dom15931
New member
Algonquin 6-9-2009 ***EDIT*** NYE IS 6-11-09 THURSDAY...WEEK LONG TRIP! got mixed up.
For a while now I had been planning on taking my girlfriend Meghan to the Adirondacks and New England as I have spent a good deal of time there and she had never been there. We left Ebensburg, Pa at 1:15pm on Monday June 8th and arrived in Lake Placid at 9:45 pm. I had a headache and a sore throat…which at the time I attributed to my brother’s wedding and associated drunken activities only days earlier! It would turn out to be a summer cold. The forecast prior to our departure and the morning of the hike was dire. It had rained all night and the whole week was supposed to be showers and storms. However at about 9oclock there was a tiny peak of sun. We got in the car and headed to the Loj at about 11:00. There were very few people hiking today and the lot was mostly empty…even at this time.
We bought last minute bug spray and fly nets at the loj shop. By 11:30 it was mostly sunny. I took a few ibuprofen earlier and was feeling much better, but a tad under the weather yet. Surprised at the unexpectedly good conditions we headed for Algonquin not knowing if the weather would change for the bad.
We left right at about noon. The first 0.9 miles to the trail junction went quick, the usual 20 minutes or so and it was gone. Other than one slippery muddy spot up the hill just over the bridge the trail was in nice shape. The weather was holding up, the flies were barely noticeable, and the temperature was very comfortable. We continued to make good time passing the Whales Tail and the small waterfall rather quickly. There was some extra water on the trail, but with the overnight rains and the time of year it was really no surprise.
At about a half mile before the junction with the trail to Wright Peak it became apparent that the summit would likely be in the clouds, which I kind of expected but was hoping would lift. Arriving at the junction Meghan was getting tired. The trail from here to the top was much wetter and steeper. I had been up this route before years back, but it was in winter with packed snow and ice. I didn’t know that there was an albeit short but definitely slippery-when-wet slide section to this trail. We moved very slowly here. The Algonquin summit steward was taking respite from the weather at the summit at the top of the slide. She warned us of slippery conditions ahead and that the fog had completely soaked her as she had been up there for about 6hrs. She was the first person we had encountered to this point! We continued on and at the alpine zone the weather became your typical cloud/windstorm. We broke out our jackets and slowly but surely moved upward. A few spots were trickier with the wet conditions but with caution we made it to the summit. Meghan took refuge behind a large cairn and arrived a few minutes after me. The winds were going steady at about 35 mph I would guess with slightly higher gusts. Temps were not too bad. I figured they would be in the 40’s due to the fact it was a cool day even at the base of the mountains, but it felt like about 50 or so.
There were absolutely no views. My second time on this summit and the only thing different was the temp was about 40 to 50 degrees warmer and the winds were a little less gusty. Visibility was about 50’ again. I guess there will be a third someday because I want to see the views from this peak! We were bummed out about it because the were some near breaks in the clouds, but with the wind going full force and the dampening mist we took some pics and began the trek down. About 150’ below the summit we got a glimpse of the views from the mountain back towards Wright and Lake Placid. The clouds tore open suddenly several times showing the valleys and lower mountains far below. This made for some interesting pictures and was a pleasant surprise. It appeared Wright Peak would have served up some decent views that day as the cloud level above the high peaks was just covering it’s true summit most of the time. Thought these beaks did not last long they gave a glimpse into the how great the views must be from this peak.
Going down the wet slide section was a slow, careful process. We managed without incident. Nearing the Wright junction the weather went back to pleasant, but it was slightly more cloudy in general, not just the summits. At about a mile past the Wright Peak junction we ran into some hikers headed up to the campsite. Finally an encounter! We continued downward and took some pics at the small waterfall above the Wright ski trail.
The bugs were a tad bothersome here so broke out my bug net just to see what it was like to hike and wear one of these. We ran into another hiker soon after and he joked “hey buddy they are not that bad”. They weren’t the net was definitely overkill and it was funny how the guy reacted. The second half of the hike out was as easy as it was in. We arrived back at the Loj at about 7:30.
Pics: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/573045304SdhxBw
(Nye is next...post too long)
For a while now I had been planning on taking my girlfriend Meghan to the Adirondacks and New England as I have spent a good deal of time there and she had never been there. We left Ebensburg, Pa at 1:15pm on Monday June 8th and arrived in Lake Placid at 9:45 pm. I had a headache and a sore throat…which at the time I attributed to my brother’s wedding and associated drunken activities only days earlier! It would turn out to be a summer cold. The forecast prior to our departure and the morning of the hike was dire. It had rained all night and the whole week was supposed to be showers and storms. However at about 9oclock there was a tiny peak of sun. We got in the car and headed to the Loj at about 11:00. There were very few people hiking today and the lot was mostly empty…even at this time.
We bought last minute bug spray and fly nets at the loj shop. By 11:30 it was mostly sunny. I took a few ibuprofen earlier and was feeling much better, but a tad under the weather yet. Surprised at the unexpectedly good conditions we headed for Algonquin not knowing if the weather would change for the bad.
We left right at about noon. The first 0.9 miles to the trail junction went quick, the usual 20 minutes or so and it was gone. Other than one slippery muddy spot up the hill just over the bridge the trail was in nice shape. The weather was holding up, the flies were barely noticeable, and the temperature was very comfortable. We continued to make good time passing the Whales Tail and the small waterfall rather quickly. There was some extra water on the trail, but with the overnight rains and the time of year it was really no surprise.
At about a half mile before the junction with the trail to Wright Peak it became apparent that the summit would likely be in the clouds, which I kind of expected but was hoping would lift. Arriving at the junction Meghan was getting tired. The trail from here to the top was much wetter and steeper. I had been up this route before years back, but it was in winter with packed snow and ice. I didn’t know that there was an albeit short but definitely slippery-when-wet slide section to this trail. We moved very slowly here. The Algonquin summit steward was taking respite from the weather at the summit at the top of the slide. She warned us of slippery conditions ahead and that the fog had completely soaked her as she had been up there for about 6hrs. She was the first person we had encountered to this point! We continued on and at the alpine zone the weather became your typical cloud/windstorm. We broke out our jackets and slowly but surely moved upward. A few spots were trickier with the wet conditions but with caution we made it to the summit. Meghan took refuge behind a large cairn and arrived a few minutes after me. The winds were going steady at about 35 mph I would guess with slightly higher gusts. Temps were not too bad. I figured they would be in the 40’s due to the fact it was a cool day even at the base of the mountains, but it felt like about 50 or so.
There were absolutely no views. My second time on this summit and the only thing different was the temp was about 40 to 50 degrees warmer and the winds were a little less gusty. Visibility was about 50’ again. I guess there will be a third someday because I want to see the views from this peak! We were bummed out about it because the were some near breaks in the clouds, but with the wind going full force and the dampening mist we took some pics and began the trek down. About 150’ below the summit we got a glimpse of the views from the mountain back towards Wright and Lake Placid. The clouds tore open suddenly several times showing the valleys and lower mountains far below. This made for some interesting pictures and was a pleasant surprise. It appeared Wright Peak would have served up some decent views that day as the cloud level above the high peaks was just covering it’s true summit most of the time. Thought these beaks did not last long they gave a glimpse into the how great the views must be from this peak.
Going down the wet slide section was a slow, careful process. We managed without incident. Nearing the Wright junction the weather went back to pleasant, but it was slightly more cloudy in general, not just the summits. At about a mile past the Wright Peak junction we ran into some hikers headed up to the campsite. Finally an encounter! We continued downward and took some pics at the small waterfall above the Wright ski trail.
The bugs were a tad bothersome here so broke out my bug net just to see what it was like to hike and wear one of these. We ran into another hiker soon after and he joked “hey buddy they are not that bad”. They weren’t the net was definitely overkill and it was funny how the guy reacted. The second half of the hike out was as easy as it was in. We arrived back at the Loj at about 7:30.
Pics: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/573045304SdhxBw
(Nye is next...post too long)
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She said the night before “why don’t you get up early and go and be back before checkout.” Well it was 6:00 and checkout was at 12:00. I got moving. 
