began running post recovery from beating that wheelchair relapse.

I ran a half marathon in Steamboat Springs, CO (elevation ~6700 ft.) and beat my training goals.

I professionally traveled the world auditing, seeing so many places, and taking extra time when possible in those super sacred places you hope you will see again but didn’t know for sure hitting up some fun places including New Zealand, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, UK, Ireland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Germany, Finland, Norway, Japan, S. Korea, Netherlands, Hungary, Poland (non-exhaustive) but you get the point… all over the globe running around airports and cities.

I moved to a foreign country, Switzerland, and hiked as many summits in CH and across Europe I could afford in the time of living abroad during the beginning of the pandemic.

And if you read this blog you will know as I have returned to the US, I am in sight of the goal of hiking all the 46 high peaks in NY. So I have a lot to be grateful for. A huge thank you to my former employer, Biogen, for Tysabri and all the employees who made this medication a possibility for patients. It made my life so much easier to live fully. I can only hope for a similar or better journey ahead!

ADK High Peaks 32-34/46, The Santanoni Range

Wowsers, life can change so much in one week. Last Saturday I awoke to a medical test result that will make a big change to my life, I was positive for the JC virus which is no big deal if you aren’t taking a drug like I am for MS, but my titer was high, I needed to come off Tysabri immediately to avoid the potential for PML. I met with my MS Specialist on Friday, and It is with cautious optimism that I will come off of Tysabri with ease and begin a new therapy, Kemsimpta. People with MS don’t really switch medicines, unless there current therapy isn’t working. I’m grateful for all the years of Tysabri helping me, and hopeful that I won’t rebound coming off of Tysabri and the delay of Kesimpta fulling engaging (about 3 months) will not cause any major impact. Now on to the story of yesterday, 15 Oct 2022, when we tackled … one of the muddiest, wettest ranges in the completion of the 46 peaks, The Santanoni Range.

It was another early start, as daylight is running short, and this is one of the most tedious ranges to navigate in the ADK. Adding on the factor that the area got a huge rain on Thursday->Friday morning, and we knew what we were facing (sort of). I texted Becky and Laura to be ready to embrace the mud and wet. Not sure any of us were quite prepared for the extent of what we were up against. Another 1am wakeup time and we rolled out from my casa at 2am, and begin hiking in the dark around 3:35 am. Santanoni Peak has an elevation of 4,607ft and is ranked 14th on the Adirondack 46er list. Panther Peak is ranked 18th with an elevation of 4,442ft. Couchsachraga Peak is the smallest of the Adirondack 46ers and it actually only comes in at 3,820ft. We originally planned on Santa first, Couchie, then Panther. We accidentally missed our turn due to the darkness and ended up doing the range with Panther->Couchie->Santa. We did get views of a beautiful sunrise on the way up Panther.

Once we got close to the summit of Panther, the wind began to shift, which was cool to see from the clouds but I started singing the Mr. Sun song to manifest it staying with us for the challenges that lay before us.

Next came the long talked about journey to the summit of Couchsachraga Peak, which is the 46th-highest of the Adirondack High Peaks, with an elevation of 3,820 ft. This mountain is pronounced “Kook-sa-KRA-ga,” and is an ancient Algonquin name that means “Dismal Wilderness.” The Algonquin used this name for the Adirondacks. Today, people refer to it as “Couch Mountain” (Couchie, pronounced “Coochie” for short. Couchsachraga Peak is an un-trailed peak and is fully lined with trees.Hikers should note that this hike requires traversing several swampy and muddy areas. Dress accordingly and be sure you have proper gear for such conditions. Thanks for that tip!

Couch is known for its bog and up and down in elevation. It also as referenced above isn’t actually 4,000 ft, which adds a little insult to injury. But you must do it to get all 46, so we did it! You could not turn without navigating water, mud so you just had to embrace it. I had extra socks but the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze to change them as this was nothing but sloptastic saturated conditions. Sadly, I still haven’t found great gaiters for me, so I had thin water resistant snow pants that kinda worked over my shoe. Not really though so I had wet feet from this point forward in the hike.

With all these challenges we were grateful for sunshine and being sheltered from any wind. We really lucked out on the weather even though we had the aftermath of maybe a little more water and mud on the trail. This range is notorious for being muddy, so it’s hard to say without have more data to compare it too, but I can promise I won’t be back. Life moments always lead my mind to song lyrics, so only appropriately did I think of the Meatstick while on Couchie,

https://phish.net/song/meatstick/lyrics

(Anastasio/Fishman/Gordon/McConnell/Marshall/Herman)
ï¿½ Who Is She? Music, Inc (BMI)

I’m trapped here as my senses bleed
I can’t recall which things I need
You show up late and stumble in
Unsure if you are still Corrine

My captive gaze inside your eyes
Reveal a thing you’ve tried to hide
Attempting to record this view
Reflections drive me out of you

Time for the meatstick,
Bury the meatstick,
Take out the meatstick time
Whoa, shocks my brain
Whoa, shocks my brain

But long before this scene concludes
The end I’m seeking still eludes
My every effort to apply
My will to moments passing by

But every time we say goodbye
The pain I can’t identify
Reveals to me the hidden door
That leads to several moments more

Time for the meatstick,
Bury the meatstick,
Take out the meatstick time
Whoa, shocks my brain
Whoa, shocks my brain

(Japanese lyrics)
Meetostikku jikan
Meetostikku kakushite
Meetostikku toridashite jikan
Tou tou atama ga shock
Tou tou atama ga shock

Couchie definitely shocked our brains, and provided us with enough mud to last a lifetime. We started making singing a new theme for the classic “Soul Train”, and would be the “Couch Train” and instead of solid gold dancers, we would have hikers with mud and wet clothes jamming along.

Once we finally completed Couchie, we were on our way to the last peak of the day, Santanoni. We had some amazing views, from this adventure, but our feet were definitely squishy and we were getting tired physically and mentally from all the wet and mud. We made our 3rd summit, and then began our descent down the Santa Express.

The views were amazing on the descent. It did get a bit dicey at one slick slide, and this was a long arduous walk out, which was very hard on the knees, and required headlamps. We weren’t the only ones though which was nice. All in all- an intense mental and physical 16+ hour day in the ADK wilderness. I was so happy to take off the wet muddy shoes and socks, and enjoyed a steak dinner when arriving home. 12 more to go! Hike on, adventure on, ADK Tough.

31/46- ADK Adventure-The Dix Range

After missing so much of the ADK fall hiking opportunities being tied up with work in Ireland, I was eager to get back to this journey/ goal. The weather forecast was all over the place- I had taken Columbus Day off to either get these 5 peaks done, or recover. Today is recovery day!

We set out from my casa at 2am and were hiking by 3:23 am. Of course we started in headlamps and tackled this range counterclockwise, starting with the Macomb Slide. Unfortunately, the early morning clearness and the brilliant moon left us socked in with fog and clouds. By the way we were maybe just a few feet up the slide, I stopped, and asked my two awesome hiking partners if we should really continue the journey. It had began to mist and I knew as we gained elevation this would likely be snow or sleet. We made a group decision to keep on keeping on. We made to the top of Macomb, without those cool moments of actually seeing what you were going up the slide or that gorgeous view that so many had taken photos of looking back down over Elk Lake. Oh well! We made it safely anyway! I don’t really have any photos of going up the slide, as it was took dark and foggy. We did take a quick photo at the summit, then we were off to South Dix.

The journey to South Dix was relatively easy although the weather was continuing to worsen. We continued to move onward, and grabbed the summit easily, making the 2nd summit of the day, sadly with no views as we were still socked in.

Next up was Grace Peak, a huge significance in ADK history for women.

Grace Peak, formerly known as East Dix, is one of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks. Located in North Hudson, the mountain has an elevation of 4,012 feet.

The mountain was originally named “East Dix” after John A. Dix, who was the secretary of state in 1837 for Governor William Marcy. Dix later became Governor himself and was also a US Senator, Secretary of the Treasury, and a major general in the Civil War.

In June 2014, East Dix was renamed “Grace Peak” in honor of Grace Hudowalski. Hudowalski was just the 9th person to successfully summit all 46 High Peaks (thereby joining the Adirondack 46ers Club) and was the first woman to complete the feat. The name change was the result of a 12-year effort by the 46ers and other groups who were adamant that Hudowalski, a lifelong activist in the Adirondack Park, deserved a namesake. As we approached Grace, we asked for some sunshine. Only lasting about 5 minutes, we got some Vitamin D and lots of wind on Grace. What a beautiful peak, this whole range is supposed to have beautiful viewpoints. One day, but not all 5 in one day, I will re do some of them. Woman Power!

Next up on our 5 peak journey was Hough (pronounced Huff), Becky had a different name for it lol, it was a lot of up and down for elevation, and we were still socked in by cold, wet early winter weather. We didn’t have to use our spikes, but the conditions were less than desirable. We made it to Hough, our fourth peak of the day, and the wind and conditions were such that we didn’t even take a photo in front of the summit marker!

The winds were picking up and so was the sleet. We met a few groups on our journey, one group had just came from our last peak to summit Dix, while others were in route. We saw two guys with adorable pups, a lady and gentleman who were rocking this hike pace wise. The lady coming from Dix, asked where we were heading and we told her Dix. She gave a strong look of concern and said, “be safe”. I looked at Becky and raised my eyebrows…

We made it past the Beckhorn, then on to Dix to complete the summit of 5 in one day. We saw the survey marker and at this point the weather was really turning, so we wasted no time in our attempt to descend. Hmmm, the Beckhorn. Now I had read some stories about this decent, it’s steep with a loss of 2500 ft of elevation in about 2 miles. However, of critical nature is to ensure you descend down the proper path. The wind and sleet were quite intense, and we got precariously off trail just slightly. This involved some major teamwork of my hiking partners and myself to get ourselves back on track. I think the last time I was concerned for my or the safety of my partners was back in Switzerland crossing a sliding scree field with snow up high on Mt. Pilatus. This teamwork made the dreamwork safely, as Becky boosted me back up the cliffs with Laura assisting to a safe place and then I could help pull Becky up to a safe place to get us back on trail.

Once we started our steep decent, we experienced Mother Nature providing us with rain for a while, then finally we got sunshine! We were able to see some views and color from a distance. It was what I had been waiting for all day- actual fall foliage hiking. The walk out was intense, as we all described our bodies as ‘wrecked’. I have done longer hikes with more elevation, but this one was definitely one for the books with the weather variables and a safety scare. Whew, once we made it to the car, it was a moment of joy for us all! Another ADK adventure in the books. 15 peaks to go before I have accomplished the goal! Grateful for great partners as I certainly could have injured myself yesterday. Hike on, adventure on! #ADK

First International Work Trip in Years

The last two weeks of September, I went on my first international work trip in ages. I knew most of the 2 weeks I would be there would be occupied with intense 15+ hour work days, but I did get the pleasure of visiting the Cliffs of Moher and Limerick for the first time. The Shannon River was just around our hotel, as well as wonderful cathedrals and castles.

Getting to the Cliffs was a bit of a tricky situation, but thankfully it all worked out wonderfully. As it was intense two weeks of work, having this one day to explore was amazing. The Cliffs indeed are beautiful and I had the benefit of enjoying the atypical wonderful Ireland weather.

Ireland is such a friendly wonderful country. Although, I was happy to visit again, the next time I visit I hope to have more down time to enjoy the music, culture, and food!