Adirondacks COVID Style

  After our trip to the mountains last summer, I realized I was getting close to hiking all the 25 highest peaks in the northeast.  There were seven left in the Adirondacks and I planned a hike that would get me to three of them.  This is a picture I took from Pharaoh Mountain in March of 2019 that shows four or five of what I still needed to reach to complete the list.  On this day I was going for Haystack, Skylight and Gray.  On the extreme right of the photo is Basin, also on the list.  On the extreme left might be Iroquois which is on the list but I missed a perfect opportunity to get there when Gail, Tii and I hiked Algonquin together a few years ago.  It will not be a hardship to have to climb Algonquin again to get there.

 I chose to go up the VanHoevenberg Trail to Little Marcy and then drop down a bit before making the steep climb up the north side of Haystack.  That took me past Indian Falls with the great view of the McIntyre Range, Avalanche and Colden.  The hike Gail and I did on Monday passed between Colden and Avalanche.  I think that pointy knob on the left of the McIntyre Range is Iroquois, so close to Algonquin.

A little later I had my first good view of the summits of Little Haystack and Haystack.  Right after taking this photo the 3% chance of rain turned into 100% with a bit of hail thrown in.  Since I knew I'd be doing a steep climb in a few minutes and the sun would eventually burn off the clouds I just covered my backpack and allowed my shirt and pants to get soaked.

On top, looking back to Little Haystack.  See the people on the right?  I found a video on youtube of someone doing this last bit which I watched several times before the trip, and have to say it helped ease my mind of anxieties about this part, I also picked up the wise idea to wear gloves for it as there was much contact with the rough stones along the way. 

 What my mind wasn't at ease with was going down the south side of Haystack to Panther Gorge.  I'd read that people do it, but not many, and most of the info about the trail just advised against going up with a full backpack because of the steepness.  It turned out to be not so bad, I think it went to that scar at the top of the shadow and down to the bottom of the shadow.  There were a couple spots I was wishing for a ladder, and that it hadn't rained an hour before to make the rocks wet.  So it goes.

The trail from Panther Gorge up to the Four Corners between Skylight and Marcy was a real treat with lots of the bolder stairs I'm so fond of.  I sat on the steps where there was a nice view of Haystack and had one of my many snack breaks of the day consisting of delicious and nutritious food Gail prepared for me.

Without question the highlight of the day was being on top of Skylight for an hour, much of it the only person there.  The views are fabulous, and the wind wasn't as bad as on Haystack. Somewhere in the third picture down, far in the distance, is Pharaoh, but I have no idea which one is it.

Well, I had to leave Skylight sometime and I still had Gray to go, so I went back down to the Four Corners and past Lake Tear of the Clouds where the Hudson River starts.  As I was going up Gray I stepped off the trail to let someone descending get by, I'll admit I didn't see them enough to say whether it was a person, woman, man, camera, or TV, but when I turned to get back on the trail I recognized the guy behind that person as a neighbor from Ithaca.  Ian told me he was pacing and supporting a woman who was competing to set the women's record for the fastest ascent of the 46 high peaks.  I made him stop long enough to take his picture and then advised him to catch up with Sarah who had long since left him behind.  Ian and I ran into each other again in the parking lot as I waited for Gail to come pick me up.

I just missed encountering Sarah again on Whiteface/Esther on Friday after Alyssa, the other woman, had finished first, but since the competition was over and she was slightly injured she waited for the rain that I finished my hike in to let up before she started.

Since Gail and I had hiked around Lakes Colden and Avalanche, I opted for a shorter route back to the trail head at the Adirondack Loj.  This is a well known trail for the swamp it passes through, but the high peaks guidebook said it had been improved in the past few years.  I guess it doesn't actually say it has all been improved.  No problem, my feet were in need of being cooled off and the water only reached half way up my shins.  Not sure of my exact mileage, I'm calling it 20 miles.

Gail did some solo paddling on Lake Placid, house hunting for our retirement home, no doubt.  She also ventured south of Keene Valley to visit some swimming holes that she gave favorable reviews except for the high yahoo factor.