Algonquin

Algonquin
Originally uploaded by kenmore_photos.

This past weekend was the Thanksgiving long weekend. Three whole days off!!! I decided to take Friday off as well to beat the crowds and get a jump on the weekend. Well the weatherman finally complied and I was feeling healthy so it was back to the mountains for some more climbing. I planned on a 3 day trek but the "Leaf peepers" conspired against me by overrunning the Adirondacks and in the end I only stayed 2 days. First up on the agenda on Friday was the MacIntyre range. This is a popular hike so I figured it would be best to do it on Friday when the crowds would be somewhat reduced. It proved a good choice.

Algonquin,is the centerpiece of this range and at 5100 ft rivals Mount Marcy for top honours. The length of the hike isn't too bad - around 12 miles all told but the elevation adds up to close to 5000 ft for all three peaks - it made for a longer day then I expected and I was pretty beat by the end.

Mike came down Friday to do the hike with me. It was one of his favourites he told me (He says this before, during and after every hike so I've learned to ignore these comments ;-). This time tho' I think he was right. It's a challenging climb with lots of slabs and ledges, an exposed summit cone and stunning views. The upper reaches were pretty icy as the temps weren't much above 0C at 5000 feet but we were still able to make our way past the worst spots. The southern exposure, which I desended to get to Iroquois summit, was all melted and by the time we were coming back down the Northern side most of the icy slabs we had had to climb up had also melted through.

This photo is just above tree line as you push the last 800 feet to the summit. Wright mountain is just in the background. We did Wright last on our way back down. I felt it would be a shame to miss this peak since we were up here but in the end it might have been a little too much as I was really cooked by the time we got back. Either way I'll probably come back to these peaks for another stunning hike.