Seeing the trees for the forest

So this past weekend was planned to be the big “final hike” to Dix allowing me to wrap up the list of all 46 high peaks in the Adirondacks… but it didn’t work out that way. Unfortunately Hurricane Kyle blocked up the eastern seaboard and held some rainy weather over the high peaks for a little too long. I wasn’t keen to hike my “final” peak inside a cloud so I decided to postpone the hike. In fact most everybody I had invited along had also bailed out so it was an easy decision. That said I hadn’t been out to the woods in a serious way since my hike to Allen mountain over a month ago. I’ve been doing some riding and running in the Gatineau Park at home (ski season is coming!) but a 1 or 2 hour ride doesn’t compare to immersing oneself in the woods. Suffering from some “woods withdrawl” and the campsite already booked anyway I decided that I would head down to Lake Placid. The weather was forecast to be bad. Depending just how bad it turned out I could adjust my itinerary to include low trails or shorter hikes. If it was raining heavily I could duck back to the car and try another area if the rain was sporadic… just play it by ear and roll with whatever mother nature had to hand out. To a degree, this is what I’m looking forward to after I complete the list anyway – no fixed agenda, no high peak I must get to and the freedom to explore at will. Consider this a precursor trip to the ones I will take after the list is done. Bryan also seemed prepared to go with this plan (or lack thereof) so the two of us headed down to the Adirondak Loj on Friday afternoon. We arrived in a heavy drizzle and quickly set up camp. After a quick bite in town we came back and sat around the campfire in a steady rain and debated trail options for the morning over a beverage or two – an inauspicious start!

The next morning we awoke to gray skies but no rain. A quick check of the forecast and we decided to head up Phelps. There would not likely be any views from the top with the low cloud deck but it’s a nice walk and the fall colours were busting out all around us. This would add to Bryan’s 46 list (was I inadvertently coerced to do a list peak?). Additionally it is not a long hike so if the weather turned rainy we could be back pretty quickly and come up with a drier option. As it turns out we didn’t see any rain at all. The hike up was a good one. Phelps is a nice albeit rooty/rocky climb but we enjoyed the ascent along – for the most part - a quiet trail. Much as we expected we got up to the summit to see we were inside a cloud. The clouds in fact seemed to bottom out around 3500ft hiding the big vistas but we expected as much. After a quick exploration for the true summit (Phelps summit is tree covered and unmarked) we sat down on a rocky ledge for a bite of lunch and waited for the clouds to part… and to our surprise they did! Well..., only to a degree did the clouds open up but the valley and nearby peaks started to peak through in resplendent golds and yellows. It was sort of surreal watching the view open and close as the clouds rolled by. As we enjoyed the limited views another couple of hikers arrived… then another… then a few more and a few more… Seems Phelps was on many people’s agendas today and suddenly our rocky ledge was full on crowded and noisy with maybe 25-30 other hikers. The clouds drifted back in and, having had enough of the crowds, we packed up and started down. Once back to Marcy dam some sun had broken through (though the clouds still shrouded the high peaks) so we had some good chances to enjoy the fall colours on our walk back to the camp.

Back at the Loj we took a nice hot shower (a rare treat) and had a cold beverage before rolling into town for some food. After a most excellent burger we came back and got a good fire going to enjoy the rest of the evening. This –without a doubt – beats my usual plan of “hike till dark and then race home in the car”… verry relaxing. Of course some tall tales were told around the fire. No, I don’t truly believe that Bryan wrestled 2… no wait, 3 mountain lions on a paddling trip in Algonquin… but all is accepted around the fire. It adds to the atmosphere and capped off a good day on the trails. While we missed the big views, this was working out to be a good weekend to enjoy the leaves. We were even treated by a neighbouring camper to some live music as he played some guitar and belted out some tunes. This has the potential to be annoying but in this case he proved to be a good singer so it was all good.

On Sunday morning it was even darker than Saturday (but still not raining!). We opted to walk around Heart Lake, which had to be at full peak in terms of leaf colour. On a whim I dragged Bryan up Mt Jo, which is a short but steep little peak next to the campground. At the top we were greeted by stunning views of the inside of the clouds. Ah well, no big vistas this weekend. While the cloud cover tried to break up we had neither brought the lawn chairs nor the cooler so we decided not to wait for the views instead descending and continuing around the lake. Again – more dazzling colours all around us. The lake is none too big so we were back at camp well before noon and decided to pack up and hit the road. As we pulled out of the Loj the heavens opened up and rain started to pelt down – great timing for sure. On the road home we stopped at one of my favourite deli’s in Saranac Lake for a tasty sandwich before making the drive home in the rain. A good weekend to be sure. While there wasn’t much in the way of sweeping vistas we did get a chance to spend some time enjoying the fall colours close up – A chance to see the trees, so to speak, which are sometimes overwhelmed by the forest.