Friday, February 28, 2014

Adirondack High Peaks

The High Peaks are the 46 tallest mountains in the Adirondack Park of the great state of New York.  Originally thought to be the only peaks in the ADKs above 4,000 feet, erroneous measuring placed 4 mountains lower than the 4,000 mark on the list and left one at exactly 4,000 feet off.  The original list remains though and for the climbers that scale all 46 you gain admittance to the coveted 46er Club.

This page (and my 46er quest) are works in progress, so there's not a trip report for each climb yet.  Stay tuned though!




  1. Mount Marcy
  2. Algonquin Peak
  3. Mount Haystack
  4. Mount Skylight
  5. Whiteface
  6. Dix Mountain
  7. Gray Peak
  8. Iroquois
  9. Basin
  10. Gothics
  11. Mount Colden
  12. Giant Mountain
  13. Nippletop
  14. Santanoni Peak
  15. Mount Redfield
  16. Wright Peak
  17. Saddleback Mountain
  18. Panther Peak
  19. Tabletop Mountain
  20. Rocky Peak Ridge
  21. Macomb Mountain
  22. Armstrong
  23. Hough Peak
  24. Seward Mountain
  25. Mount Marshall 
  26. Allen Mountain
  27. Big Slide Mountain
  28. Esther Mountain
  29. Upper Wolfjaw
  30. Lower Wolfjaw
  31. Street Mountain
  32. Phelps Mountain
  33. Mount Donaldson
  34. Seymour Mountain
  35. Sawteeth
  36. Cascade Mountain
  37. South Dix
  38. Porter Mountain
  39. Mount Colvin (Evil!)
  40. Mount Emmons
  41. Dial Mountain
  42. East Dix
  43. Blake Peak
  44. Cliff Mountain
  45. Nye Mountain
  46. Couchsachraga

Big Slide Mountain

Peak: Big Slide
Distance: ~11 Miles
Trail Map


They commonly say that Big Slide has the best views in all of the ADKs, but at the time I started the hike I didn't give a damn.  Brian (aka Grizzly) and I set out that day to take on the third highest mountain the ADKs, Haystack.  When we arrived and passed a friendly Park Ranger who asked where we were headed he gave us a grim look and even grimmer news.  "You're pretty late in the day for Haystack!" he exclaimed.  "Do you boys have headlamps?"  Headlamps?!  We had no intention of hiking in the dark.  Luckily, from "The Garden" parking lot in Keene Valley there were plenty of other hiking options.  We opted for Big Slide.  A good choice given the fact Brian had a respatory infection...and was wearing jeans for some unknown reason.


After the first major ascent Brian's respitory infection (and stupid jeans) had caught up with him.  In between wheezing and panting strenuously he uttered the worst words he's ever mumbled in the High Peaks, "I don't think we can do this."  Kowing we'd both be furious if the day eneded there I begged him to make it to the top of the ridge and rest to think.  The ridge was breathtaking and Grizz soon forgot his woes.  It flattened out for a long bit anyway, so it let us take in the views and he could catch his breathe.





















The climb up was a bit perplexing, seeing how we just kept making one quad-busting ascent after another and just kept getting nowhere.  The trail we took was called the Three Brothers Trail, little did we know the "brothers" were mountains, two mini subsidiaries and the tallest being Big Slide.  The climb would go from flat to near vertical the entire time.


By the time we got to the top we were a bit exhausted, but had no time to think about it because of our first major encounter with Black Flies, little nat sized vampires that feast on the flesh of the living.  I ate my lunch running in large circles to make it harder to get bit.  Unfortunately the flies were faster and must of have had a taste for dark meat, I got bit about a hundred times.  We took an alternative root down for some new scenery, this time the John Brooks Trail, which probably would have been a lot easier a climb up had we known, but no mind.  I wouldn't have traded those views for anything.


Mount Marcy to the far right and Haystack, our original target, in the center.

The Adirondack Upper Great range

In my humble opinion, this is the best hike in the ADKs.  It's a brutal 20 mile loop that takes the entire day and brings you over three gigantic peaks.  It's a true mountaineers dream, at least for those of those of us out East.  Brian and I started our trek at The Garden parking lot and headed towards Johns Brook Lodge on the Phelps Trail.  The morning was chill, but warming quickly and the air was crisp.  We stumbled into the Lodge just as those staying at the relatively primitive dwelling were lining up for breakfast.  We decided to sit down outside the lodge and have some breakfast of our own, primarily consisting of Cliff and Nutrigrain bars and a bit of Gatorade.



We didn't get the best nights sleep before the hike because our preferred campsite was filled with cyclists who were competing the next day in....something.  After a wild drive that brought us to the shores of Lake Champlain, we sat down to have to have some of the worst pizza in the state, washed down by water that tasted curiously like a lake.  We strolled through the small town we stumbled upon and got "hollered" at by some less than lovely young ladies.  I enjoyed it quite a bit, Brian decided to reveal that he has an irrational fear on country folks, even if they were only 19 and hitting on us.  We decided to sleep in Carla.  No, that's not one of the girls, it's my Jeep:


Once on the trail we marched and marched and marched and it never seemed to get any higher, but thats the trick to Haystack, you have to fight just to earn the privilege to start climbing it.  Haystack is one of the more remote mountains in the park, so much so we had never even seen its name on a trail sign while doing one of our other hikes.  When we finally got to the junction for the final push we were confronted with a 40 foot rock scramble that commenced the ascent.  It was one scramble after the next, then up and over Little Haystack, a small subsidiary peak before the main summit.  I had more fun climbing Haystack than any other mountain in the ADKs at the time.  The exposed summit, the endless scrambles, and breathtaking views made me feel like a true climber for once.  At the top we found out why they call this mountain "Marcy's Balcony"; it is the best view of Marcy in the park.  We were on the summit for just a few minuets before a father and daughter joined us, shouting what we have been dreaming of since we started, "46!"

Mount Marcy and Mount Skylight on the Left
Summit of Haystack
We lingered in the crystal clear day only a bit then went on our way.  We could see Basin perfectly from the enormous Haystack, the third tallest peak in the park, falling just short of 5,000 feet.  The ascent up Basin gave us some excellent views of what we just climbed and beyond.  Basin was a much wetter and muddier mountain than the rocky peak we just came from, but who doesn't like it a little dirty?


Haystack in all its glory.
Since Basin is a bit closer to major trails and other peaks its summit was crowded and much louder.  We came across a couple from Montreal who were also on their way to be 46ers, but they had the added bonus of getting engaged that day atop of Marcy.  After giving them a hikers hug (a momentary one-handed press while holding your breathe) we were on our way.  The last and shortest peak of the day was Saddleback.  We hadn't read up on the summit before we left so what we saw next was simply terrifying.  As a rule of thumb, the grade of an ascent (or decent) is hard to figure out at a distance.  Normally in the ADKs, that which looks very steep ends up being pretty mild when you get closer to it.  This was not the case on Saddleback.  The string of hikers on descent looked like they were repelling down a vertical skyscraper and sure enough thats what it felt like when we got there.



I was in my glory!  I love heights, I love scrambling, and I even love the terror of scaling steep sections. Brian, not so much.  As I was busy finding the most difficult scrambles I could find, Brian (terrified of heights) was genuinely unnerved.  I cooled my jets.  He got to the top and shouted a string of celebratory obscenities (hence the nick-name Grizzly).  Upon decent we came across a massive rock slide from years past that we had some fun running down.  After power hiking it back to the Jeep all we could think of was steak.  It was Brian's turn to pick a place to eat and he picked the Adirondack Steak something, something, across from the Olympic complex....don't ever eat there!  No mind though, we conquered half the Great Range.

    

The Colorado 14ers

If my quest to be a 46er is a work in progress, then my quest to be a Colorado 14er is a dream about a work in progress.  I've only taken on two 14ers so far and there's a staggering 53 of them.  My greatest outdoor adventure is planned for this summer though, a 100 mile traverse of the Sawatch Range, bagging 14 peaks along the way.  With any luck I'll be a 46er and about a third of the way to being a 14er, so stay tuned!



  1. Mount Elbert
  2. Mount Massive
  3. Mount Harvard
  4. La Plata Peak
  5. Blanca Peak
  6. Uncompahgre Peak
  7. Crestone Peak
  8. Mount Lincoln
  9. Castle Peak
  10. Grays Peak
  11. Mount Antero
  12. Torreys Peak
  13. Quandary Peak
  14. Mount Evans
  15. Longs Peak
  16. Mount Wilson
  17. Mount Shavano 
  18. Mount Princeton 
  19. Mount Belford
  20. Crestone Needle
  21. Mount Yale
  22. Mount Bross
  23. Kit Carson Mountain
  24. Maroon Peak
  25. Tabeguache Peak
  26. Mount Oxford 
  27. Mount Sneffels
  28. Mount Democrat
  29. Capitol Peak
  30. Pikes Peak
  31. Snowmass Mountain
  32. Mount Eolus
  33. Windom Peak
  34. Challenger Point
  35. Mount Columbia 
  36. Missouri Mountain
  37. Humboldt Peak
  38. Mount Bierstadt
  39. Sunlight Peak
  40. Handies Peak
  41. Culebra Peak
  42. Ellingwood Point
  43. Mount Lindsey
  44. Little Bear Peak
  45. Mount Sherman
  46. Redcloud Peak
  47. Pyramid Peak
  48. Wilson Peak
  49. San Luis Peak
  50. Wetterhorn
  51. Mount of the Holy Cross
  52. Huron Peak
  53. Sunshine Peak