Highpoint #28: New York

Vanity Shot at the Summit of Mt. Marcy

Only a few weeks back from Oregon, and I was already itching to do another highpointing trip.  It’s funny how that works.  The more states that one completes, the more intense the desire is to complete the remaining states.  It’s an incredible fixation that takes me farther and farther afield.  Fortunately, this time around I had my sights on the relatively close state of New York, a state I have grown to know quite well having lived there a couple of times in the past.    

The highpoint of New York is Mt. Marcy, which is an impressive mountain in the heart of the Adirondacks.  Obviously the highest of the 46 high peaks in the surrounding wilderness, it comes in at a commanding 5,344 feet.  The approach involves 3200 feet of elevation gain across a 15-mile round trip hike.  So, all together a hike of moderate difficulty, made more difficult by my attempt to make it a day hike, leaving from Washington, D.C.  Yes, I am a sucker for endurance efforts. 

I was able to leave my place at 5:15am on a quiet Friday morning.  I opted to take a route that avoided tolls and all of the morning traffic of Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City.  Instead, I headed north to Harrisburg, PA and continued to follow a slant pattern once I entered New York state.  The New York portion of the route was scenic and relaxing, taking me past the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and onward to Albany.  From there, I had to head a bit farther north into the Adirondacks proper, and turn off on some country roads, eventually making my way towards Lake Placid.  I finally pulled into the parking lot of the Adirondack Loj nearly 9.5 hours later.  I have to say, for an early Friday afternoon, I was impressed with all of the parked cars at the various trailheads alongside the roads leading up to the Loj.  There was opportunity for adventure everywhere, and seemingly hordes of people were embracing those opportunities.  I can only imagine how busy it is on the weekends! 

The parking lot for the Adirondack Loj is not free.  Because I arrived in the afternoon, I paid the reduced fee of $5, and because I was paying by credit card, I had to go into the Loj for the transaction.  I managed to find a parking space in the nearly full parking lot, paid the fee, and inquired about the trailhead for the Mt. Marcy.  Apparently, it was just ahead at the end of the first lot.  So, I grabbed up my gear (a small pack, rain suit, headlamp, GPS, water, food, and poles) and headed off.  I signed in at the register, just minutes before 3pm. 

Hiking Register #1

Bear Country!

The trail begins by heading out to Marcy Dam, which is a major campground area and an excellent launch area for a number of hikes of varying difficulty.  The approach to the dam was pretty straightforward with only a little bit in the way of net elevation gain.  The terrain was boggy, but the going was made easy by a number of boardwalks, terraces, logs for stepping, and rocks for hopping.  

 

One of the Many Boardwalks near the Start

In the couple of miles to the dam, I saw easily dozens of people hiking back to the main parking lot, calling it a day.  I saw no one heading in my direction.  I guess this was a pretty late start by Adirondacks standards. 

Entering the High Peaks Wilderness

When I arrived at the dam, I made my way down to the pedestrian walkway and crossed over the water.  

Pedestrian Bridge across Marcy Dam

View from the Bridge

On the other side, I arrived at a second trailhead replete with a second hiking register.  I signed in there too, and was quickly on my way again. 

 

Hiking Register #2

From here the character of the trail changed a bit.  I was now definitely heading uphill, and rocks were ever plentiful.    Always ensconced by trees, I was walking atop strewn logs to avoid mud, around large rocks, and at times climbing over them. 

Typical Section of the Trail

The number of parties heading down diminished quite a bit.  I started to encounter rangers from time to time though.  The first one asked if I was heading to Phelps, and was worried if I would have enough time to make it to the top of Marcy when I told him I wasn’t.  I assured him that I had a headlamp and was fine with routefinding in the dark, if need be.  The second ranger also expressed concern.  She told me to be careful, because she would be the one coming out to look for me if I had any issues.  Um, okay.  The third ranger was a bit more relaxed.  I guess I was high enough up the mountain at this point, that she wasn’t too concerned about me.  She said that they just had to evacuate someone earlier, so that’s why the rangers were being so cautious.   I was going to say.  Hiking up Marcy was not particularly demanding for me, so I was able to keep a strong pace heading all the way up.  What’s the worst that can happen?  Maybe I fall, hurt myself a little and have to hike or limp down in the dark by headlamp?  Meh, it’s not really a big deal for me.  I guess they see a lot of inexperienced hikers though, so who knows what they get to deal with.

Eventually, the trees opened up a little bit, and I was able to see my first view off into the distance.  It was beautiful!  

First Tree-Free View

Seeing distant peaks at eye level, I knew that I was finally getting close to the summit.  A nearby sign indicated that I was in the final 1.2-mile stretch.  Indeed, I could see the summit off to my right in the distance.  Apparently, the path was going to spiral its way up there along the way.  I was energized to pick up the pace. 

First View of the Summit

I soon came to the final junction, and made a right for the summit.  I came into the alpine zone and began scrambling to a lower peak just shy of the summit.  

Alpine Zone near the Summit

First Pitch of Scrambling

It was easy class 2 rock, that yielded an amazing view once climbed.  The view of the peaks off into the distance was pretty clear and inspiring.  

Summit Looms Closer

Views are Pretty Nice Here

Sadly, I did not tarry long so as to keep pushing for the summit.  One last pitch of class 2 rock, and I was there!  

2nd Pitch of Scrambling

I quickly spotted the summit plaque and did my usual photos with the requisite vanity shot. 

Vanity Shot at Summit Plaque

Detail of Summit Plaque

Clearly the rock holding the plaque rose still higher, so I made my way up it to the summit plateau.  There I searched around for a USGS marker, but I did not see one.  I guess the plaque is sufficient.  Upon the plateau though, I had a full, unobstructed panoramic view for the first time.  It was quite gorgeous, from what I could see.

View from Summit Plateau

Unfortunately, the clouds were pretty low hanging at the time of my summit.  So, in actuality, I had better views from the peak below.

View from the Top:  Note the Clouds

The clouds were a little too dark for my taste given my then current position at the highest point in New York.  I was hearing sounds of thunder on the way up too, but any storm activity was still off in the distance.  Regardless, I figured it best not to stay very long, lest I serve as a lightning rod.  I decided to take what photos I could and make my way down below the treeline as quickly as I could. 

Detail of Boreas Ponds Below

The true scrambling stretches were pretty easy to descend.  Amazingly, I passed someone on the way up at the last junction.  He had a medium-sized pack with a bear can, so I figured he was planning to camp nearby after summiting.  He looked pretty experienced, so I wasn’t worried about him.  I can only imagine what the rangers thought about him climbing the mountain even later than me.  Not to be out done though, I soon encountered a trail runner still on his way up!  He had next to nothing in the way of gear, but he was running up rock at a full clip.  This should be interesting, I thought.  Sure enough, it was.  Maybe an hour later, as I was dutifully making my way down the mountain, I could hear him running in the distance, this time even faster.  I moved to the side and yelled towards him asking if he made it to the summit?  He yelled back that he “tagged it”.  I congratulated him, and he passed by in a whirr.  Seriously, he was just flying down a rockslide like it was a perfectly groomed trail.  I never have seen anyone move that fast down a fairly rugged trail before -- damn!  I was impressed. 

I continued to make my way down as the sun slowly began to set for the day.  The remaining daylight slowly diminished.  The canopy of trees soon blocked out any visible light.  I had to switch over to my trusty headlamp at this point.  No big deal really, as I have been in this position before highpointing Vermont and also Massachusetts (neighboring states, coincidentally).  The only problem was that my batteries were weak, so I had a significantly reduced beam.  Damn!  This would prove to slow me down quite a bit, but the route was still pretty fresh in my mind, so no real worries. 

Getting Dark!

I soon found the crossing point for the river, forded it, and made my way back to the Marcy Dam campground and signed out at the second hiking register.  It was just after 9pm, and I still had more than 2 miles to go to get back to the Adirondack Loj.  I crossed the pedestrian bridge, and started to make my way through the dark of the forest.  My headlamp was really weak at this point, to the point where I was just casting enough light to see the next tree.  Fortunately this was the easiest part of the trail by far, and it was quite well marked.  I often could see a trail marker on a tree and know that I was fine.  Also, all of the boardwalks and terraces made it pretty easy to stay on track.  It was kind of fun to navigate under these conditions, really.  Though next time, I will make sure my batteries are new. 

Adirondack Loj

I eventually made it to the trailhead, signed out, and walked by the Loj.  My ascent of Mt. Marcy was complete, and it was a great success – yay!  I threw my gear in the car, and prepared for the long ride home.  9.5 hours to go – ugh!  Sadly, it would prove to be too much for me.  Even with the spirited assistance of Red Bull, my PED of choice for these kinds of trips, I was feeling really tired on the drive home.  I decided to break up the trip by stopping at a rest area in NY and another one in PA taking a couple hours of sleep each time.  It was just enough to do the trick, and I finally made my way the rest of the way home.  I managed to pull into the garage at almost exactly 10:15 am, making for a 29-hour journey in total.  Without the sleeping, it could have been a legitimate “day” trip, defined as not exceeding 24 hours.  Oh, well.  It was a great bit of fun regardless. 

I have to say, I was pretty inspired by the climb of Mt. Marcy and the surrounding area.  It is one of the ADK46 high peaks.  I might just be tempted to climb the remaining 45 mountains and earn my patch.  Hmm…   :-)