Christmas ski

Enough coverage along the Pine road
Out once again for my annual Christmas ski. Didn't get the big dump of snow which I asked Santa for, but he's a busy man this time of year so I'll let this one slide. Skied out of P16 along the Pine road. Conditions were still pretty nice though - hard track and decent coverage. A few exposed rocks on some of the steep descents but that's predictable so easy to spot and slalom around. Chose to classic ski and the grooming for the first part was predictably poor with shallow and/or washed out tracks from all the traffic that part of the trail gets(need fresh snow!). Beyond the hut the grooming improved substantially and I was able to whiz along with little effort. Took some time to enjoy the view at Lac Phillippe before turning around for home. Saw a few other people out enjoying a Christmas ski as well but for the most part it was pretty quiet. Perhaps folks were lower down in the park getting a quick ski in while the bird gently roasted.


Ski patrols out on Christmas

Winter Solstice ski…almost

For years now I’ve debated doing an overnight at one of the cabins in the Gatineau park. Seemed like a good idea and this year Bryan suggested the same so we picked a date, booked Lusk cabin (half price on weekdays!) and sent out a flurry of emails to entice a few more willing bodies – if only to help shoulder the load on the ski in. Most people had their share of excuses and to be fair – a week before Christmas – they were mostly pretty valid but Dave signed on so we had a trio to head in. Another flurry of emails got the logistics set up and on Sunday afternoon we met up for the trek in. Temperatures were most excellent at just a few degrees below zero. Snow level was a little low but enough that we wouldn’t be walking up a gravel track. Things were looking up.

Time for a pit stop at Renaud
Dave arrived with shiny new rental skis so I enquired – “you actually skied before?” With Clarksonesque aplomb he replied “No, but how hard could it be.” Perfect! Perhaps not the time to learn with a 30lb pack on your back. The spectacular wipeout he managed in the parking lot didn’t instill a lot of confidence. Actually, truth be told he managed really well. The ski in is mostly flat or uphill so there was minimal chance to strike high speed balletic poses while hurtling towards tree trunks. A few tips from the peanut gallery and his technique was more than sufficient to get him up the trail. A brief pit stop at Renaud shelter energized us for the long climb up to the cabin and the long climb…well even with the heavy packs it wasn’t as bad as I suspected. Cracked the door of the cabin around 4pm and had a few scant minutes of daylight before darkness enveloped our little shelter by the lake. Second longest night of the year (by a second or two) so we had plenty of darkness before the morning came.

Arriving at the hut

The cabin itself is pretty well set up. Half dozen bunks, a supply of kitchen gear, a couple of tables (with benches and chair) and a smokin’ hot woodstove. So hot in fact that we spent most of the evening with the windows of the cabin wide open. Took a little bit of back and forth to balance the heat from the stove and cool from the night air but eventually we got the cabin temperature somewhat less than tropical. A quality meal was put on with contributions from all and a relaxing evening listening to music, debating important issues and occasionally stepping outside to listen to the silence of our location. We were a night early for the full eclipse of the moon but it was pretty heavily clouded over anyway so it would have been a non-issue regardless.

Ensconced in the cabin - time to get some dinner cooking

Monday morning was (perhaps rudely) broken a few times by “work alarms” which of course we didn’t need to partake of. Breakfast and a few emails by some (no names) to confirm that indeed they were “too sick” to make it to their desk today… before the easy ski out. Well, easy for most. Took Dave a few goes to get the hang of sliding downhill but fortunately no damage was down on the early attempts so all went well. Another stop to Renaud found the woodstove dead cold so we spent half an hour getting it going. Just started to warm up when we decided it was time to head back to the car so to the next folks who arrived at Renaud to a toasty warm cabin.... your welcome! Trails were decidedly quiet on this Monday morning but we did meet a few people out and about.

Nice morning to chop a little wood

So a big success for our overnight trek into the wilds of the park. Dave might even come back so his lack of ski skill wasn’t a big deterrent. The packs weren’t nearly as heavy as I expected, the food was first rate, the sleep was most comfortable and stepping outside your door to clip into the skis is always a treat. Time to book another trip in soon.

Come back soon... and bring more cornbread!

Fresh snow

Nice to finally get out on some real snow after the last couple of weeks of somewhat marginal ski conditions. Add to that that I can ski out of more than just P10 (probably skied more from P10 in the last 2 weeks than I will the rest of the winter)and the season is finally starting to ramp up. Last weekend’s rain/freezing rain event was not good to be sure but we’ve had a few decent snowfalls since and the base is now deep enough that good skiing can be had on the parkways and even the main arterial trails are reasonably covered. The snow is so good that I’ve finally put the rock skis away and brought out the good boards. Hopefully the rockers will remain in the basement until springtime.

Quiet summer entry gate at Lac Phillippe
Skied last night out of P19 on a rare evening ski up at Lac Phillippe. Man, it’s a whole lot darker at night up there than in the main part of the park. Of course it’s a whole lot further away from the city so there’s a lot less ambient light to be had. Still, with a headlamp the skiing was fine. Add a little moonlight and you’d have a recipe for a great night ski. Met quite a few more people on the trails than I expected. Several small groups still making their way into the huts for the night and a few folks like me out for an evening ski. I guess on weeknights people still work during the day and then head up to take advantage of the half price fees for a hut stay during the week. Snow conditions were really good. The main trails had all been groomed for classic and skate. The side trails had just had an initial rolling. Perhaps still a little too thin to be doing a full groom on them just yet but there’s more snow coming down tonight so the park should be in good shape by Christmas.

Snowy ski rack

Getting closer...

Still waiting for a little more base to build up. Apparently the skiing has been reasonable on the Fortune Parkway (inspite of the torrential rains we got last Monday) but from the pictures I saw it looked a little thin. Maybe it was okay but I figured, fresh snow falling as we speak, that soon enough there would be some better skiing to be had.

Just a dusting here and a few "water hazards" along the way
Today I took off for Lac Phillippe (skiis in car just in case) but found very little skiable snow. Instead I went for a loop around snowshoe trail 74 (didn't need the "shoes" today either). Interesting to check out this trail – one that was new to me. It takes an unusal cut through the ridge between Lacs Renaud/Taylor and trail 55. I’ve looked up there countless times(from the surrounding trails) but never ventured over… gonna have to go back to check it out again and explore a little more in there at some point.

Tall signs... until a meter of snow hits the deck
Made a quick pit stop into Renaud cabin and found the fire blazing – sweet! Thought maybe it would be too early to luck into warm woodstoves but clearly other folks are out and about even without the snow down. From there it was a quick jaunt back to the car and every step the snowfall increased. Looked almost skiable when I got back so a few more cm’s and we’ll be in business.

Down and dusted but still a little thin

First tracks of the season

Looks sketchy to ski....but it was a delight!
I hadn't really expected Fridays snowfall to account for much so Saturady morning I went up to the park to go for a run on Ridge road. There was indeed some snow down but not enough it seemed to matter when it came to skiing so I headed off towards Keogan without much thought. When I came out on the parkway I was surprised to see such a nice base down. Seems the blend of freezing rain along with a few cms of actual snow formed into a nice solid crust over the asphalt. Not enough to help with the gravelly trails of Ridge road but it looked to be quite good for skiing on the smoother roadways. With that in mind I turned tail and bolted back to the car, drove home, changed and grabbed a pair of skis before heading right back to the park for a ski. The conditions were surprisingly good. Just a cm or so of snow packed down by numerous skiers made for easy skating. Occasional grey patches of asphalt peeked through but they were covered in a layer of ice so the skis floated over most anything they saw. I skied up to the lookouts before the day started to close in on me but it was a nice treat.

Climbing Black Lake
Sunday I skied from MacKenzie King up to the lookouts and again the conditions were pretty good. A little sketchy beside Black lake but all in all another good ski. Tuesday the rains and warm temperatures are sure to wash away this tenuous snow but I think I'll head out tomorrow morning to get a few more kms in before it disappears. Long range is looking promising for some significant snowfall but who knows if/when that will actually pan out. In the mean time strike while the (wax)iron is hot...or rather while the snow is cold.

Nov 23 - 28th - What a difference a couple of days makes

Remembrance Hike

Last Thursday was another beautiful Remembrance day and time for our annual “last of the good weather “ hike in the park. Bryan, Mike and I decided to head up to Lac Phillippe this year and maybe walk up to Lusk cabin. Add to that Bryan had a new camera and was itching to “break it in” (not literally of course) so we met up at the visitor center, dropped one car and then drove up to P19. Walked in along the closed campground road and dropped down to the beach for a little bit to take some shots of the birds and the sun shining on the lake. After a loop through the campground we walked up to “Phillipe” cabin to have a quick snack. Twas here that a crew of four CF 18’s circled low over us in an impressive display. I suppose they were killing time before their Remembrance day fly past of the cenotaph downtown. They actually made two passes before roaring off into the wild blue yonder all in tight formation.

Birds flaunting the rules
After a short break we opted to head towards Taylor lake rather than up to Lusk. Not sure why we chose that option but there you go. No fixed agenda so no harm wandering where we like. Interesting to see a lot of dump truck traffic on the road out to Taylor Lake. Seems they’re re-grading the road around the lake with some fresh gravel. I checked carefully for shards of glass mixed in the gravel as we walked in but didn't spot any. Then again, perhaps my qualifications as a construction materials engineer aren’t up to scratch here and we’ll have to wait and see the true experts pass judgment on the quality of the job ;-).

Fisheye mirror - presumably to watch for oncoming hikers

We stopped at the Taylor lake yurt to have a little lunch. My stove is in some need of a little service but I finally managed to get it fired up long enough to heat up some soup. The lunch spot seemed like a good idea at the time but halfway through our meal the construction crew finished their lunch and fired up the graders and vibratory compactors. Bit of a raucous din ensued which wasn’t really our game plan for a quiet lunch spot. Ah well. With the noisy machines on the roads we decided to loop back on trail 55 in the opposite valley to get some peace and quiet. Beautiful trail through there. Certainly a favourite ski loop but today the waxing was a little tricky. All in all a beautiful day and a good one to take some time in remembrance of those that sacrificed to let us enjoy the things we love.

Lunch shared with a vibratory compactor... nice :(
Today I took some time to roller ski up to the Champlain lookout. I’ve done a little roller skiing this fall on the D-loop and out at the Lac Phillipe campground but this was the first time this season up the big hills. Haven’t done much road biking up there this summer either. Is it me or did they make the climb up the Fortune parkway bigger over the summer? ... maybe just seems that way. Guess I’ll have to go up it a few more times before the snow flies to “recalibrate”.

Gasp, wheeze... perhaps I should have ridden my bike...

"Mother Nature is teasing us..."

First tracks
Those were my buddy Pete's words a few weeks ago when "first snow" reports started trickling out of the West and even Lake Placid which got some early snow. "That may be true" I told him "but she doesn't tease us with snow in June (despite what the Northern Pikes might think)". She starts to work her magic in October and little by little we move inexorably towards the real stuff. Compactable stuff. Base building, powder covering, skiable snow. Last weekend we got another tease... but at least it was here as opposed to some far-flung ski locale. Another tease to be sure but at least - to a degree - it was skiable. I got a little skiing in on the waxless boards but skiing along the grassy shoulder of the parkway has never been my thing. I quickly turned back to the car and strapped the roller skis back on. The real stuff will fall soon enough and with it the season will begin in ernest.

Patience (and more rollerskiing) is a virtue.


Not quite ready for Penguins

Conservation weekend in the ADK

Buffing up the firetower on a nice fall day
This past weekend I decided to head down to the Adirondacks. The High Peaks hiking forum that I often frequent has been trying to break out of the confines of the “interweb” and make some tangible contributions to the park that they (we?) love. Amongst other projects the group has funded they decided to get involved in a restoration effort of the Mount Adams firetower. This historic structure on the edge of the High Peaks has fallen into disrepair over the years and needs some repair work to make it safe and secure. The group had gotten DEC approvals to take on the task, raised funds to pay for materials and begun doing some of the basic repairs to restore the tower. Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I have a bond to firetowers and appreciate them both for their connection to history and giving me a hiking destination/viewing platform in the woods. As it turned out the call had gone out this past weekend to do some basic stair tread replacement on the tower and I had some free time so decided to head down and pitch in. At the parking lot I met Jack the principle project manager (or at least the guy who writes the emails looking for free hands). More folks had given tentative responses to joining in so we left a note at the trail register saying we'd gone ahead, packed up our tools and headed up the mountain. It was a grey overcast day but there was no rain in the forecast so it looked like a good day to get some work done.


Putting in the new treads
The trail to Mount Adams is a pretty brutal one. While it’s only about 2.5 miles, it climbs more than 1700 feet. Add to that the first ¾ of a mile is basically flat and the end result is a steeeep final climb to the summit! I must admit that a handful of hand tools a drill and a couple of rechargeable batteries is not the usual gear in my hiking pack and it made the climb a tough one… but up top all the pains of the climb were forgotten as we relaxed for a bit and checked out the fall colours from the tower. After the break Jack showed me the stash of 42 brand new stair treads which an earlier party had loaded up on their backs! These pressure treated 2x10’s weighed 10lbs each and apparently everyone had loaded four each up the mountain. Clearly my pack with a few tools and couple of drill batteries was the gravy shift.


This view is worth the effort to preserve - there'd be no view at all without the tower
As it turned out no one else joined us for the work day and we only had a couple of visitors who chose to hike up there. No worries though as Jack and I worked our way through half the pile of stair treads – carefully unbolting the old planks and then measuring, drilling and bolting on the new treads. I must say I have had a chance to work in a few unusual and beautiful jobsites and this would rank right up there. Often hard to focus on the work at hand with such an impressive view just off to the right or left. I also got a full discussion of the remaining work ahead. A few pieces of structural steel will need to be replaced next year, a new roof for the cab is in the final stages of fabrication and will be airlifted up for installation in a month or so. At the same time a lot of the trash – including the old stair treads we removed - will be air lifted out to clean up the summit. Add to that the potential of a rerouting of the trail to the summit – to lose some of the murderously steep pitches- and this firetower which was heading for the scrap heap may once again be in good shape for a number of years to come. A rewarding project to be sure.


Lake Jimmy bridge - another project recently repaired by the DEC
After hiking down and bidding farewell to my partner for the day, I drove over to Lake Durant to set up camp and relax for the evening. On Monday I was thinking I would go up another firetower peak but unfortunately the day dawned with a very low cloud deck which dashed the plan for a mountain top visit. Instead I hiked into the Santanoni preserve to visit another conservation project. A 5 mile hike up the access road in a gentle drizzle got me to the Santanoni Great Camp – a 20,000 square foot “cabin” built in 1893 for the Pruyn family. Again conservation efforts are being undertaken to maintain this wilderness retreat which had fallen into considerable disrepair when the state first acquired it. It is indeed a treat to visit. After the long walk through the forest the classic Adirondack architecture is a gem to behold. The log frame construction, Great room (with birch bark wallpaper, cedar columns (bark intact) and a truly massive central stone fireplace), the giant kitchen/servants building (connected by a covered breezeway) and the massive porches that surround the whole camp make it hard to imagine it was home to just one family.


Santanoni Great Camp

Big fireplace for the Great Room
Again the conservation efforts likely cost a fortune and as a result it almost seems those efforts are just enough to keep the forest from the door (and reclaiming its own so to speak) of this massive structure. Little by little though some of the former beauty of the place is coming back. While I was there only one “handyman” was working on a variety of projects in the building. He told me most of the summer there was a full crew on site and weekends bring more workers in so it's not just one person chipping away at it. He was an interesting guy who was very eager to show off his work on the newly restored cedar lined walk in ice box. Very detailed work that most folks will likely never see but he was justifiably proud. The 4000 ft2 boathouse was another fine example with a brand new roof and beautiful sliding waterside doors.


Broad porches connected all of the structure
Unexpectedly I met further support for the maintenance of the property as I hiked out. About halfway between the mansion and the parking lot I came across a crew (12-14) filling potholes, shoveling debris out of the ditches and…umm, raking leaves off the road. The crew was graciously supplied by the New York State Department of Corrections. “Make a hole down the line boys” – “Makin’ a hole, boss” was called out as I walked by and I thanked them for their work. I guess they're looking for work projects to keep the lads busy. For me it was another fine couple of days in the Adirondacks visiting and participating in a little heritage conservation work.


The "tour bus" runs visitors out to the camp... I arrived too early so I just walked

Closing out summer at the races

Been a little behind in my posts on trips to the woods so I’ll pump out a couple of quick ones to catch up. Closed out the summer attending a couple of races in Montreal. Not as a participant mind you but merely as a spectator. Both races were interesting in their diametric differences as well as their similarities. Both took place in Montreal which – as one of Canada’s largest cities at 1.6 million people – has some incredibly large green spaces for such a large city (thus qualifying these trips to be written about in this blog).


Checking out the cars in the paddocks
First off was the Nationwide Series races at Ille Notre Dame. I’ve been to the Cup races a number of times and hadn’t really put it on the agenda for a repeat visit this year. I had however been bugging Pete for a number of years to come check out a race and he finally decided that the “stars had aligned” and he was ready to take in the spectacle that is NASCAR. Fair enough, so off we headed to the island in the St Lawrence to see the show. As always the racing was first rate but Race weekend at a Cup race is more than just the racing. Taking some time to walk the paddocks and see the cars close up is a rare chance to see raw horsepower (or shattered sheet metal). Add to that the commercial onslaught from every angle and Cup racing is Americana to the extreme - truly a weekend of high visual and auditory stimulation. While we shared the island with some 70-80,000 fans it seldom felt overwhelming as he park setting offers enough chances to escape the frenetic pace and noise before re-emerging into the flow. Pete was certainly taken by the spectacle and I’ll probably get him to another race in the future with much less “convincing” next time.


Parked by the rowing basin on a hot summer day
A couple of weeks later I headed back to Montreal - this time to the mountain itself in the heart of the city – to check out a more Eurocentric form of racing. Back after almost 20 years the UCI pro cycling tour held two races in Quebec this year. The first was in Quebec City while the second was a couple of days later in Montreal. It was another impressive show bringing some of the best riders in the world to take on a grueling 12k circuit over the mountain - 15 laps in all! The course actually has some significant cycling history as it is in principle the course that Eddy Merckx won the World Championships in ’74 and also hosted the Olympics in ’76.


A frenetic pace as the riders climb the mountain
Again the location is amazing as for the most part the mountain, University of Montreal and Outremont neighbourhoods display few clues that a major urban population of 1.6 million people live around them. Instead the forests and parks (and a pretty big cemetery) surround the course. Watching a pro bike race is a little different than the Cup cars but the fan support was equally strong as thousands lined the streets to cheer on their favourites. Interesting to note that even the non-contenders who dropped away early got great support whether struggling to climb the hills and catch the pack or simply cruising back to the hotel for an early shower. Even the bike mounted Police officers got encouragement on the big climbs!


The "Big Wheels" launch up the climb one last time
The race played out with an early breakaway holding off the main field for 10 of the 15 laps before the racing got serious. Then the peleton absorbed the break, formed a new break, reabsorbed them and a solo flier took off for the big win. A very entertaining race to watch and unlike the cup races much more physical as I got to walk the whole circuit catching the riders as they passed me at different parts of the course. I took an inordinate number of pictures and a selection can be found here. So two weekends in Montreal, two different races and both qualified as a trip to the woods - in the heart of the city.


Montreal - two worthwhile trips to the island

A visit to the MacIntyres

Finally a cool of couple of days this past weekend in this otherwise sultry summer. Mike and I had discussed a hike to get Allen off his list and Saturday looked like a prime day to make a go of it. Alas I got derailed with an unavoidable appointment and Mike went it alone with roaring success. At home on Saturday I was a little disappointed at missing a good day for a hike. Sunday didn’t look near as good with risks of thunder showers after lunch but I decided to go for it anyway. Besides, I had a new body I wanted to test out. Umm, rereading that last sentence perhaps I should clarify, I have a new camera body – my personal body is the same old slightly scruffy one I have had for a while now. Drove down to Lake Placid to camp at South Meadow Saturday night. Perhaps an early start would get me up and down before any lightening was spotted.


Early morning light is worth the effort
South meadow was jammed with a Saturday night crew but I found a few square inches to jam my tent and set the alarm for 3:30am… perhaps I would get up and make a sunrise summit the next day. Alas when the bell went I looked to the sky and could see not a single star  so I went back to bed for another hour. Didn’t sleep much and decided to get going early to stay ahead of the crowds that would surely be out on such a prime summer day. Made the short drive to the Loj and was the first to sign in on the day. Headed up the Algonquin trail with my headlamp burning bright. Sure enough, still hiking in the trees, the clouds parted and I would have got a sweet sunrise had I left at my original time. Ah well, next time for sure. At the junction for Wright I made the quick decision to pop up and see if I could find the plaque dedicated to the B47 bomber crash in 1962. Short hike up above the trees and now the warm humid air gave way to a cold, blasting wind. Donned a jacket and made my way out onto the summit to look for the memorial. Indeed after a short search I found the right boulder just to the north of the main summit with the plaque and the small collection of debris left behind. For those curious the trail comes around the south side of the summit and the plaque is over on the north side. A few small cairns show a path down to it.


Small memorial
Back on the Algonquin trail I headed up confident that I would have the rare treat of the summit of Algonquin to myself. The last few pitches of the trail are pretty steep but I kept looking back to see if anyone was chasing me up the trail. Plodded up the last pitch only to find two individuals packing up camp on the summit. They were spread out over a nice pitch of rare, arctic grasses and were tromping back and forth collecting their gear.

“Ummm, you fellas know it’s illegal to camp above 4000 feet in the summer?”
“Oh yeah, but it was an emergency we got up here late and it was too dark to go down either side.”
“Sounds a little like an emergency of your own making… couldn’t you have realized earlier on in your hike that you weren’t gonna get over the peak before night fall and turned back?” I said.
“Oh, well…, um…, we didn’t want to drive all the way down from Toronto (why did they have to be from Toronto!) and not make the summit – It was pretty tough out here last night so I think we did well to make it through the night!”
“NO, you did not do well. Friendly advice from me is to pack and get off the peak before the summit steward gets up here. She will take a less friendly approach and have a big, honking ticket for you!”
”But it was an emergency... ”
“Again, No, it was not an emergency….”
Headed off towards Iroquois with these two scooping up water for their water bottles from a small puddle. Sigh…


Clambering up Iroquois
The ridge walk to Iroquois is always fun open-rock walk and then a tight little trail through the krumholtz before another scramble up Boundary and then Iroquois. The traditional big mud holes were there but none too wet so I made good time. At Iroquois I sat and enjoyed some lunch and took a few shots before starting my trek back. Met my first hiker of the day (apart from my friends on the summit) on Boundary and then another group at the junction down to Lake Colden. Took this trail down and its reputation as a steep climb/descent is well earned. Some might even say it is “murderously steep” so I was in part grateful I was at least descending although that too can be pretty tough on the joints. The trail eventually dips into a brook and follows it down (and down and down). Earlier in the year this brook would have several stunning waterfalls but right now there is little more than a trickle of water spilling through the rocks. Still it made a nice spot for a second break.


A bit grey in the pass by midday
Rejoining the main trail through Avalanche pass the clouds had moved over and the views were not ideal. Add to that it was now mid day so the crowds were charging through the jungle gym of a trail along the lake. Lots of folks headed up Trap dike on probably a good (and dry) day for this route to Colden. From the pass it was a quick tramp back to the Loj where I cleaned up and hit the road. Picked up a sandwich at Saranac Lake and the rain started to fall just as I pointed the truck for home. Good timing all in all and another good hike in the park. The new camera performed admirably well but I must say it is pretty heavy. Not sure it will make it on too many epic hikes as I’d rather carry something lighter… but I’ll find a lot of good uses for it I’m sure. Straight back in to the heat and humidity at home… Will September never come?

Dog Days of Summer

Not much to report in the last few weeks so all has been quiet on the blog. July has been hot…. Really hot and I just don’t respond well to that kind of weather. Energy levels and motivation become low and all I can think about is the snows of winter… and how far off they seem…. sigh! Life without July seems like a pretty sweet plan but alas I think it’s hard to put into practice. Perhaps I should join the Canadian Cross Country Ski team and spend July’s in New Zealand for some sweet skiing before returning to fall “already in progress”. Still I have been getting out a bit. Evening rides in the park (when the days start to cool down) are the extent of my activities at home. I did sneak away for a quick hike in the Adirondacks back on Canada Day. The day in fact was the last cool one we’ve had in a while - starting at a frosty 5C in the morning!! I took the nice ridge hike up Giant and Rocky Peak and – much to my surprise on a long weekend - had it mostly to myself until I was almost down again. Since then the heat has made me less than eager to expend energy climbing up mountains and I’ve kept to the bike and found interesting rides to go on.


Taking in the view
This past weekend was another long one and I did want to try to get away for a little bit. The weather was slightly cooler than the past few weeks so it seemed like a reasonable chance to slip in some hiking. Last minute Pete called and had some free time. He was interested in getting in a little hiking/ camping trip and had his mind set on Vermont so I loaded up the car and we set off on Saturday. On the drive down we stopped at the trailhead for Burnt Rock Mountain. This was a spot I had discovered while I was hiking the Long trail. It doesn’t get a lot of attention (or so I thought) compared to the big peaks but it was a beautiful little summit with some fun scrambling so I thought it would make a good destination. My “secret little spot” however proved to be popular on a summer day as we were just able to squeeze the car into the last spot in the carpark and greeted many hikers coming down the mountain. That said the summit has lots of nice little outcrops so even on a busy day there is lots of room to sit back, relax and enjoy the view. After the hike we supplied up and headed to the campsite where a good evening was had burning a little firewood, drinking a few beverages and solving most of the world’s problems…. Just can’t think who took the minutes of the meeting tho’ so some of those problems will have to stay unsolved for a while yet.


Topping out on Burnt Rock Mountain

On Sunday we opted for a nice loop hike up and around Pico peak. With a relatively recent piece of newly aligned Long Trail now skirting the peak one could hike up and over Pico on the old version of the LT and then link up with the new trail and loop back to a main road. A short road walk would put us back at the car. Seemed like a perfect plan. Sadly our thinking hats must have been left at home. Part way up the trail we came to a little lookout on the side of the ski trail. Why not hike up the ski trail and enjoy the view – looks straight forward so off we went. Sadly looking at a ski hill in summer from a distance, the slopes look covered in nice short grass. From my new experience this is not the case! The grass is very deep – shoulder to head high in places. This makes for energy intensive wading through the tall grass. And when the trail isn’t brutally steep up… it’s a bog! Even the slightly cool August weather can be hot when you are slaving up a mountain. From now on I think I’ll stick to shady trails in the heat of the summer and pop out onto the summits to enjoy the views. Summit reached we claimed a spot on the deck of a ski hut that had a nice overhanging roof and took a well earned rest. The rest of the hike – back on trail was a breeze in spite of having to do a little road walk at the end.

Lunch break on the summit of Pico - a little more civilized than I anticipated but the porch gave a welcome break from the heat
Monday the heat and humidity returned so we opted to do a couple of short hikes at lower elevation and by the end of the day, as we drove home, the inevitable thunder storms hit us hard. Good weekend away though. Interesting to see a few rogue trees are starting to change colours which suggests – in spite of another hot week here at home - that cooler weather can’t be far off. Perhaps it’s time to start working on my ski fleet in anticipation of the coming snows…


Moss Glen Falls

Spending some time in the Skylight

Got a call from Mike last week saying that he and Mark were heading up to the Adirondacks to climb Skylight and Gray on Saturday. Sounded like a good plan to me so I signed on for the trip. They had planned to start pretty early and go up via Lake Arnold(and back). Not one of my favourite routes so I told them I would start about the same time and go over Marcy to meet up with them at Skylight. After enjoying the summit I would then hike down with them on the return trip. Hiking over Marcy – while a little longer and a bunch of extra elevation is – to me – worth the extra effort as the summit cone of Marcy is all above treeline and the views are superb. I opted to start at the South Meadow trailhead while Mike and Mark would start from the Adirondack Loj. We traded a few emails and agreed – first one to Marcy dam would sign in at the trail register with a time of arrival so the other group would get a sense of where the first was and if all things were going to plan for our meetup on Skylight.

Marcy's southern Flank
Friday night I drove down to South Meadow to camp out and prep for the hike. Got there about 10pm and it was quite busy. As it turns out lots of people were prepping for a “solstice hike” the next day. Around the longest day of the year some folks plan a long (really long) hike covering the entire Great Range in one day. A tough hike to be sure at ~ 30miles and close to 10000ft of elevation gain. They spot a car down in the Keene Valley and then drive to South Meadow to start hiking the next morning. Those folks would be setting off early (~3am) to cover all that ground whereas I got up at a leisurely 4:30 to gear up and head out. Mike had shrewdly planned to start hiking at 5am to get the most of the cool morning air but as I headed out (at 5) it was already 18C and pretty humid. Perhaps there wouldn’t be much cool air to be had after all! All quiet at Marcy dam as I went through. Heading up to Indian Falls the humid air was making things a little damp for me (maybe the uphill travel added to that ;-). Finally arriving at Indian Falls I came across my first hikers of the day. Jack (the dog) and his owner were backpacking over Marcy and down to Lake Colden. Never got the owners name but as I gained on them on the trail I could hear for some distance “Here Jack, Steady, Heel Jack, No Jack, Come back Jack, Stay Jack, Left Jack…. “. Jack was clearly excited to be hiking his first high peak, whereas his owner – with a heavy backpack – was just slowing things down. That said, Jack and his owner summited Marcy in fine style and we chatted for a while (the owner and I) before they carried on with their day.

Jack and owner summit Marcy
Arriving at the summit I found a large group of 10 huddled behind the summit rocks. While the forest was hot and humid, up here on high a cold (yes cold!) dry wind was blowing hard. I put on a jacket as the large group left and found a good spot in the shelter of the rocks to enjoy a snack with Jack (and his owner). Before long they headed off and I had the summit to myself which is a rare treat. I wandered over to look at Haystack Mountain across the Panther gorge and was treated to a rare sight. Haystack seemed to be at just the right angle to the cold wind to be generating clouds! With the strong breeze cutting across its ridge line the resultant low pressure would suck the warm moist air up from the valley below. When it hit the cool air flow – Paff! - clouds would form and drift rapidly down the Great Range. At one point the entire range – and only the range – was covered in a heavy cloudlayer as if a giant smoke machine had been set in action. I guess while Marcy is known as the “Cloudsplitter”… perhaps Haystack is the “Cloud maker”! Sadly it only lasted for a short while and soon enough the cloud free but hazy skies returned.

After a good break on the summit I knew I was still likely a good distance ahead of Mark and Mike as they had to summit Gray first before heading over to Skylight. I took a leisurely stroll down towards Skylight all the while looking towards Gray to see if I could see any signs of people on that summit but no such luck. Arriving at “Four corners”, in the col between Marcy and Skylight, I met a couple of hikers who called me by name and told me my friend had just gone ahead up Skylight!?! One person? That seemed wrong. Beetled up the trail and found Mike just summiting Skylight when I broke out of the trees onto the summit garden. Turns out Mark had started the hike but had started to feel unwell somewhere near Lake Arnold and opted to turn back. Bad luck for him but that kind of thing can and does happen to us all from time to time and better to retreat then push on and get further into the wild only to feel worse. After Mark had turned back Mike had opted to bypass Gray so my calculated times for their arrival had been thrown off a bit but we managed to cross paths in the end. Mike and I deposited our rocks on the summit cairn and enjoyed the summit of Skylight for a while. The longer we stayed the less Mike sounded sure he wanted to go up Gray. It was already a long way back to the car and adding another hour to climb Gray… well, that sounded like more of a chore than an enjoyable hike in the hills. So Mike will have to return one day to add Gray to his 46'r list… which isn’t as bad a prospect as it may at first seem.

Skylights summit and rock cairn
Heading down we now had the long hike back out. As it turns out for the first half of the hike out the hot sun was starting to get to full power and it sapped my energy pretty effectively. Distances seemed to drag and the body started to ache but slowly we inched our way down to Marcy dam. At this point Mike and I split company as we headed to our cars. Mike found Mark back at the Loj snoozing in the shade and feeling a bit better. I had the walk down the truck trail to South Meadow which always seems longer at the end of the day then it did in the morning. Is the carpark round this bend?… No, but perhaps it’s around that next bend? Nope… repeat, repeat, repeat until eventually it IS the right bend and there was the car! Long day this one was (close to 12 hours since I got up) but lots of summit time was enjoyed on two great peaks. Perhaps I underestimated how long it truly was before heading out. At about 17 miles it was quite a few more miles than my previous warm up hikes (closer to 10 miles).Sitting here now I can certainly feel every mile although the heat and humidity added to the toll. Still it was certainly good to get above the treeline on such a nice day and I added a couple of peaks to my “spring round” A few more pics here… now, On to summer!