Tag: new york hiking

Ampersand Mountain

04/21/2016

Weather: 70 degrees and sunny!

Let me start off by saying this mountain is on my list of redo’s. Everyone knows I’m usually so excited and happy to be hiking that no amount of misfortune can dampen my spirits. Until now. I didn’t take a single picture of the trail on the way up or down. Just at the summit. So let me explain our day. Juno and I set off around 10:30 from the trailhead, and I kept her on her leash for the beginning because it was her first even mountain hike and I didn’t want her running out of energy before we even started the final climb to the summit. It started out as a nice, easy hike, passing over two brooks along the way. After about a mile, conditions were exceedingly muddy (this was one of the first nice, warm days of spring, so snow and ice were melting, making footing dangerously slippery. Juno decided at this time that her favorite activity, now that she was off her leash, was to romp through the nastiest muddy patches, then go run right by me and shake. I was just as covered in mud, head to toe, as she was.

Now, the mud I could have handled, but the trail soon began a steep ascent and I realized how foolhardy I was not to bring microspikes with me. WORST decision, ever. The trail was already precariously rocky, add to that a layer of flowing water, on top of which sits a thick layer of melting ice, with flowing water on top. And me, falling flat on my butt every 15 steps. Now you know why my camera was safe in it’s pack. The trail continued this was for seemingly ever. At one point, Juno and I were walking along on one side of a bank, and in between the two banks was a solid river of ice. No way could be walk on it, and Juno decided, Hey, I can make that jump to the other bank where the trail continues! …She could not. She slammed right into the other side, her front arms reached on top of the bank but her face and chest made contact with the hard vertical surface. So even she wasn’t having a great time.

We’d been climbing for more than 2 hours, when the trail suddenly turned and went back downhill, steeply. Keep in mind that we were walking on/slipping and falling on a river of solid ice with water not only on top, but below the ice as well. It literally could not have been worse. So we make our way down, only to get to the bottom and realize that the trail goes right back up even more steeply just to the left of where we’d been. There was just this narrow opening at the top that we had to get up to, which was evidently where all of the water was being funneled from the snow melt at the summit, because there was about 6 inches of smooth, watery ice encasing the whole thing. We basically had to climb up a waterfall. Juno and I made it about halfway up before we both got stuck and had to slide back down very carefully. At this point I was openly swearing up a storm, saying things only adults should say, and Juno covered her ears. After my one-sided rant at the mountain, we went back up the way we had come down (which was no easy task) and found a WAY easier alternate path over to that narrow opening back to the trail. I couldn’t believe we were the first people to have done that, and that everyone else on the trail had gone up the waterfall. Unbelievable. Well, it was a good decision, because that brought us to the summit (by about 1pm). Which was INCREDIBLE, and well worth the nightmarish climb.

The summit was so cool. The whole dome is bare, with nearly 360 views. There were all of these little natural basins worn into the rock where snow-melt had gathered, making a ton of tiny crystal-clear pools that Juno had a blast playing in.

I was absolutely in awe of the scenery, and my foul mood was washed away. Yes, I was filthy and bruised and scraped up, but I was on the top of the world with my dawgter!

We happily stayed at the top for a long time. We had the mountain completely to ourselves, without another soul around for miles. We both had some food and water, and took a nap in the sun.

It really was breathtaking. But of course, I knew we’d have to leave eventually, and I couldn’t get Juno to sit still and rest; all she wanted to do was run and run and run. So I followed the blazes over to the summit plaque, snapped a picture, and we headed back down the cursed mountain. Mostly on our butts.

And that’s it for pictures. We painfully slid our way back down, trekked through the woods, and made it back to the car where June climbed into the back seat and passed out immediately. I couldn’t blame her, I thought about climbing back there too for a snooze. All in all, I cannot wait to redo this mountain, optimally in the fall, because I really don’t think it’s a hard climb (under the right conditions >.<) and the views are better even than those of St. Regis, since  Ampersand is so much closer to the high peaks. Look forward to the next, much-more-well-documented climb up Ampersand!

Ampersand Mountain: 3352′  Elevation Gain: 1765′

Round Trip Distance: 5.4 miles

Total Duration: 4.5 hours

All images are property of adktrailtalesandtails and may only be used with express permission.

Haystack Mountain

12/20/2015

Weather: Overcast, comfortably cold winter day

My hiking buddy and I got to the trailhead for Haystack at about 10:30am, and after fuddling with our equipment for 10 minutes, we set off on the trail. It was a beautiful day, with some snow cover, and we had come prepared with ski pants (to keep the butt dry during butt scooting, of course) and microspikes, so we were all set.

The trail starts out pretty mellow, a relatively flat walk through the woods. For whatever reason, I didn’t take many pictures along this trail, however those I did take were of the incredible ice formations and the gushing brook (not quite a river, but still impressive) that the trail begins to follow about 1.5 miles in.

We were absolutely mesmerized by the waterfalls, and the ice hanging off of various logs in the river. Unfortunately, the river sits in a little ravine, but I wanted to get nice and close to I climbed down the banks right to the edge. Worth it! I was pretty thankful for my microspikes at this point.

The trail really started to climb after this point, and we soon came across some weird building remains at about 2.2 miles. We had read that there was an old dam up ahead on this trail, so maybe the two were connected? At any rate, it’s a strange place for a house, but i wouldn’t have minded living there!

Now we knew that somewhere along the trail up Haystack, there would be a trail branching off to the right that heads towards McKenzie. We never saw it, and just hoped we were on the right one. Shortly after we passed the crumbling foundation, we came upon the dam. There was no bridge, and we watched one lady with her dog hop across some wobbly rocks at the bottom of the dam. We were at a loss of how to get across without falling in (being the graceful creatures that we are), when two gentlemen coming down the trail on short x-country skis just walked right along at the top of the dam where the cement wall of the dam keeps the water pretty shallow. We shook our heads at how oblivious we were to have not noticed that, and carefully crossed at the same spot. We emerged on the other side with totally dry feet! Thanks, Keen boots! From this point, the trail would climb steeply, then even out, then climb some more, etc. It was actually a really nice hike, and we never got too out of breath. At about 3 miles, the trail began the final steep climb,  going up a gully to the left of some cliffs to emerge on the first ledge at 3.2 miles. After a slight dip, the trail continued to the summit at 3.3 miles.

We were so warm when we got to the top at 1:30, we did what was probably the dumbest thing we have ever done on a hike: we took off our jackets to be standing on the top of the mountain wearing just sweat-soaked cotton T-shirts. We weren’t even wearing appropriate moisture-wicking clothing. Luckily, we had our senses to put our layers back on before we became hypothermic. We did have some nice views from the rocky ledge, though many of the high peaks that are further away were obscured by the low clouds. We hung out for a little bit, ate some lunch, and headed back the way we came.

We made it back to the stream, where we stopped again to admire the scenery. It was so peaceful and quiet here, I could have lain down to have a nap, easily. At any rate, we continued on after snapping some pics of the elusive bat-sicles! (see below).

The rest of the hike was uneventful, and we made it back to the car at about 3:30 after a beautiful, rewarding day in the woods.

Haystack Mountain: 2878′  Elevation Gain: 1706′

Round Trip Distance: 6.6 miles

Total Duration: ~5 hours

All images are property of adktrailtalesandtails and may only be used with express permission.

St. Regis Mountain

12/06/2015

Weather: Beautiful, temp in the 30s

After two months of telling my hiking buddy Sam all about my trip up St. Regis, we decided today would be the perfect day for a summit trip. We left a little after 8am, and finally got to the trail around 10 (it took us half an hour longer to get there than usual…I think because I kept stopping the car to take pictures! Ha!). The trip down was very foggy, which looked cool and all, but we were nervous that the weather wouldn’t clear up. Either way, we wouldn’t let weather ruin our much-anticipated day of hiking.

Luckily, by the time we neared Barnum Pond (which I lovingly refer to in my head as the Gateway to the Adirondacks…It’s the first landmark that tells me I’m getting close!) the weather had cleared significantly to reveal a beautiful crisp day. Barnum Pond was especially gorgeous and crystal clear. I was all ready to say “Forget hiking, lets go kayaking!” but I wanted to finish what we set out to do, so on we went.

We got to the trailhead and started walking at 10:20am after signing in at the register. The trail starts off near a pretty little brook, and I was grateful to have a hiking buddy that didn’t mind me stopping every 2 minutes to snap pictures (and lying upsidedown in the dirt under some cool icicles to get just the right angle).

The trail was vibrantly green, and we really took our time, trying to take in the last vestiges of green we’ll see until…May. Winters are brutal up here!

We reached the first lookout around noon and had our spirits restored by the amazing sights. We stuck around just long enough to snap a few pictures, then I actually started running up the steep trail to the summit (I was just a little excited…).

We finally made it to the summit at 12:30pm, and stared open-mouthed for a while before snapping a few pictures (of course) and having some very cold lunch. It was UNBELIEVABLY windy!

However the views were incredible.So incredible that I had to choose from maybe 50 awesome photos to post on here. Life’s just full of tough decisions >.< .

The firetower was still out of commission, but we didn’t let that stop us from climbing up a few flights (don’t worry, it was structurally sound, they were just rebuilding the bottom steps…which weren’t there, so we had to get creative). We didn’t dare go up to the top though for fear of being blown right off the mountain. I think we only made it to the second platform.

We hung around the top for a while, chatted with a couple of older guys with a dog, snapped a few more photos, and began the trek back down. (After finding the summit plaque, of course!)

The way down was tricky, so I put my camera away for the worst of it and mostly slid down on my butt, a move I’ve dubbed the Butt Scoot. So graceful.

We eventually made it back down to safer ground and I took some time (as usual) taking pictures of cool stuff, like permafrost coming up out of the ground! How cool is that?

After delaying the inevitable, we made it to the end of the trail, signed out at the register, and immediately began making plans for our next mountain hike.

St. Regis Mountain: 2874′  Elevation Gain: 1532′

Round Trip Distance: 6.2 miles

Total Duration: 4.75 hours

All images are property of adktrailtalesandtails and may only be used with express permission.

St. Regis Mountain

10/18/2015

Weather: Cool, cloudy, and snowy (again)

This was the day after my dad and I climbed Baker Mountain, and so we decided against climbing Algonquin (the 2nd highest peak in the Adirondacks) and settled for the much simpler St. Regis Mountain. We left our room at the Inn, had a nice breakfast at a local diner, and headed towards home, which was conveniently on the way to this mountain, and saw some beautiful views along the way. Oh! and as we were leaving Saranac Lake, my dad said “It’s a shame Radioshacks aren’t really around anymore, we could have stopped at one to get a memory card for your camera!” And wouldn’t you know it, we turned our heads, and there was a Radioshack right next to the supermarket we were walking out of after getting some snacks. Not only did it exist, but it was open on a Sunday morning, AND they had memory cards! Woohoo!!

The bottom of the mountain showed beautiful fall colors, and the trail meandered gently for about 2 miles and we enjoyed the brisk weather.

As the trail started to climb, snow began appearing on the ground and on the fall leaves. It made for some seriously beautiful scenery. My dad stopped to admire it and catch his breath, so I took the opportunity to take some photos!

After about 2 miles, we reached some really cool stone stairs that looked straight out of a fairytale. We took a break here, ate some trail mix, and continued on.

The trail began ascending very sharply, and I needed both hands to lift myself up sometimes so I put my camera away. The last .3 miles or so was not only steep, but also covered in thick ice and snow. Knowing my dad and I, we came woefully unprepared without microspikes or poles or anything, and we all but crawled along. Right at the iciest part of the path, however, we got a little glimpse of the scenery, and it kept us going! Luckily, we saw some tracks in the snow where previous people had gone well around the steepest slipperiest section, and we gratefully followed.

We made one last push and emerged onto an almost completely bare summit! It was incredible. There’s an old fire tower that was undergoing maintenance (so we weren’t allowed to go on it, not that we would have anyway, it was so cold and windy up there), and the views were almost 360 degrees. It took our breaths away. When we first came out at the top though, there was almost no visibility…and after 2 hours of listening to my dad say, “Hey! Looks like it’s clearing up!” I just had to laugh. We waited for 10 minutes or so, and the sun actually peaked out!

We reached the summit at 1pm, and took shelter behind an overhanging rock to eat some lunch. Once I had warmed up a bit, I braved the cold to take a few last pictures.

It truly felt like being on top of the world. We stayed up there for about half an hour, and very carefully headed back down the mountain. The trip down was uneventful, though it warmed up considerably  the further we went, and my fingers regained their feeling!

St. Regis Mountain: 2874′  Elevation Gain: 1532′

Round Trip Distance: 6.2 miles

Total Duration: 4 hours

All images are property of adktrailtalesandtails and may only be used with express permission.

Baker Mountain

My first climb up a Saranac 6er!

10/17/2015

Weather: Cold, cloudy, and snowy!

My dad had come for a visit all the way from Ohio and we had been looking forward to our trip to the Adirondacks together for months! We had originally sought to climb Algonquin, but we seriously doubted our abilities and decided to climb baker mountain on the first day of our overnight trip since it’s supposed to be an easy 1.8 mile round trip. As we arrived at the parking spot, I realized that I had forgotten to put the memory card back in my camera! UGHHH! So I resorted to using the camera on my dying phone, so there weren’t many photos during this trip. At any rate, we hit the trailhead and set off!

I took a moment to capture the dual seasons, summer on the right and winter on the left. There was also a mysterious delicious cinnamon smell right around here, and I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from! yummm. The climbing started almost immediately, and I was huffing and puffing in the cold air. My dad got concerned, he had never seen my asthma in action, but I assured him I’d be fine, I just had to slow down a little.

Apparently, at 0.6 miles up there was a junction with a gently inclining trail that meets up with the steep trail at the summit of Baker, but we didn’t even see it. Anyway, after a while of climbing, we reached a little lookout where we could see the beautiful fall colors through the haze of winter clouds. It was actually really beautiful, there are certainly perks to hiking on cloudy days!

It took us almost an hour to finally reach the summit of Baker (embarrassingly), but we were rewarded with gorgeous views of Saranac Lake and the McKenzie wilderness area beyond it. We rested for maybe 20 minutes, snacked on some apples and trail mix bars, and headed back down the way we came.

The way down was certainly less exhausting than the climb up, but it was tedious and hard on the knees. My dad was having a hard time, so I gave him a bulky knee brace that I used to use when recovering from running injuries, and he was excited to use it for whatever mountain we decided to do the next day. We got back to the car, and drove around to the other side of Moody Pond to view the monstrous mountain we just heroically climbed…There it is. Little Baker Mountain. It may have been short, but it was not easy (surprise, we’re out of shape!). We headed back to Gauthiers Saranac Lake Inn, and planned to use their kayaks to head out on the lake (they thought we were nuts, it was snowing out after all), but ended up staying in watching shows. Oh well, maybe next time.

There it is. There’s the giant mountain that we climbed, that kicked our butts.

Mount Baker: 2454′     Elevation Gain: 859′

Round Trip Distance: 1.8 miles

Total Duration: ~ 2 hours

All images are property of adktrailtalesandtails and may only be used with express permission.

Welcome to my Blog!

“The mountains are calling and I must go.” – John Muir

Greetings! I’m Natalie, welcome to my blog! I am a musician (check out my original folksy Adirondack-inspired music at https://www.nocturnnemusic.com/), an engineer, and an avid hiker and photographer. I also have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome – a degenerative genetic disorder that affects all of my joints, that’s resulting in my muscles being the glue that holds my joints together rather than my tendons and ligaments…As you can imagine, that makes hiking quite difficult! EDS is a little-known and underdiagnosed condition largely affecting women, with very little research behind it. Learn more about EDS here: https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/what-is-eds/

On this site you’ll find trip reports from my personal journeys through the mountains. Read through my diaries to stroll with me though the woods, accompany me on my solo 46er adventures, and learn from my triumphs and failures. “Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.” – John Muir