ADK weekend 2019

It’s been a few weeks now since I made the journey up to the Adirondacks and went hiking with the CARC crew.  This year I was accompanied by a rookie to the region, my daughter, Mackenzie, who decided to hike with us.  We got an early start and arrived at the Adirondack Loj by 9am.  The rest of the group were not far behind and the planning began.  This year, as we have done every year, we said we would make day 1 an easy shorter hike, but that never happens.  We generally split up into a few groups, the fast hikers that want to bang out peaks and miles, and the rest of us that are a little less ambitious.  I wanted to hit a peak this year and we chose to head toward Algonquin and maybe hit Wright peak on the way.  The trail was flat and easy as we left the parking lot and we made good time.  We soon came to the fork and turned toward Algonquin, the trail soon becomes rocky with a few stream crossing, but was still fairly flat. 

That didn’t last long as we soon began a steady climb.  The trail winds through the forest, slowly changing from hardwoods of Beech and Maples to Spruce and Firs mixed with Birch.  I always love the transition, it smells wonderful and the change lets you know you are starting to get higher in elevation.  Eventually the trail begins a steeper climb.  Temps were warming up and we were feeling the heat.  Trying to stay hydrated, we drank water and continued on.  The turn off for Wright peak was a good break spot and Mackenzie and I took a breather.  Some of our group kept going up Algonquin but we decided to go up Wright.  It is a pretty steep climb for the last half mile, eventually coming out of the trees to some beautiful views.  When we arrived at the summit there were only a handful of people there.  We sat and enjoyed the view, taking pictures and drinking.  The steward came over and chatted for a bit then moved on. 

Once we felt rested, we began the hike back to base camp, at the Loj.  The return was uneventful, but long and I was pretty tired and thirsty when we got back.  Our timing was pretty good though as we all arrived back at camp within an hour of the other groups.  Out and back we hiked a little over 10 miles. 

Day 2 brought a little more humidity and chance of showers.  We planned a shorter hike just in case there were thunder storms.  About 8 of us hiked up Snow Mtn, which is about a 6 mile round trip from route 73 in Keene.  It is a pretty steady and unrelenting climb from the parking area to the summit.  The trail was not rocky, which was a nice change, and we made good time to the top.  We sat in the sun and ate lunch and watched to clouds race by for a while before making the hike back to the car. While Snow Mtn is not a high peak it had some great views of Giant  Mtn. and the valley heading into Keene.   

The return was all downhill and my knees were not happy by the time we made it back to the car, but it was a fun hike and we didn’t get rained on.

It was another fun weekend with some great hiking.  I really enjoyed having Mackenzie along this year and hope she goes with me next year as well.  We got pretty lucky with the weather, with only getting rain Saturday night after we were all back in camp.   

Adirondack weekend

I made the annual trip to hike with the crew from CARC a week ago.  It was a great time as usual.  I arrived early at the Adirondack Loj and was able to secure a nice parking spot.  The rest of the crew was not far behind and we all started to get a plan together.  Some of the group headed out to hike Mt. Marcy, others went off toward Algonquin.  I went with the group that was going to take it easy.  A short hike out to Rocky Falls and enjoy the water and sun. 

It was a beautiful sunny day in upstate New York.  We started hiking about 11:00am with a good sized group and made it to the falls by noon.  We sat, ate and watched the water for a while but we all wanted a little more so we decided to keep going toward Indian Pass.  Following the Indian Pass trail we continued on. 

Eventually coming to Indian Pass, which was a nice view but a little bit of a letdown, there was still some snow in the crevices at the bottom of the pass, and that was interesting.  Now we were all pretty tired and had hiked about 6 miles just to get to the pass.  It was a long journey back to camp.  Our short hike had grown to 12 miles and we still needed to cook dinner for everyone.  We arrived back at camp about 6pm and set about cooking a nice group meal of sausage and peppers and onions, salads, chips and dips, and of course dessert.  It was delicious. 

The next morning was cloudy and the rain started as we were finishing breakfast.  I needed to head out by 11am so chose a quick hike up Mt Jo.  Mt Jo is located at the Loj with just a short hike, about 1 mile out.  It has some steep spots on the way up but was a nice quick hike that provided some nice views of the surrounding mountains. 

Mt. Marcy and Algonquin are to most prominent peaks.  After enjoying the view in the rain we made our way back toward camp.  I packed up and was back on the road by 11.  It was a fun weekend and I got some good hiking in.  As always I am looking forward to next year. 

Boy Scout Adventure in the Adirondacks - Part 2

After about an hour ride to Long Lake and a quick stop at a convenience store for snacks and bathroom breaks we arrived at Long Lake.  We gathered our gear and exchanged out some hiking gear for water gear and restocked our food supplies and were ready to hit the water.  We had to wait about ½ hour for a thunderstorm to move through the area, but eventually the sky’s cleared enough for us to set out.  We paddled less than a mile when another thunderstorm hit and we had to beach our canoes on someone’s private beach and wait out the storm again.  Finally it looked like we would be able to get going and we set out again, paddling toward the north end of the lake. 

The lake is long and fairly narrow and we tried to stay on the east side as we went.  Sea planes would periodically fly past and land, which was pretty cool to see.  Then the plane would take off and fly above us.  We made pretty good time, even though we were dealing with a slight head wind and slowly made our way up the lake.  We would pause and drink or snack when we could but we had a long way to go, about 10 miles, before we would get to camp and needed to keep moving.  At one point another thunderstorm came up and we had to beach our canoes on shore and get out of the water.  We lost another ½ hour or 45 minutes waiting out that storm as well.

Waiting out the thunderstorm

It was fun watching the lightning up in the mountains around the lake and the rain and wind blow across the water.  Again the sun came out and we pushed on.  We had started from the boat launch around 1pm and eventually made camp around 6pm.  We found a nice campsite with a lean-to right on the water’s edge.  We were all pretty tired and hungry and went right to work setting up camp.  Once the hammocks were hung and the tents set up we got to work cooking dinner.   The bugs were a little annoying but not horrible here and we could sit in the shelter and cook.  Dinner was dehydrated chili and dehydrated mashed potatoes with bacon and cheddar cheese.  I passed on the chili but enjoyed the potatoes.  Once dinner was done and cleaned up we all went in our hammocks or tents to get away from the bugs.  They were getting more aggressive as the sun went down. 

One of the scouts did a little fishing and caught a nice size Northern Pike.  He threw it back in and was soon in bed as well.  We had seen some Loons on the water during the day and that night could hear them calling in the dark.  It was the first time I had ever heard a Loon.  Also, I heard the little buzz of mosquitoes all around my hammock, trying to get me.  The bugs ate well on all of us for the next day or so.

Thursday was foggy when we awoke and broke camp.  Once all our gear was packed we ate breakfast and boarded our canoes for the trip down the Raquette River. 

Our campsite was only about a mile from the mouth of the river and it didn’t take us long to get to the river and the anticipated current.  The sun quickly burned off the fog and became a nice summer morning.  The river is slow and winding as we paddled along, with forest and swampland on both sides.  It felt very remote as we went and I really enjoyed the scenery.

There are campsites scattered along portions of the river and we would see other campers periodically.  This would be the day we had to portage our canoes around the falls, about 1.25 miles.  We made the pull out spot just before lunch and began the arduous portage. 

It was probably the hardest part of the trek carrying 35-40lbs backpacks plus a canoe over your head.  The trail went uphill for the first ¼ mile or so then levelled out.  It was very taxing.  We took many breaks as we went along and finally found the best way to hold the canoe on our packs, making it a little easier and we could hike for longer stretches.  Tired and sweaty we arrived at the put in spot and relaxed for a while and ate lunch.  Lunch was cut somewhat short by some dark clouds moving in and we tried to get in front of the storm by paddling.  We made it a few miles but the storm was faster than us and we had to pull over and beach our canoes again.  We sat on a sandy shore with tall banks above us and trees growing out over us, giving us a little shelter.  This time the storm was intense, powerful lightning and thunder clapping just above our heads and pouring rain and wind.  We huddled up together under the overhanging bank and tried to stay warm.  We were all soon soaked through as the rain came down in buckets.  It was something none of us will soon forget.  Then it was over and the sun came out and we continued to paddle.  It was a long afternoon of paddling and I was soon out of energy and struggled to keep in good spirits.  I was hurting and sore but continued on and we all pushed hard to find a campsite.  We paddled until about 5:30pm at a campsite not far from out extraction point. 

My view from the hammock

It was a long afternoon and I wish we had been able to stop and enjoy the scenery and river a little more, but we wanted to make a short morning for Friday and pushed on.  Once we found our campsite, which was right along the river and offered nice views, we were swarmed with mosquitoes.  It was horrible!  They were everywhere and HUNGRY!  We ran around as fast as we could to set up camp and get into our tents or hammocks to get away from them.  We started a campfire to smoke them away but that only worked if you stood in the smoke.  So, we ate a quick dinner and went back to our beds.  The scouts talked for a while and enjoyed the evening.  I had set up my hammock with a great view of the river and enjoyed listening to their conversation and looking out over the water. 

Friday was sunny when we got up and packed up camp for the last time.  We ate a quick breakfast because the bugs were still ferocious.  We left the campsite around 9am and had just a small stretch of river to go before our point of extraction.  We were there by 9:30am and our journey was over.  We had to wait awhile for pick up and the scouts worked on helping complete the canoeing meritbadge for one of the boys still needing it. 

They had fun in the water swamping a canoe and being wet.  The pickup van was soon there and we loaded up and were on our way back to base camp.  It was a memorable trip that I think all of us will remember for a lifetime.  We worked hard and were tired, but the trip was fantastic.  We hiked around 17-19 miles and paddled about 30 miles in total.  I think all the scouts learned something about themselves and about each other.  The adults probably did too. 

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.