Spent the weekend at John's Brook Lodge in the heart of the Adirondacks. Truly an amazing place run by the ADK hiking club. Bunks and 3 meals a day are provided for a minimal fee which allows you to be situated in the heart of some amazing hiking trails. Mike, Mark and I went in on Friday and came out on Monday after two stunning days of climbing peaks. The weather - unlike my previous two trips to the 'Daks was gorgeous. Almost no clouds, warm - but not hot -, and a nice breeze as you worked your way out onto the summits.
The lodge crew cooks a big breakfast and provides a bag lunch for the trail. Dinner is on the table at 6:30 motivating hikers to come down off the peaks before nightfall. On the nights we were there, there were a few latecomers struggling back from over ambitious hiking agendas but no one went hungry as food was saved for all. All you need to bring in - other than day hiking gear - is a sleeping bag and clothes to last your stay. The food was great and in more then ample supply.
Perhaps the only drawback - and I'm stretching here - is that the only facilities to wash off in after a long sweaty outing is Johns Brook itself. The water temperature was probably in the mid 40's F which made for a bracing (invigorating?) bath! The cold water was beautiful to sink your feet into after a long day of hiking. In a few moments your feet went numb from the cold which is an incredibly good thing!
The lodge was also a great place to meet up with the fellow hikers staying the night and gather "intel" on our proposed routes as well as sharing any advice we had to offer. We even got to meet the ADK chairman of the JBL lodge committee who was up for a couple of days. He had endless stories of the lodge, the trails and his days in the woods. He even gave a slide show showing the lodges early days and how they outfit the lodge every spring with a helicopter fly in of supplies.
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