Dial and Nippletop

8/10/2013 - High Peaks #5 and #6

After having hiked Big Slide the evening before, Zak and I had high hopes of turning this day into a 4 peak day: Dial, Nippletop, Colvin, and Blake.  We quickly found out that we had set an unrealistic goal for ourselves.

Tearing down our tent at 5:30 AM and leaving the campground at 6, we were excited about the prospects of making our goal of all 4 peaks and back home to Buffalo that evening.  We parked at the St. Huberts parking lot at 6:15 and started on the Lake Road by 6:30.  After passing the famous wooden gate, we found the Leach trail and began our ascent. Not long into our climb, we realized that hiking the evening before was going to take a toll.  We pressed on, pausing more often then the night before for water breaks and to catch our breath.  The first nice stopping point came at the top of the shoulder of Noonmark Mountain were we got our first good look at the views from this side of the Great Range.

From here, we descended steeply into a col and began our climb up to the summit of Bear's Den Mountain.  A quick break for something to eat and drink and we were on our way again, eager to get to the top of Dial by 9:30 if we wanted to keep the necessary pace.  Right on at 9:30, we reached the summit of Dial, met by a strong and cold wind along with absolutely amazing views.  A short stay at the summit due to the cold temperatures and we were on our way out to Nippletop.

As we hiked out to Nippletop, fatigue began to set in and we realized that we were getting off of our pace for the day.  The hike eased up a little bit over the intense ascent up Noonmark and Bear's Den earlier but it did little to help.  Great views of the Dix Mountain range were becoming visible as we hiked up the spine between Dial and Nippletop.  We reached the junction with the Elk Pass Trail and new that it was only a 0.2 mile climb to the summit.  We reached the summit at 11:00 (only 15 minutes off of our goal pace) and spent awhile at the top enjoying the incredible panoramic views.

Leaving the summit at 11:30, we headed down the Elk Pass Trail to the Gill Brook Trail.  When we reached the junction, it was time to make a decision. It was 12:30 and a trip out to Colvin and Blake would take at least 3.5 hours to return to the spot where we stood. That would essentially rule out a return trip to Buffalo that evening which would mean we would sleep in the car somewhere.  We decided that our legs were a bit too tired to take on that task and we headed down the Gill Brook Trail towards the Lake Road. I did, however, want to make a slight detour and check out Fish Hawk Cliffs and Indian Head.  When we reached the summit we were rewarded with a fantastic view of Lower Ausable Lake and we sat for a few minutes to soak it in.

We left Indian Head, reconnected with the Lake Road, and walked out to the St. Huberts parking lot by 3 PM.  Deciding not to try Colvin and Blake was ultimately the right choice as we were both fairly sore on the 5 hour ride back to Buffalo.  However, we were able to complete 3 more High Peaks in about 24 hours on a short overnight trip.  It was a great way to end the hiking season and certainly left us ready for next summer!

Weather: It was a fantastic sunny day with temperatures in the high 60's.  Cooler to start the morning but warming up as the day went on.

Hike Stats:
5:30     Tore down the tent and left the campground
6:30     Left the St. Huberts parking lot
9:30     Summit of Dial
11:00     Summit of Nippletop
1:00      Summit of Indian Head/Fish Hawk Cliffs
3:00     St. Huberts parking lot

Bear's Den Summit    3379 feet
Dial Summit              4020 feet
Nippletop Summit       4620 feet
Indian Head Summit   2664 feet

Big Slide

8/9/2013 - High Peak #4

Only 6 days after bagging our first 3 High Peaks, Zak and I decided to make another run up to the Adirondacks on a quick overnight trip.  We left Buffalo on Friday morning at around 9 o'clock with the intention of racing up to hike Big Slide that afternoon. The entire car ride up was spent watching the clock and the rainclouds ahead and knowing that we might not be able to pull it off.  Arriving at The Garden parking lot at 2:30, we quickly changed into our hiking gear and set off on the trail to the summit of Big Slide via The Brothers.

We were rewarded with awesome views of the lower Great Range at the summit of the First Brother and stopped for a quick picture and drink.  As we continued on to the second two Brothers, we commented on how the hike was certainly not getting any easier.  Near the summit of the Third Brother, the terrain changed a bit to a more dense forest which greeted us with great smells of the Adirondacks after the hard rains that we followed across the state earlier that morning.

As we neared the summit, the trail opened up slightly giving us the most amazing view of the rock face for which Big Slide is named.  We paused there briefly, overlooking the slide and the certain death of a fall from the ledge on which we were standing, and took a great panoramic picture.

From this point we were only a short trek from the actual summit. When we made it to the summit, we took a short break to enjoy the accomplishment of completing our next High Peak and then promptly began to descend down the Slide Brook Trail as we knew we would most likely be losing daylight quickly.

As we hiked down, the hard rains that had passed through earlier in the day took their toll on on the trail.  The majority of our time was spent dodging wet or muddy areas and trying not to fall.  Several portions of this trail require crossing the Slide Brook which proved to be very difficult. With such hard rains the brook was rushing at a rapid pace to the point were we both were a bit nervous on several occasions.

Once at the bottom of the Slide Brook Trail, we connected with the John's Brook Lodge Trail and began to make our way back out to The Garden. From here we began to pass more people making their way in to John's Brook Lodge to camp. We knew that we were only an hour or so from the parking lot and began to feel more confident in making it out before dark.  After we reached the car, we raced to the campground to set up the tent and begin to prepare for our next hike the following morning: Dial and Nippletop.  Overall, we were very pleased that we decided to tackle Big Slide as a quick afternoon hike and thought that it provided great views for a moderate climb!

Weather: Hard rains early in the day made for some slow going in places, especially on the way back down the Slide Brook Trail. However, the rain stopped just as we began hiking and cleared enough for some great views along the way.

Hike Stats:
2:40     Left The Garden parking lot
5:10     Summit of Big Slide
7:30     Returned to The Garden parking lot

The Brothers Summit     2788 feet
Big Slide Summit            4240 feet

Wright, Algonquin, Iroquois

8/3/2013 - High Peaks #1, 2, 3.

Our quest to complete the Adirondack 46 High Peaks started with the MacIntyre Range. When planning for which mountains would be the first off of our list, Zak and I agreed that we didn't want to start small and work our way up in difficulty or elevation, but also that we didn't want to be naive and tackle something we weren't prepared for either. I think we found a perfect level of difficulty in these three.

The hike began very easy with a steady climb over nice soft ground. About 45 minutes in, however, that changed as we began to ascend more rapidly over larger rocks, roots, and boulders. As we climbed, we took note of the changing smells and temperature swings that seem to come from nowhere. At around 3500 feet we came across a beautiful waterfall and stopped to take a picture and cool off. With many more hours of climbing ahead though, we carried on.

We continued on until we reached the junction with the Wright Peak Spur Trail. Excitement overtook any fatigue as we knew we were only 0.4 miles away from bagging our first 46er. As we climbed, we noticed the clouds were getting thicker and the wind picking up, something to be expected on the Adirondack mountain best known for wind factor. With such dense clouds, finding the actual summit proved to be difficult as wind gusts nearly knocked us off our feet several times. A quick picture at the top and a scramble back down below the treeline was the only summit memory of our first High Peak.

After reaching the original junction, Zak and I stopped to fill out our climbing log, get a quick drink and something to eat, and share in the excitement of our accomplishment. After cooling off for a few minutes, we began the ascent up to Algonquin. As we climbed, we continued to turn around and look back to Wright Peak which by this time, naturally, was cloud free and we could see people at the summit. Fatigue was barely starting to set in as we were anxious to get to the top of the 2nd highest in NY. When we completed the trek to the summit, we talked to the Steward for a few minutes, picked out some of the nearby peaks, and headed out to Iroquois.

The trail out to Iroquois was interesting as the high winds continued to be a factor since we were still above the tree line. One wrong turn started to lead us down the Iroquois Alternate Route, however it was a mistake quickly reversed. Crossing the bog on the new foot bridges was nice and we commented several times that we would have been a muddy mess without them. The final climb to the top of Iroquois required a little scrambling but was more fun that challenging. At the top, clouds and wind moved in once again shortening our stay at the summit. We scrambled back down from the summit first before taking a break to enjoy the accomplishment of our third High Peak of the Day.

The climb back out to Algonquin was a little more challenging. We were beginning to get tired and we no longer had the motivation of making it to the next peak to keep us intrigued. We encouraged each other to keep moving and much to our surprise, the second time at the summit of Algonquin rewarded us with amazing views as very briefly the clouds parted! We stopped at the top for several minutes to take pictures and relax before moving on back down the trail to Adirondak Loj. Once back below the tree line, we stopped for lunch and a drink and filled out our hiking log. The rest of the hike back down went rather quickly as we discussed the events of the day and began to plan our next conquest. Overall, it was an absolutely great day and an awesome first experience of hiking the 46 High Peaks!

Weather:

Rainy very early that morning which threatened our chance of even hiking. Rain stopped around 5 AM so we decided to go for it. Most of the hike was cool with heavy clouds and high winds. These broke at times to reveal great summit views from Algonquin and occasionally at Iroquois.

Hike Stats:
7:05 - Left the Adirondak Loj
8:50 - Summit of Wright Peak
10:15 - Summit of Algonquin
11:05 - Summit of Iroquois
2:15 - Back to the Adirondak Loj

Wright Summit: 4580 feet
Algonquin Summit: 5114 feet
Boundary Summit: 4826 feet
Iroquois Summit: 4840 feet