Boy Scout Adventure in the Adirondacks - Part 1

I just returned from a week long trek in the Adirondacks with four Eagle Scout candidates and two of the Assistant Scoutmasters with our troop.  It was a memorable week with many highs and few lows. 

We arrived at Summit Base Boy Scout camp on Sunday and had our gear shakedown and then set up for a one night stay at camp.  They served us a nice dinner of sausage, onions and pepper grinders and a variety of salads.  It was very tasty.  After dinner we were all in bed early. 

Monday dawned bright and sunny with temps in the high 50’s.  We ate breakfast and then it was time to load up the vans and make the hour journey to our drop off point at the Garden in Keene Valley, NY.  We made the drive in good time and we were all in good spirits, eager to start our adventure.  We planned to hike about 3.5 miles in and find an open camp site, which is what we did. 

Deer laying down at our campsite

Our packs were heavy, upwards of 30lbs each.  We were carrying food for about 3 days all in bear canisters, which are required in the High Peaks region.  None of us were used to carrying that amount of weight and it was tiring, but we made it to the ADK’s Johns Brook Lodge and found an open camp site just beyond.  We went to work setting up tents and hammocks and settling in before heading back to the lodge to make lunch.

There is a nice lawn area with picnic tables next to the lodge that we used for our meals.  It was midafternoon by this point and a few of our faster hikers decided to hike up Big Slide Mtn. It is about a 5 mile round trip from the lodge.  I decided to stay behind and relax for the afternoon.  We explored John’s Brook and the camp site.  We cooked dinner at 6pm and the guys hiking Big Slide made it back in time for dinner.  We were all in our sleeping bags by dark.  It rained briefly during the night but it never bothered us.

Tuesday was going to be the day we went BIG.  We had originally planned to hike to the summit of Mt. Marcy but as we discussed it and looked over the map at dinner the night before we agreed on a loop hike that would take us over three of the high peaks and offer short spur hikes to at least two more.  When we compared that to just the one peak of Mt. Marcy we decided to hike for more peaks.  We would hike up and over Gothics, Armstrong, and Upper Wolf Jaw, with the possibility of adding Saddleback and Lower Wolf Jaw as well.  It looked like it would end up being about 10-12 miles depending on if you added the extra peaks.  A good full days hiking.  We headed out from the lodge after breakfast.  We started on the Orebed Brook trail heading for the col between Gothics and Saddleback.  It started fairly flat and easy, giving our legs a chance to warm up, but soon enough we were climbing and the going got steeper. 

We stopped and snacked periodically and made sure we were drinking regularly.  It was a beautiful sunny morning with temps in the low 60’s.  We soon came to a great slide, land slide area, where the trail climbs a long stair case and the going got pretty steep.  Once at the col with Saddleback, three of our group broke off to climb it while the rest of us headed up Gothics.  Gothics is steep with cables attached along the trail to assist in the climb.  It was an adventure climbing up this side of the mountain.  Soon we were treated to stunning 360* views.  The other part of our group caught up with us on top. 

Climbing the cables

We ate lunch on top of Gothics and enjoyed the view for a while.  It was almost the perfect hiking day.  After lunch we were back on the trail and down and up to the summit of Armstrong Mt.  The views here were great as well.  Many pictures were taken.

My son and I on top of Armstrong

  The trail continues on with some steep area and butt slides on the way down and hands and feet climbing on the way up.  After Armstrong it was on to Upper Wolf Jaw Mt.  There was a small area with views at the summit here and we stopped again for the view.  It was getting later in the afternoon and we didn’t stay there long.  The trail down Upper Wolf Jaw was steep in spots as it was the whole way along.

At the junction to Lower Wolf Jaw, a few of the group went up that mountain as well, while the rest of us began heading back to toward the lodge.  We made it back to the lodge just about 5:30pm.  The cold water of the river felt good as we took a break and soaked our feet.  Some of the braver souls went all the way in.  We ate dinner and were in bed early.

Wednesday we packed up and broke camp.  We ate breakfast and hiked out to the Garden for pick up and on to the next part of our adventure, canoeing Long Lake and the Raquette River.  Stay tuned for part 2.