Mt. Jo

4/21/18

SPRING IS FINALLY HERE! I was seriously thinking that winter would just roll through spring, summer, and autumn, and we’d just be winter year round until I woke up Friday morning and checked the weather for the weekend…60 degrees and sun!! Holy moly theres no way I could stay home on a day like that, so I set my sights on Lake Placid.

Saturday morning, Juno and I got up, packed our bags, and headed out. Our first stop was to see some freaking baby goats at Asgaard Farm!! (We were a little bit excited about this).

I could not believe the amount of cars there. I had to laugh seeing all of the families with little kids, and then there’s just me and my fur-kid powing around. The line to see the newborn goats was crazy long, so we opted instead to see some of the older ones.

Then we stopped by to see some other babies!!

Looking at baby goats really works up an appetite, so Juno and I took our leave after an hour or so and headed into Lake Placid for lunch. I left Juno to nap in the car while I had a delicious meal at the Upstairs Grill (BBQ pulled pork…my stomach is growling just thinking about it now). Afterward, Juno and I went for a stroll around town to help digest the massive amount of food I’d just consumed, while I contemplated an adventure in the mountains. My knee has been slooooowly recovering since last July, so I settled on climbing Mt. Jo. We left the town shortly after arrived at the Loj at about 4:30pm and set off.

Fortunately, though there was of course snow covering the trail, it was not enough to warrant snow shoes, so we had a nice easy ascent going up the shorter, steeper path. Juno was the happiest I’d seen her in a long time, zipping here and there tearing new paths through the snow. I, on the otherhand, took my sweet time like an 102 year old lady so as to not hurt my knee. After about an hour of climbing, we reached the summit!

That moment when I stepped foot on the summit absolutely took my breath away. It felt like my soul could finally breathe again after being away from the Adirondacks for so long. After standing in the sun breathing the mountain air for who knows how long, I set to work taking some photos.

Since it was already like 6:30pm and the sun set at ~7:30, I figured I’d just stay up there to watch the sun set behind the mountains before heading back down. It was so warm when I first got up there, but as that sun went down boy did it get cold! I put on every layer I had in my pack, which included like 3 jackets, mittens, and a fleece cowl, and wrapped a travel blanket tarp thing around my legs to keep warm. (Side note: Juno and I are now starting our own line of ultra fashionable mountain-top gear XD).

Finally the sun began to set and I made my way off the summit to a more convenient ledge to capture the last rays of the day.

I didn’t waste any time in getting off the mountain after that and slid my way down the slushy trail. My knees were feeling so good that I actually jogged down much of the way, giggling like a mad-woman all the while (good thing we had the mountain to ourselves!). We made it down in no time at all without ever even needing to use a headlamp. We left the Loj at about 8:30pm, and stopped along the way to enjoy the stars in the perfectly clear night sky.