ADK Ranking 4 of TBD

Happy 2024! I have taken the first full week of January off work, and I must say it’s really one of the best decisions I have made and may become a tradition. Yesterday, I was able to do a New Year’s Day winter hike, in the ADKs. It was a cold but windless day with blue skies and much needed. Quick photo as it was a beautiful first ascent for me of Noonmark.

Back to the ranking of bias…

12. Mount Colden via Avalanche Pass Both Solo

Strava Stats:

03Jun2023: 14.40 mi , Elevation Gain 3,481 ft, Elapsed Time 7:38:07

05Aug2023: 16.83 mi, Elevation Gain, 3,907 ft Elapsed Time 9:26:28

More to come on the variances later. First let’s talk about how flipping special Avalanche Pass/Lake is it just brings a huge bonus to the Colden journey.

This view is why my second solo trip was extended. The weather broke during the hike and cleared up, so while I was not willing to redo Mt. Colden completely, I was willing to extend my hike by some mileage and minimal elevation to actually see Avalanche Lake clearly as my previous attempts, even leading up to this second time left me in a fog with no view! This has been my only solo 46 Peak. I can’t exactly say why, minus two reasons. Becky and Laura had already done it, it was not suitable for Tela due to the numerous ladders, I think she could have handled the scrambles ok, but negative on the ladders.

I had so little visibility my first trip hiking trip. The second time, I was itching to hike to maintaining fitness of some sort, and to get some views. The summer of 2023 in the ADK especially on the weekends were dismal pickings at best. Trail advisories were up many times, and the area experienced extensive flooding and erosion. Mount Colden- what’s to love- when you go through Avalanche Pass, you experience one of the coolest engineered hiking experiences I have had. Read history here https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2017/02/the-origin-of-the-hitch-up-matildas.html . The trail up Colden is steep (1950 ft in 1.6 miles), and the true summit is a little hard to locate in the fog, but when it’s clear or semi clear and you get those views, it is simply phenomenal. 4.8/5 stars. Pictures include both journeys. Ladders, did I mention ladders, like multiple sections of ladders…Oh Colden, you are beautiful! This is also a stair stepper someone that someone put amazing effort into. Since I was solo I counted and each staircase was 100+. That’s a lot of help!

13. Wright Peak- Strava Stats (inclusive of Algonquin and Iroquois: Hiking Partners: Becky, Props to Laura for Tela sitting as she already had this one, and Tela was tired :).

11.16 mi Elevation Gain: 4,629 ft Elapsed Time 9:47:46

Wright is a wonderful peak, although I must admit I hadn’t done too much research on it compared to the other peaks on this particular journey. We had saved Wright for the last peak, and it was a little more technical slab wise than I was expecting. Thankfully, we were slack packing, so it made it much easier, especially on tired knees/legs. The summit of Wright is simply amazing, wide open, and there is also the plane wreckage. https://www.adirondack-park.net/history/b47.wright.html Such a super cool peak! Rank 4.7 of 5 stars for scrambles and a unique and wonderful summit to explore with views for days!

14. Whiteface Mountain

First Attempt DNF Nov 2021 due to winter weather with Becky, but we had Pumpkin Cheesecake!

, Second attempt success! 15Jul2023 Hiking Partner- Tela; Strava Stats

8.00 mi, Elevation Gain 3,205 ft Elapsed Time 5:15:38 Recently, we also helped Laura and Tela gain Whiteface and Esther which brought Tela to 18 high peaks it was a snow wonderland right before it got warm and weird winter weather! Some pics included of that summit which included Esther (not yet ranked). On this day, Tela and I lucked out to a blue clear day, only on luck as Becky ended up going the day post and had wildfire haze. Becky finally got her amazing Whiteface views on our snowshoe adventure! This hike starts off a little bit like a bitch. The ascent starts right away, up, up and up Marble Mountain you go. You gain about 1700 ft of elevation in the first two miles, so it gets you going. While the top of Whiteface is unique in that it’s the only 46er people can take a paved road to, and a ski resort. The top is wicked cool especially in winter the ice formations due to wind are mind blowing. This hike on a clear day gets 4.7 stars. I only detract from the stars due to the painful steep descent in the last stretch of the hike.

15. Nippletop: Twice, once for the 46, once in the fall for amazing beauty!

19Jun2022: Hiking Partner: Becky Strava Stats: Paired with Colvin->Blake->Colvin->Nippletop->Dial->Bear Den 24.76 mi Elevation Gain 6,389 ft Elapsed Time 15:18:46

30Sep2023: Indian Head, Nippletop and Dial Fall Beauty 15.41 mi Elevation Gain 4,715 ft Elapsed Time 9:10:03

Sometimes this ranking thing gets murky, looking at this one it makes me think should it have been higher? Doing this the first time it was feeling like a huge accomplishment, the second time it was simply views galore. There are some steep scrambles up this way, but it absolutely worth it. Roots, Rock and Reggae for the ADK win every time! 4.7/5 stars, this hike has summit views, and multiple awesome combinations with other peaks for a longer or shorter hike

Had to pop the Indian in on this post from this hike, because it’s just so flipping iconic for good reason. To be continued…

ADK Ranking 3 of TBD, ending 2023 and ushering in hope for 2024

8. Giant: 06Aug2022 Hiking Partners: Chris, Tela, Strava Stats: 6.22 mi Elevation Gain 3,045 ft Elapsed Time 4:34:58

Oh Giant, I have been fortunate enough to climb you twice as you make a quick day with great elevation in a short distance. You are majestic, offering views a plenty. I have not paired you yet as a traverse with Rocky Peak Ridge (my 2nd favorite) so I look forward to giving that a go sometime as well. Short, steep, rewarding views (no warm up just go up!) 4.8 stars

9. Armstrong– Hiking Partners, Becky, Tela Strava Stats 24.21 mi Elevation Gain-4,797 ft Elapsed Time 12:10:40 (Gothics->Armstrong->Upper and Lower Wolfjaw) This Peak offers absolutely stunning views, and happens to be sandwiched in with some of my other favorites (like Pyramid Peak) which is not technically a high peak towards the 46 count even though it is 4596 feet in elevation. The views are amazing and this little area of the ADK is just divine really. Why does Armstrong make the top ten? Our approach was going up Gothics cables to get there, so the approach is fast and you’ve done most of the work, oh and yes that ladder that will give me chuckles for the rest of my life, watching your golden try to go piggyback on your hiking partner. Oh, Tela. Such a ham! Man, do I love you and you can bet she loves her Aunt Becky for leading the Armstrong ladder descent front woman, Tela in the middle, and me bringing up the rear we got this one done. 4.8 out of 5 stars.

10. Big Slide (Extended Loop)- Hiking Partners, Chris, Jess, Tela Strava Stats: 14.00 mi Elevation 3,074 ft Elapsed Time 6:44:33

When my old college roommate came to visit, I tortured her with an early morning 46er. Poor thing, I don’t think she was awake until closer to the end of the hike, while Chris was huffing and puffing, and Tela was happy as ever to be with me. We ended up letting Jess lead who had no map just following signs and quickly realized you can’t do that in the ADK. LOL. Not the only time we’ve added mileage in our journey, but we almost doubled this one. Great hike, via the Brothers with views on end for days. It was a humid day when we went, but still have to give Big Slide a huge prop, still need to just do the standard route. Big bang for your buck on distance with views and some cool scrambles. 4.7 out of 5 stars.

11. Cascade, First High Peak Completed. Hiking Partner: Becky, Tela. Strava Stats (Cascade, Porter)- 8.42 mi Elevation Gain 2,401 ft Elapsed Time 5:18:29.

Having no real idea of the journey ahead, Becky and I started this journey on 10Jul2021 at 5:47 am. This is one of the most visited high peaks due to ease of access and shortness of the trail to get to some really stellar views in the park. Many families, tourists etc. hike this peak, and I actually have not redone it since this hike. It’s a beauty though and earns its spot in the upper tier for accessibility, views, cool scrambles, and less committing time to completing a hike peak. Beautiful geological features all along the grand summit. 4.7 out of 5 stars.

Happy New Year’s Eve! The rankings shall continue, until we get to the gruesome last ones :P. Enjoy a safe celebration of 2023 all, and whatever you do, take care of your shoes.

Ranking Part Zwei

Welcome back to part 2 of the ADK ranking blog again my favorites all biases including with the exception of the Outlier Peaks of the Dix Range due to visibility issues.. it’s another rainy day here, with the trails being slick so writing time is the right time.

Peak #4: Saddleback Cliffs – 23Sep2023, Hiking Partners, Becky, Laura, 46er finish. (Some trail angels included on this one). Strava Stats (Haystack, Basin, Saddleback):

17.75 mi
8:32:23 Moving Time
5,502 ft-Elevation
13:12:23 Elapsed Time

Ahh, the Saddleback Cliffs. Ever since we started this journey we were so excited to finish on these. I still count this in my top five peaks even though it was more rushed than I would have desired and there was a lost footing saved by a trail angel to secure safety… but that’s not exactly my story to tell. I watched many few videos, prepping for these and the biggest question was the height challenge and awkward start for shorter people. I sadly do not have many photos of us on this route. That is because the trail angels who we met for the ride on on finisher, meeting the group at both preceding peaks,them assisting to find a Powerade that took a tumble, give beta on a descent, had decided they would wait for us in case assistance was needed (how gentlemanly!) first time in our 46er journey we saw men willing to give a hand! Laura was a few feet ahead and before I was ready to make a big here we are on our last peak, she was already on the second move, so I said, ok, I guess we are doing this. It was pretty easy because they gave beta on the handholds for the two crux moves for vertically challenged people and were the most gentlemanly kind men helping us celebrate our 46er journey!

5. Haystack– 23Sep2023- Part of 46 finisher Hiking Partners Becky, Laura Strava stats above.

Oh Haystack, Once I finally got to you, I saw why many people finish on you, it takes a minute to get to your beauty, but once you reach little Haystack that 8 mile trek in makes it all worth it. Your geological uniqueness and open summits with tons of fun scrambles are too good to not consider reclaiming you in the right conditions. You get a slightly lower score than five, because you made me work just a touch more on the approach than I desired. 4.9 stars

6. Skylight-Hiking Partner: Becky, Strava Stats (Marcy, Skylight Gray):

19.24 mi
9:44:04 Moving Time
Elevation 5,367 ft
Elapsed Time 13:10:05

I struggled to pick Skylight before Marcy, but I think it says volumes about how cool I thought both hikes were considering we had sub desirable conditions due to the Canadian wildfire haze to contend with on this hike. Skylight is just so magical. Reminds me a bit of Algonquin with its open summit, and just amazing views to be had. I can see why people pick this as their finisher. She’s a beauty. We had minimal views but wow, just such a sweet ass hike. Unique, still give it 4.9 stars!

7. Marcy- Hiking Partner, Becky- Strava Stats Above

Conditions up Marcy- started out as great and looking potentially clear, then morphed into very windy/ hazy/ cloud/fog let’s get down type of vibe, preventing much time on the summit of Marcy. I do agree the Van Hoevenberg is liked a paved highway of the ADK trails. Super smooth! In retrospective, I would have done this trail back up and over Marcy, if done again to avoid the infamous floating logs. I rather deal with elevation than slow bog water, lol. Marcy, is a classy mountain. I want to spend more time may a sunrise hike up her but she’s also quite a long way in. Overall 4.8 stars, could easily move up to a 5.0 with a bluebird day ;0).

Stay tuned for more ranking to come, c’mon snow!

Looking back at the 46er Journey Ranking my Favorites Part 1 of TBD

As someone who fights challenges in many different ways, I would like to take the time to share my thoughts about my favorite peaks along the journey in order of preference from my experience, and what it really took for me to accomplish the ADK 46er journey. If you have read this blog over the past year and a half it is filled with stories of these summit goals, and I’m super grateful for my hiking partners and my own capability to find a way to accomplish this goal.

When I was on my previous MS medication, we were killing it in the Summer of 2022, I felt stronger physically and mentally than I had in a very long time (probably in my Sabbatical of 2018). As my job was really stressful at the time, I found the challenges, beauty and all the other challenges the ADK could bring, such as bogs, mud, black flies, just an ADK mile to go, to be exactly what my brain needed to push all of that other stuff out of my mind and focus on one foot in front of the other. In Nov 2022, when I had to switch MS therapies, I was worried for multiple reasons. I was starting all over again in disease modifying therapy, trying to find my body’s new normal and this was insanely challenging, and remains a challenge until this date. How was I going to be able to finish our remaining hikes when my schedule and body was on a 5:00am to 6:30pm work, eat, spend little time with my family then the body demanded bed. Thankfully through science, we have figured out some alternatives to help my energy levels, but everything is at least four times more difficult for me. Now to the journey….

When I look back at the person I was when Becky and I first completed Cascade and Porter, it’s almost laughable. The photo below is when I thought, yes, we can do this challenge as we hit four peaks (really I count it as five as you are required do Colvin->Blake->Regain that lost elevation to climb back up and over Colvin->Nippletop and Dial in the same day with long mileage and elevation and 14 hours outside in the ADK wilderness. Yes, we can! The challenge was on, and the adventures, the planning, the weather watching, the coordination of schedules, the middle of the night alarms, it was in full effect goal on.

As I have said many times, the journey to achieving the summit of all of the 46 ADK High Peaks is a challenge somewhat like nothing I had embarked on. I considered myself to be a knowledgeable intermediate-early advanced hiker. No, I had not completed any major accolades of long distance trails like the AT or PCT, or Rainer, Denali etc, but I had hiked plenty of different mountain ranges internationally in various conditions and knew my limits at that time (or so I thought). I also thought I knew mud intimately. After all, I did survive two Phish festivals that were more than mud (Coventry) and (IT)was pretty sloptastic as well!

The ADK takes those limits you are accustomed to associated with hiking and kinda threw out minus the 10 basics of leave no trace, typical hiking etiquette into another dimension moving towards a unique, challenge that I can say took major mental, physical, and at times physiological strength to achieve and overcome.

Let’s talk about mud and sludge. At the above referenced Coventry Phish festival, they had created make-shift boards to help people with the mud/sludge concert field->campsite navigation. As with all big crowds, people get impatient in the dark, things aren’t moving fast enough? No problem, they will just create their own pathway. Which is all well and good until they come face to face with an ATV gator who gets stuck in the mud/sludge and just proceeds to spin mud over and over in as if they are under attack. Ok, I digress. Thankfully I was just an observer in the tragic comedy above…. Now to the ADK. While I can say I am truly thankful we scheduled most of our hikes for the summer 2022 for many reasons, weather in the summer 2023 was one of them. We really lucked out with only one hot day, and pretty descent summer conditions. The Fall of 2022 wasn’t as kind to us, but the summer of 2023 was really a weather disaster for those 46 journey completion seekers. We ended up with only 5 trips during that time, doing Marshall in the wettest of non-raining weather I’ve ever hiked in, Marcy->Skylight->Gray, and me doing Colden via Avalanche Lake to try to get my views in. Our finisher on 23Sep2023 on Haystack, Basin and Saddleback brought this goal to completion. I have learned much about myself, my will, determination, when I need help to ask for it, and grateful for trustworthy companions to help me when I needed it.

I am going to do a peak by peak ranking with photos if possible. I will not include in the ranking the 5 peaks of the Dix range we hiked on what we hoped would be the fall hike of 2022- 09Oct2022. The weather was so miserable on the day we planned, and I can not in good ranking ethic count these peaks as I do believe they deserve their spot in the upper half, but since we had 5 ft of visibility most of the day, it was like moving through a fog with none of the beautiful views this range offers.

My Favorite 46 ADK High Peaks in Order Biased to Weather Conditions

(Sans Dix Range for inclusion due to weather)

Gothics– 05Jun2022- Hiking Partners: Becky, Tela Strava stats: 24.21 miles, Elevation Gains 4,797 ft Elapsed Time 12:10:40 – Oh man, there is just so much to love about this mountain, and I have only gone up the cable route twice. This hike going up the cable route offers the thrill of many things the ADK can offer. We took one trip up Gothics a bit by mistake from the Garden. Missing our turn for the Wolfjaws, we decided to go for it and see what happened as Tela was along for this adventure. We encountered a few guys in route, two discouraging our choice, and one highly encouraging as he said the other two guys were his friends and bailed, and we went for it. Between Becky’s efforts, Tela’s efforts and my efforts we were able to get Tela up the cables! Whew. The larger Tela challenge on that hike was the ladder descent from Armstrong. Tela pretty much wanted a piggyback ride down Becky’s back. Teamwork made the dream work and we had a return trip to Gothics up the cables sans Tela to truly enjoy another beautiful but warm day on 26Jun2022! (combining a bit of magic with bluebird skies and an unusually empty Rainbow Falls and trip to Indian Head and Sawteeth with Strava clocking 16.9 miles, Elevation Gains 4800ft, Elapsed time 11:18:06. Why is Gothics my favorite of the 46? It’s completely varied in its challenges, you get varied terrain, multiple routes to mix and play around with. The views, the cable route scramble gives nice exposure and you get some of the fine ADK ladder action. 5 stars.

2. Rocky Peak Ridge– Via New Russia Trail Hiking Partners: Laura

On the 27May2023, I had orphaned this peak which is usually paired with Giant which I did with Chris prior to a trip to CO for a warm up hike (excellent hike). Strava clocked this hike at 13.16 miles, total elapsed time 8:49 minutes, elevation gain: 5,312 ft. Well, what I can I say, we lucked out. This hike is truly one of my favorites from this approach. Yes, there is a ton of up and down in elevation, but you are greeting with stunning 360 views at times. Definitely a hike best saved for a clear day. The conditions have to be right to reach a ranking this high, and on this day, they were right on time. Becky and I attempted again in the fall but DNF due to poor weather and visibility.

Why do I love this hike? It actually is one of the more friendlier designed trails for an ADK high peak. Although there is a ton of elevation and ups and downs you go through splendid forests, an exposed Ridgeline, with 360 views. Again, must be done on the bluebird weather day. Bliss! In the right conditions 5.0 stars.

3. Algonquin-10Jul2022, Sträva: 11.16 miles, Total Elapsed Time: 9:47:46, Total Elevation: 4,629ft. Hiking Partners: Becky, Laura, Tela Due to scheduling conflicts for openings and we really had the itch to get things done, we tackled this mountain done typically paired as we did with Wright and Iroquois the Sunday weekend of my MS infusion. Pushing myself with these views and smiles made it a pleasant yet challenging day. The 46 teaching me new ways of adapting to challenges. This one you can also end at the hungry hiker, which meant ice cream for Tela and food for us all!

What do I love about Algonquin? It’s constant scrambles, amazing open summit where there’s views for days (also lucked out on the weather for this journey). The type of mountain that calls to me to embrace it even if I normally wouldn’t want to leave the house. 5.0 Stars although the knees do feel the impact on the descent.

Stay tuned for more recaps to come of my look back on ranking my favorite of 46 journey through this non-work season!

ADK High Peak- Whiteface with Tela “Moose McNaughton”

In this 46er journey, there have been many memorable moments, but we had one intense unexpected snow in Nov 2021 doing Esther and Whiteface, so to keep things pure, although we weren’t able to coordinate with the weather to do it together, we agreed we needed to reclimb this peak to ensure we actually completed it before our finish.

We had planned on an attempt on Sunday, but the forecast predicted a washout. I was free today, and the weather was good. Becky had Monday available to rehike this high peak with a favorable weather forecast. It would be nice to take in some views since the last time we were on this peak, we faced high wind and white-faced’ conditions.

Although the conditions made this trail non rememberable (getting down as the storm was ascending was the priority), I confirmed it was dog friendly, and took the Tela Moose McNaughton along for probably her last ADK high peak, Whiteface.

So off she and I went leaving my house around 3am, and began the drive to Wilmington, NY. As we drove as I often have this summer while being able to hike have raised my eyebrows at the weather forecast vs. what would actually happen. As I drove through the rain, I hoped for the forecast to correct itself once we got closer. Thankfully, it did, although a very high humidity, we began our hike of Whiteface at 4:55am. It has been a wild time weather wise, so wet, the DEC had issued an advisory regarding high peaks, especially those with water crossings. Reviews and conditions for this peak seemed low risk, and we were the first there.

We started ascending via the Marble Mountain trail with a headlamp on Tela, the trek up to Marble Mountain is pretty steep, gaining about 1015 ft of elevation in .9 miles. Luckily the trail was dry and in good conditions. We could see the sun rising but not high enough to grab a good shot.

We continued on to Lookout and the trail conditions became a bit muddy, but nothing more than the ADK has presented in the past. I’m so happy we rehiked this mountain. I would definitely not feel I could say I hit the true summit after seeing what more the trail offered. Although I had to give Tela some pep talks to get through the descent and attack of bugs, we made decent time and were back at the car by 10am. So happy we had such a beautiful day with these amazing views. Very different than the first time I hit this mountain up. Other hike repeats to come between other summer activities. Our finish of the 46er journey hopefully will happen in September. Keep on adventuring, pushing yourself and living life to the fullest. With love to all!

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 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!