Mt Marcy from South Meadows

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king tut

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I would like to think that the mountain stood a chance of defeating us today, but clearly it was blindsided by the stealth Vermont contingent. We arrived at 9:30 AM, and snuck in the backdoor by trying out a semi super secret parking lot at the end of Meadows Road, just a mile prior to the lovely $10 parking fee area of ADK Loj. Marcy never suspected this sneek attack from this never before known to us parking lot. It was almost not to be though, as a vehicle from New Jersey was parked almost in the middle of the road, with all of its doors wide open. I inspected the area for people fist bumping to techno, and shortly thereafter a gentleman came over and closed his door, allowing passage for us quaint Vermonters.

The trail begins a few hundred yards from the parking lot and goes for 2.8 miles until it intersects with the plethora of trails at Marcy Dam. While it was about a mile or so longer round trip than the hike from the Loj, i don't think it added more than 10 minutes or so of actual hiking time. It also saved us $10, which was subsequently donated to the Lake Placid Brewery later in the day.

The 2.8 miles into the Dam was a brisk 45 minute walk, and then we powered our way up to the top of Marcy, finishing our 8 mile, 3200 vertical foot ascent in just a touch over 3 hours. There was a welcoming crew of a hundred or so folks on top, and we took a good 25 minutes to soak in the views, snap some pictures, and wolf down some turkey sandwiches.

We attempted to taunt the mountain in a victory pose, but apparently the pic was snapped with only 1 of 2 victory poses in the ready position,


Jason proceeded to explain to the mountain the size of the fish he caught last week, i think...



And then we enjoyed the views of the Great Range while descending,


Jason contemplates the meaning of life and whether his feet smell at Marcy Dam



The descent back to South Meadows took just over 3 hours, pretty much the same time as it took to ascend. 16 miles of hiking, 3200 feet of vertical gain, and $0 in parking fees, a super day! We drove into Lake Placid, did some swimming in Mirror Lake, and did some quality control taste testing of their finest Lagers.

The trip back to Vermont was not as smooth though, as we flew on the backcountry roads to arrive at the Essex Ferry at 7:55 for the 8 pm ferry. Except there was no 8 pm ferry, only an 8:30 ferry. Drats! So, i motored down to Chimney Point and took the free ferry and scoped out the new bridge construction.

I was told with the vote to extend the debt ceiling at an impasse, that funds will soon dry up for the bridge, so they are going to leave the gap in the bridge and build ramps on each side. It will be known as the Dukes of Hazard crossing going forward.

 
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