The method to my madness. First look at Strava, then photos, include or not. We were training for CO, the heat and humidity were on! September will be long, because… goals
Jul 2024: Indian Head and Rainbow Falls Loop AMR, Adirondacks. This was our 4th of July hike, pretty sweet as always. July included multiple other peaks for training but sticking to just this Indian Head Highlight
Aug 2024: Training included many peaks as we were prepping. I loved taking CK through Avalanche Pass. We went up ADK High Peak, Colden.
Sept 2024- I won’t repeat everything from the dedicated blog posts for these epic hikes. However, all the Lake City 14ers deserve a shining spotlight. I would reclimb all of these.
Redcloud and Sunshine:
Wetterhorn: Phenomenal hike, maybe my favorite class 3 in CO thus far.
Uncompahgre: What an amazing hike, looking forward to repeating as I was quite ill until the summit. Absolutely glorious!
Handies– The next time I visit the American Basin and climb Handies it will be during wildflower season. It was still dreamy, and we saved the easiest for last.
The timing and weather conditions were certainly in my favor as we returned home. The leaves were just beginning their evolution. My favorite hiking season, fall, included hitting up Rocky Peak Ridge via New Russia. Then, of course, there was the beautiful Indian Head.
Oct 2024
Sunrise Mt Jo: I had never climbed Mt. Jo, so I took a touristy day and walked around Heart Lake. It was easygoing but absolutely worth every moment,and the colors were popping! This was such a glorious trip.
Roostercomb/Snow:
So much beauty in this loop. Love it, definitely on a repeat list.
Bald Peak- For the first time, I was able to show Becky the beauty of this peak. On our first attempt together, we were weathered out of views. We went a bit beyond Bald, but not all the way to RPR. Love this trail!
Sleeping Beauty, Southern Adirondacks: The colors on this bluebird day hike may have been my favorite this fall. Even if the pictures don’t do it justice. Simply brilliant.
Nov 2024-Southern Tongue Range for Becky’s 12ster. Wow, the tornado damage was surreal. Amazing work by trail 46ers, but this area will need time and additional effort. A true obstacle hiking course.
Dec 2024
Hurricane Sunrise– I saw the weather forecast and trail conditions. I had the luxury of a 1/2 day on Friday. This enabled an early bedtime. I got up super early to catch this phenomenal winter sunrise delight. One of my favorite hikes of the year. The full moon lit my way as an additional guiding light in the darkness.
Snowy– The small goal I’m working on is the ADK 29er challenge. I have done most of the peaks through 46er and 29er challenges, but I have about 10 left. Laura and I had a fun day with the mountain all to ourselves. The butt slides on the very steep last section made me feel like a kid again.
We had a tremendous warm-up and melt of snow after our Snowy hike. I was left wondering what to do on New Year’s Eve. Unfortunately, the weather is way too windy. There’s no New Year’s Day hike today. I settled on one of my favorite little hikes this year,
Hopkins. This was my sixth time hiking this mountain this year. It’s short but has a nice elevation gain, the views are rewarding, and easy access from my house. The conditions were surreal for this time of year. A snowstorm is coming in, so hopefully we will be back to seasonal weather. Happy 2025 all! Hoping your year is healthy and happy- for me that will mean I’m hiking. Cheers!
While the weather outside is yucky for hiking, to my disappointment, I figured it’s a good time to blog. The next two posts will feature my favorite photos or moments. Part 1 will cover January to June of 2024. Part 2 will focus on July to December of 2024.
Mountains, the place I feel most at home, merging my favorite things together, hiking and photography. As I reflect on 2024, I feel grateful for my hiking adventures. I was able to take on the challenges before me physically and mentally. In order of month, here were some of my favorite experiences:
January 2024: New Year’s Day- Noonmark, Adirondacks, NY- It is such a great hike. I always get the most unique weather surprises on this peak. The cloud beauty is remarkable.
February: 1) Cascade Mountain, High Peak, Adirondacks, NY– Always a great high peak due to distance and dreamy views
2) Avalanche Lake and Colden Lake, Adirondacks, Lake Placid, NY
What a cool adventure! I’m hoping for the chance to do this again, c’mon back cold!
March 2024: Buck Mountain, Fort Ann, NY Southern Adirondacks- Closest mountain to me, and just beautiful views of Lake George.
April 2024: 1) Birthday Eclipse at Schroon Lake – Although we couldn’t hike on my birthday due to several factors, we had an amazing time without any traffic issues taking in totality at this location. Thanks to Cindy for the insider parking and providing a great home base with her camp.
2)Minnewaska State Park Reserve– First Hike back with Becky 🙂
Becky suffered a tibial plateau fracture just before Christmas 2023 and had been working super hard to recover. She has done phenomenally in her recovery!
There were multiple other hikes during these months, but these were my favorites.
May 2024: 1) Blue Ridge Mountains, NC- Rough Ridge Trail, Boone Fork Trail, Beacon Heights, Linville Gorge – Sunrise shots paint the sky the morning of the Aurora that night!
2) The sunrise hikes in the Blue Ridge reminded me of how much I love and enjoy these. I was blessed with the timing of a clear morning on Cascade, (again!) for an epic sunrise.
3) Bald Peak via New Russia- So much love for this trail- to Bald or RPR or traverse to Giant. Such great views.
Life gets in the way, it’s nice to have a moment to complete out the CO trip blog:
We had accomplished our goal. The weather was non-ideal for hiking for the next couple of days. So, we went through Silverthorne and met with the most lovely Erin for lunch. She’s the best. I’m so glad I got to see her again. We were slumming in hiking clothes, while the lovely Erin was draped in cashmere. 🫶
Although the time was short, we made the most of catching up and drove on to Steamboat. We drove down memory lane. Chris and I had driven this stretch of highway countless times when living in the area. We often went back and forth to the front range. We noted small changes, the desire to hike a mountain that may be possible with a rope that we’ve both had our eyes on for many years. Once we got to Rabbit Ears Pass, I felt a little teary-eyed. I thought about my sweet Tela. We enjoyed many snowshoes, mountain biking, and hiking adventures in this beautiful area. Amazing memories, and such a beautiful adventure. Photos below are grainy due to loss of original files!
We settled easily into the super awesome accommodation for two nights. Thank you again, Amy Brown, if you are reading! We managed to see some old friends and get just a taste of old stomping grounds. Our local friends noted some things had changed. Some changes were more significant than others. In life, you can find yourself in a small bubble. But it does seem Steamboat is becoming more like Vail. Unfortunately, this means I could never really fit in there again. Still a magical, beautiful place, and I’m happy it was once my home. It rained a bit. So, we took advantage of an opportunity to get massages. These were very needed due to the bed switches, travel, and some soreness from the 14ers we climbed. My therapist was tiny but mighty in power and skill. I jokingly asked her if I could take her home with me in my pocket.
We said farewell to Steamboat. We drove back to the Front Range. We spent a few days with friends before flying back. A glorious CO vacation indeed! See you again soon.
No foreshadowing, we did it! Day 3- Uncompahgre and Handies 14ers done! I was really feeling rough going up Uncompahgre. It is a beautiful peak, but I was so sick the entire time with stomach issues. TMI for the sensitive reader, but when I finally got some of whatever upset my stomach, it was green. Enough said. So, it was not the best time for CK, but I did my best. I turned the corner post-summit and started feeling stronger again. I look forward to redoing this one again, although the drive-up is a PITA. Very grateful for a Jeep and not being the driver.
I was so happy I felt better. I knew I would rather push it to Handies, even if I was catching something. There was a risk I would have no energy or face weather issues the following day. So we went for it. We ran back to the Airbnb. We ate rice for lunch for some extra carbs. Then we went on a Jeep drive to American Basin TH. We started Handies at 3:07 pm. Sunset was at 7:17. We needed to do this one as fast as possible to avoid driving that 20 4WD miles in the dark.
I think CK had his doubts, which considering my performance on Uncompahgre was understandable, but I was ready.
Our total elapsed time on Handies was 2 hours and 47 minutes. We had indeed saved the easiest for last. I can envision just how beautiful the wildflowers are in the American Basin. We had some odd encounters with hikers on the way.
Screenshot
The Strava stats say it all! Massive effort, complete with amazing moments, some mental and physical struggles, and overall, success and character building experiences.
Oddities on this hike with others included an older gentleman who had decided not to summit. He left his party and was waiting for them both at the alpine lake. Then he must have just gone back to his truck. He was driving back to the parking lot as we were leaving and asked if we had seen them. We advised of whom we saw and their descriptions but were pretty sure we had not seen who he described. Hopefully, they all reunited!
We were super stoked, and for a celebration went back to our favorite eatery, this time for yummy ribs. It was chilly outside, and dark, so we sat inside. Our waitress from the previous two days congratulated us on our completing our goal.
Looking back, I was amazed we were able to complete it in 3 days. We were very lucky to have been able to accomplish this goal. Next blog post our first return to Steamboat Springs in 6 years! Keep on keeping on, looking forward to getting outside for some NY ADK fall foilage tomorrow!
I was in a deep sleep. My body was likely exhausted from completing yesterday’s adventure on Redcloud and Sunshine.
I was awakened abruptly at 3am. At first, I was a little confused, like waking from a lucid dream and trying to remember where I am? Oh. Right. I’m in Lake City, in the Airbnb, where there is bear activity. Holy smokes, there is a bear in the garage behind the bed I am sleeping in. She is ravaging, looking for food. CK was sleeping in the downstairs bedroom. I quickly ran to him like some child waking a parent. I had never been that close to a bear on the hunt before. I remembered that everything I knew was to be loud and make noise to try to scare her away. I certainly was not counting on the bear not being tempted to barrel through the bedroom wall. So we flipped the lights into the garage and did some yelling. She finally left, and somehow, likely exhaustion, I fell back asleep before the alarm was set. I found out that she then visited outside the downstairs where CK was sleeping. Unfortunately, he was not well rested for our Friday 13th Day 2 14er, Wetterhorn Peak. However, he handled it like a champ. We headed out with happiness and relief that the bear bothered neither the rental car nor the Jeep. The Airbnb had a shed. The door was destroyed. I sent a message to the host. Off we went to Wetterhorn! We saw a few folks en route. We met an awesome couple who live in Superior, CO, Jackie, and Alan. We would complete most of the hike with them, including the technical parts, and walk out.
Wetterhorn was so much fun. The ADKs have their scrambles, but this type of exposure is not the same. We were playing a little leapfrog with Jackie and Alan on the trail. Then once we got to the class 3 section, we were all in together. It was super fun, the only part I wasn’t looking forward to was the downclimb. How was I going to manage some of those sections? I’ve always had a rule in hiking. That is to never go up when you aren’t willing to come down. Certain parts of this had me wondering. 🤔 . Up we went, around the Prow.
What an amazing day! On the downclimb, Alan and Jackie gave awesome beta. I only felt sketchy on one move. CK gave me a hand on that move. It was great hiking both the technical parts and non-technical parts of this hike with them. Small world, as Superior is super close to Louisville!
We went back to revisit our favorite eatery. We also chatted with the Airbnb host. The host was very relaxed about the bear incident. And that was 14er 3 complete. Two more to go to meet the goal. The weather was not looking promising on Sunday. Could we do Uncompahgre Peak and Handies on the same day? It would require a full day of hiking, and driving to different trailheads ( about an hour apart on 4WD roads.) I had started to feel slightly run down and tired, which was not super surprising as my sleep scores/body battery were quite low.
It’s been a while since I last wrote many things keeping me busy and still processing the loss of Tela. Of course, grief has its own way, and we learn to keep navigating life without those who were so much a part of our existence. Still miss and love you sweet Tela, so blessed.
We were able to go down to NC to the mountains for Mother’s Day and stay in the cabin where I went to grad school. That was a great deal of fun with beautiful sunrise hikes, unfortunately, rained out s’mores, connecting with old friends, and great family time. The weather was great for sneaking in some fantastic sunrise hikes.
I was glad to get some hikes in pretty steady training, and now things have changed in our original summer plans, doing the right thing by my employees, so Chris and I are targeting a new fitness goal of attempting 5 14ers in Lake City, CO in September. https://lakecity.com/a-guide-to-hiking-lake-citys-five-14ers/ We may end up adding on La Plata Peak or switching something of course dependent on weather, but training has begun, and I always do better when I have a goal to train for.
We went to Belmont non-remarkable, lol, not my thing, and had a team building training at work. I felt my strength finder matched my thoughts.
The first week of summer has been super miserable for any hiking with strong storms in the forecast and even being experienced here. We had to switch up mountains for running, and my body definitely told me this morning, ‘You haven’t used these muscles in this way recently.’. This is a good reminder that training for hiking by hiking to ensure you are getting some mileage and elevation, cross training, especially cardio training such as running is critical to regain cardio fitness before the trip as well. Some recent photos of hiking in the ADK, Jay Mountain, Buck, and Catkskills with Becky, hoping this summer turns out to be much drier than last, some photos include this magnificent solo sunrise and moonset hike up Cascade and Porter! Need to make more sunrise hikes a priority in life. Be well, happy adventuring!
Now, wait just a minute, I thought I was going to spend the rest of my days in Switzerland, Mom. I’m going to have to get on that airplane again in a crate, and we are moving to what state, NY? I don’t know anything about NY. There are two mountain ranges we can play in? Ok, I guess so.
Just before we departed Switzerland, Tela gave us a crazy scare with intestinal tumors, surgery, and thankfully she recovered pretty well, minus a set back of the healing of a growth on her paw. The timing was so close before our move from Switzerland to Saratoga Springs that Tela still wasn’t even able to run with me or hike with me during most of my sabbatical. It was a true bummer. You can’t ever explain to a look of excitement that you slowly see turn to despair and at times crying when she wasn’t coming along for the adventure.
Tela got integrated nicely into life in Saratoga, spending time hiking, walking and exploring. Once we purchased our home, we really settled in. It was the first time Tela has had such a huge fenced in back yard. It was new for a while, like what is this?… then she always enjoyed her perimeter patrols and squirrel chases along with other backyard shenanigans.
Ever the hiker, Tela completed the following ADK High Peak Summits:
Cascade
Porter
Big Slide
Phelps
Tabletop
Gothic (Cables Route)
Armstrong
Upper WJ
Lower WJ
Street
Nye
Marshall
Whiteface
Giant
Algonquin
Iroquois
Esther
She also hiked many of the Lake George 12ster challenge, but the stupid cancer had slowed her capabilities by that time, and it was indeed a long day for the Tongue Range, so the right call was made. She got to hike in the Catskills with Becky and once even with Jason. Becky and Laura were both such wonderful hiking partners with Tela. Special thanks to both of them for a couple of dicey situational help! (Armstrong Ladder/ Almost winter whiteface stairs). She loved being in front of our pack. And if you followed her, you were likely going the most direct route, until she got into her golden age. The best part about hiking with Tela, was she would go ahead at times, then turn around and give you this huge smile, like no matter what, you’ve got this! I have missed this for a few months, but I know I will continue to miss this about her on the trail. Our favorite place to be together. In her last years, she got to be a part of the Saratoga Dog Walkers, later Pink Pup Farm experience, but had to stop due to the cancer/vet orders.
Above is my favorite photo of Tela and Becky, it always brings such a smile as we were doing Algonquin, Iroquois (inclusive of Boundary) and then Wright for me and Becky, while Laura stayed with Tela.
Below is our last big hike with Tela up Whiteface and Esther. I can’t find the pic, but bless Laura for taking Tela down the stairs of Whiteface that day. The postholes were so bad on the trail we didn’t want to descend that way, so chose the stairs. They were their own type II adventure, and Laura took Tela.
The final days of Tela’s cancer battle were ugly, raw, and made me wonder if I had waited too long. Her last night was the worst, and I didn’t get my last planned walk with her. I think I’ll always regret that, but I had no idea things were going to take such a rapid turn. We were so blessed to have you in our lives, Tela.
I am not sure what I miss most, but I will certainly miss your smile and companionship. Your memory and funny personality will always be with me. I will look forward to traveling back to some key places you loved to spread your ashes. Love you always, the dog with so many nicknames, T, sweet T, T munch, T munchkin, well, all in all I can say I never thought I would feel greater hurt than when I lost Marley. Never say never indeed. Blessings.
I lost my best friend this morning to a warrior battle with cancer. She was something else, the funniest golden and did every thing her way. In 2012, after proper grieving for my beloved, Marley Anastasio crossed the rainbow bridge, I began to again yearn for what the companionship of unconditional dog love can bring. I decided to start looking at rescue Golden Retrievers through the Neuse River Golden Retriever society in NC. It took some time for vetting/finding her, but there she was Tela. No, for any Phish fan who thought I name my dog for the jewel of Wilson’s foul domain, I did not. However, I took it as a sign. Tela was rescued and began her new life.
Tela’s first mountain exposure was in the Blue Ridge of course, back to the roots and rock.
At first, having Tela in my life was a bit overwhelming. She had been abused clearly from her bathroom and other social behaviors and lots of training was required. I had not really encountered training an abused dog before, as I had Marley direct from her mom at 8 weeks. So Tela was a brand new experience. I was committed to her, and reversing the damage as much as I could for this beautiful dog.
The more the days went by, I was reminded indeed milestone after milestone of overcoming certain obstacles, Tela was not like Marley in many ways. She was not an OCD ball chaser or a snuggle monster, but she definitely liked sleeping in the bed! This was fine for me, because I was alone, going through a divorce, and I’ve never minded one dog in the bed. Not sure about multiple dogs, but many folks do it. Since Tela was not ball OCD like Marley, we started with a buoy and swimming.
At the time I got her, I lived very close to Jordan Lake, so we would go back there for evening sunsets. It’s a miracle with all the pine straw on the path we took that we never encountered any copperheads or other snakes, but shockingly and thankfully we did not. It is not some world class lake, but I can say I’ve seen some really great sunsets there.
Oh the energy! While I was working, I had Tela at the vet in doggie day camp. She would get extra socialization and training which was quite needed during this time of her life. We still struggled with her abuse reactions and fear for using the bathroom inside, but had overcome the socialization fear aspects. Anytime she felt the potential urge to go, she would become frantically distressed barking as if to say “please let me out, I promise I won’t go inside”. This damage was very engrained in Tela, and it took years to get to a baseline of understanding she would not be beaten or punished. From all these years, only when terribly sick has Tela ever had an accident inside. So grateful we could put that behind us.
In August of 2014, I had my worst MS relapse (knock on wood hopefully the most severe I will have), that left me in a wheelchair, needing to relearn to walk again. Long story short, I recovered and although I had never been a runner, I began to run simply because I could. Having an ability taken away gives you a different perspective. Running became a routine in Tela and my lives for many years. She loved running, and I’m not a fast runner, so my pace she was able to keep up pretty well for even long distances for me. We lived very close to the Tobacco Road Trail, and what a great flat trail that went on for so many miles to begin our running adventures. So much energy in her early days, she would run for 10 miles, then 30 minutes later when I was beyond exhausted look at me with that beautiful smile and say, “what’s next, Mom?”.
In 2014, around Thanksgiving, I started dating my future husband, Chris. Life happens, and Tela and I relocated to Steamboat Springs, CO in the spring of 2015. What a wonderful life we experienced. Powder Hound in full effect. Chris’s condo he was renting at the time did not allow pets, but Chris found a former family who bred goldens, and they were willing to take her into their pack for a couple of months until we were able to buy our own place. She definitely enjoyed being a part of the West Golden Pack for a few months and we were eternally grateful.
Once we were settled in our own place, Tela and I of course began to explore the areas around Steamboat, hiking and exploring as much as we could. Rabbit Ears Pass was definitely her favorite place to go snowshoeing in that deep champagne powder. I will treasure those days so much. Then of course, there is the beauty of Colorado wildflowers and 14ers. So flipping gorgeous and made for such great hiking. Chris and I took her on her first 14er, San Luis Peak in the gorgeous San Juan Mountain Range. Tela would also hike other 14ers and 13ers. She indeed was a snow monkey and mountain dog.
She was my training companion while I trained for the Steamboat Half Marathon (no dogs allowed on the actual course).
Plainly stated, Tela has been a constant unconditional love and an adventure companion for me since her rescue. Is she perfect? No, there is no such thing, but as my friend Kayce sent me a card once, that said “You’re Flawsome- an individual who embraces their flaws and knows they are awesome regardless”
More to come later, may you Rest In Peace my sweet, Tela, a lullaby the breezes whisper.
Aha, here we are at the finale post of the ranking of the ADK 46er journey sans the Dix Range. I will not be applying stars to the Mountains ranked 21-41.
I don’t know if I ever really broke down the different ranges- so this particular post provides some context to the Adirondack Ranges Involved in this challenge.
Great Range:
–Upper Great Range: Consists of Haystack, Basin, Saddleback
-Lower Great Range: Sawteeth, Gothics, Armstrong, Upper and Lower Wolfjaw
Macintyre Range: Algonquin, Iroquois, Wright
Dix Range: (omitted in the ranking post due to extreme poor conditions and these mountains wouldn’t be ranked where they would fall.) Consists of Dix, Hough, Grace, S. Dix, Macomb
Seward Range: Consists of Sewards, Donaldson, Emmons, Seymour
Santaooni Range: Consists of Santanooni, Couchsachraga, Panther
To recap: The first 20 rankings are as follows from my bias:
Gothics (Cable Route)
Rocky Peak Ridge via New Russia
Algonquin
Saddleback Cliffs
Haystack
Skylight
Marcy
Giant
Armstrong
Big Slide
Cascade
Colden via Avalanche Pass
Wright
Whiteface
Nippletop
Sawteeth
Dial
Colvin
Iroquois
Phelps
21. Upper Wolfjaw– 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 has some cool scrambles and views. This was part of the oops Gothics cable adventure with Tela, so my memory was more focused on her comfort at that moment as her paws were a bit tender/bloody. This is still a classic high peak and would repeat as we first intended with Upper and Lower WJ.
22. Basin: Hiking Partners, Becky, Laura, 46er finisher. (Some trail angels included on this one). Strava Stats (Haystack, Basin, Saddleback):17.75 mi8:32:235,502 ft-Elevation Gain 13:12:23 Elapsed Time
I overhyped the effort of Basin based on some photo someone posted online for the descent and some of the things I had read so was not really looking forward to this. It was a steep ascent but not horrible sketchy descent but worse than I had built up in my mind and I guess the angle of the photo online, but Basin of course gets a better rating for it’s breathtakingly beautiful summit views.
23. Seymour– Hiking Partner Becky, Strava Stats: 23.05 mi Elevation Gain 6,260 ft yup, Elapsed TIme 16:26:26 This started our adventure in the longest day in the Sewards range. I felt like we would never get out of this mountain range, and I am sorry, not sorry, you could not pay me to go back. The range is remote, 2.5 hours away from my house… Seymour itself was steep, typical ADK mud, with extra mustard, straight up steep, with rocks upon rocks , and sadly no views, but it did mark Becky’s half way point on the journey to 46.
24. Cliff: Hiking Partners: Becky, Laura: Strava Stats: 20.19 mi Elevation Gain 4,413 ft Elapsed Time 13:38:18 (Cliff and Redfield) Often spoke of as a semi-challenging scramble, I was looking forward to this one. Cliff was challenging but the main memory that only stands out in my mind was being stuck on one semi-solid foot hold while a chatty couple sitting down on Cliff engaged Laura in a conversation and me saying, “we have to move or I’m going to lose footing”. Ledges were fine, good work arounds as well.
25. Panther : Hiking Partners Becky and Laura: Strava Stats: (Panther, Santa, and Couchsachraga) 17.02 mi Elevation Gain 5,030 ft Elapsed Time 16:27:03.
Wild crazy weather hit just as we were summiting as we unfortunately saved this for last on our journey of the Santas, but in typical oops, we found we missed our turn and did the loop beginning with Panther instead of ending. Saw a gorgeous sunrise as we headed up, then starting singing Mr. Sun as we needed that vitamin D boost for this hike!
26. Lower WJ,– 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). I was pretty gassed by the time we hit Lower WJ that day. Thank goodness Becky encouraged me to keep going and not orphan the peak. Lesson learned- have quick sugar on hand! Lower WJ didn’t have as many views as upper of this magnificent range.
27. Tabletop, Hiking Partners: Becky, Tela: 19.74 mi Elevation Gain: 3,866 ft Elapsed Time 9:02:54
Tabletop is a great peak with a wooded summit bit of the initiation to the ADK mud! I definitely was so happy Tela did not get sucked into the mud.
28. Esther, Hiking Partners: First time, Becky, Second Time, Tela, Becky, Laura, Tela. 8.00 mi, Elevation Gain 3,205 ft Elapsed Time 5:15:38. Such pretty views of Whiteface, further than I remembered the second time as we grabbed whiteface first 🙂
29. Porter, Hiking Partners: Becky and Tela , Strava Stats: 8.42 mi Elevation Gain: 2,401 ft Elapsed Time 5:18:29
2nd High Peak hiked ever paired with Cascade. I would recommend doing this peak first if I were starting my 46 journey, then move on to Cascade. Cascade’s views are stellar, so good to start with Porter which I just recall many mud pits, but there were some views.
30/31- Street/Nye– Hiking Partners: Becky, Laura, Tela 9.91 mi Elevation Gain 2,877 ftElapsed Time 6:22:06 (Street and Nye)
Tough hike for one in my party that day, but we timed this one right with the snow. Crossing the Opalescent can yield adventure, so careful timing is required as conditions can become dangerous. For me this hike of Street and Nye were special as there was snowy but not frigid conditions and Tela was able to join in.
32. Allen Hiking Partners: Becky, Laura Strava Stats: 20.43 mi Elevation Gain 3,881 ft Elapsed Time 11:35:19
Well- Allen is much talked about as a high peak, as it is one single adventure to check off the list only 1 mountain clocking in at 20.43 miles for our hike is pretty daunting , unless you are truly a type IV adventurer. The first section is pretty flat and easy. The last mile or so to the summit is one heck of a challenge. The red slime was out in full force, and I likely dulled a pair of my microspikes but they made when we got slightly off route. I definitely recall feeling I had somehow underestimated this mountain. It felt good to put the puzzle piece in, and Allen does truly offer beautiful views. The upper part of the trail is just a bit undesirable for me, so I would not foresee me ever hiking this mountain again. I still raise my eyebrows in wonder of what happened to the two young gentlemen we met on the trail who seemed to come out of no where in cotton hoodies with no backpacks or water asking how much further to the summit. Never saw a rescue report on them, so hopefully they made it safe.
33. Redfield– Hiking Partners Becky and Laura, Strava Stats: Hiking Partners: Becky, Laura: Strava Stats: 20.19 mi Elevation Gain 4,413 ft Elapsed Time 13:38:18 (Cliff and Redfield)
Maybe I ranked this too low? I don’t know, reflecting on Redfield, I recall it being up and and up but beside a stream the entire way, so not horrid. It did go on forever and was definitely lots of up and rocks. We had a beautiful day with nice views.
34. Blake– Hiking Partner: Becky, Strava Stats: 24.76 mi Elevation Gain 6,389 ft Elapsed Time15:18:46 (Colvin->Blake->Colvin->Nippletop->Dial)
Hmm, well if you do Colvin->Blake the way we did it I feel fine with ranking it here. Blake isn’t as bad as chatter may make it seem. The col between Blake and Colvin is sketch, there’s no doubt, so I see the chatter, of all that to come to a rock that says Blake. Um, ok, cool, wait we have to retrace all those steps and go back up and over Colvin. Whew. Yeah, the views on the way to Blake are worthwhile, but, in fairness I have heard the alternate approach offers a better experience potentially.
35.Marshall- Hiking Partners: Becky, Tela: Strava Stats: 16.92 mi Elevation Gain3,215 ft Elapsed Time 9:22:16
Memory- Ugh, no sloptastic. LOL I would never do Marshall again. Granted, we hiked this in Summer 2023, on a day it was not raining but had been per typical trend in the summer of 2023 but rained alot days prior to the hike. We were able to take Tela Moose, but, we had 5 out and back river crossings and it wasn’t by any means unsafe, but it was tiring and wet. It was the first time on our 46er journey 40/46 that I had to change shirts at the summit. I was drenched from the water from the thick herd path trees.
36. Seward– Hiking Partner Becky, Strava Stats: 23.05 mi Elevation Gain 6,260 ft yup, Elapsed time 16:26:26 (Seward Range Seymour->Seward->Donaldson->Emmons). Ugh. I’m not even sure I have many photos of the trip up Seward because having a phone out was not really ideal. It is very steep with many scrambles required careful points of contact, but all the rocks were wet. I was extremely happy not to have to go down the mountain in this direction. I much rather climb up than down climb wet rock. This range is notorious for always being wet and muddy, (although we know some lucky souls who experienced it dry, which would be quite different. We were pretty mentally ready for the misty weather and steepness, but we were not really ready for the bogs we encountered.
One tried to eat Becky, which was really a scary moment. Like quicksand, except a hug bog of mud had trapped her leg! Thankfully, she able to escape undamaged minus being insanely muddy and changed her socks and on we continued. The ADK always trying to kill you, lol.
37. Santanooni- Hiking Partners: Becky, Laura: Strava Stats (Panther, Santa, and Couchsachraga) 17.02 mi Elevation Gain 5,030 ft Elapsed Time 16:27:03. 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., which had a cliff that was sketchy even to crab walk or butt slide down. There were two girls that waited for us and said, don’t go that way I fell. Um, yeah, while one partner was already half way down I think 2 of us threw our packs and crab walked down holding onto any friction on a slide.
38. Gray– Hiking Partner: Becky, Strava Stats: 19.24 mi Elevation Gain 5,367 ft Elapsed Time 13:10:05 (Marcy, Skylight, Gray)
After walking past the turn off to Gray and extending our hike while doing Marcy, Skylight, Gray on a Canadian wildfire impacted day, it kinda of set the tone for Gray. The trail itself invoked many curses and unpleasantries about this hike from Gray->back to the car and through Shrek’s swamp. Per my earlier rankings the other part of the hike, peaks Marcy and Skylight were amazing. It was also the first time on our journey that I pulled out the bug net as they were pretty bad at Lake Tear of the Clouds 41/-43/46. It probably does not help that we then descended through Shrek’s Swamp Bog, but we didn’t go swimming, so it was a win considering our conditions. I would absolutely not re-do Gray, but definitely Marcy and Skylight and then back and over Marcy on this trio.
39. Donaldson-HIking Partner: Becky, Strava Stats: 23.05 mi Elevation Gain 6,260 ft yup, Elapsed Time 16:26:26 (Seward Range) -The trip to Donaldson was a piece of a story of one of the more memorable moments that we met our mystery trail angel on the finisher who ran into the same. An elderly lady, then a granny 70s (?) coming up the back side of Seward, assuring us we were almost there giving me this false sense of what lie ahead. Bogs, mud, mud, mud pits, logs, and then yeah we reached it. Only to look out to see what type II fun was in front of us, then ridiculous realization of just how far we had to go to reach Emmons, and how getting out of this range was indeed going to be much much longer than “you’re almost there” haha.
40. Couch– Hiking Partners: Becky and Laura: Strava Stats: (Panther, Santa, and Couchsachraga) 17.02 mi Elevation Gain 5,030 ft Elapsed Time 16:27:03
Next in the ranking comes 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. 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.
41. Emmons– Hiking Partner: Becky Strava Stats: 23.05 mi Elevation Gain 6,260 ft yup, Elapsed Time 16:26:26 (Seward Range) This was my 23/46 half way there peak. Well, that is the nicest thing I can say about Emmons. It takes current last place in my ranking of enjoying hikes because, no matter what anyone says, that last peak combined with the walk out adds into the overall memory of ‘that’ peak. For this one, the bogs were relentless, and then requiring us to navigate our way back up over Donaldson again before the long walk out, where we once again ran into Granny again on a crazy trail when you were miles from anything. What a spooky little adventure. This wrapped the Seward range up for us, and I can attest that doing all 4 peaks of this range in one day is pretty intense. Becky didn’t get home until 2am. I have no idea how she was able to drive.
Long blog post short. The journey to completion of the ADK 46 High Peaks was a significant accomplishment for me. I’m grateful for my hiking partners along the journey, and all the Adirondack wilderness has taught me. As James Appleton says, “The Mountains don’t Care About You”. So true. But I am glad the ADK hiking community is as active and caring for this Wilderness Park. Until the next adventure- be well.
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!
Adventures in this thing we call Life 