More Mountain Time

  I had a good reason for a trip to the Adirondacks to get together with high school friends early in November.  I enhanced it by visiting Xiao as he winds down his time at college in Albany, and a few hours catching up with Mary Ann and Glenn when I spent a night at their house on Lake George.  I didn't see them in the morning as I got up early for a hike in the High Peaks.  I planned to go over the Three Brothers Trail for the views and thankfully was persuaded by hiking guru, Brad, to continue to Big Slide.  It seemed like the rain had passed just before I started and I was in for a sunny day with dramatic clouds changing constantly in the 40-50 mph winds.

  

  But I only got 20 minutes on top before the rain clouds returned.  I picked up all my stuff I had scattered around, covered up and headed down past the slides and ladders before they got too wet.

  When I got down lower the threat of rain was over and I was able to enjoy the excellent views from the open faces of the first two Brothers.  Like a lot of family dynamics, this is from the Second looking down on the First Brother.

 

  I met up with the group Friday evening.  Saturday, Howard and I found the snow-less ski route from the house we stayed at to the village of Lake Placid.  It was a new section for me on the Jackrabbit Trail.       In case you don't click on the link:

The trail is named in honor of Herman “Jack Rabbit” Johannsen, who was a legendary skiing pioneer both in the Adirondacks and, later, in Canada. There he constructed the famous Maple Leaf Trail and helped to start the 100 mile, two-day Canadian Ski Marathon. While living and vacationing in Lake Placid between 1916 and 1928, Johannsen laid out some of the original routes used by today’s trail. He was also famous for his one-day ascents of Marcy starting from Lake Placid—a round-trip of over 30 miles. “Jack Rabbit” died in 1987 in his native Norway at age 111, skiing nearly to the time of his death.

  Every time I go to Lake Placid, I found it incredible that the Olympics were held there.  Kind of a miracle.  Like me skiing when I'm 111.  Like anyone skiing in 2077.

  

 It's not quite a miracle to get a group to converge on the same trailhead after strolling the village and visiting a brewery (separately), but it was unexpected by some.  I pushed hard for a visit to the Mount Van Hoevenberg East Trail.  It is trail-building at it's finest, and though the clouds didn't clear out for the view of the High Peaks, it was a thrill for all of us, especially the three of us who made it to the top, to see snow.

 

  

  Hiking medalists.

  And the Ducking Out of Any Hiking medalists.

  Going for the Platinum Medal, I headed back out Sunday morning under the clearest, bluest skies of the weekend.  After a stop at the North Elba Cemetery for a clean shot of Whiteface, I stopped on Adirondack Loj Rd. for the views from the meadow before racing up to the Van Hoevenberg summit again.  Shazaam. 

  Thanks to the return to Eastern Standard Time, I was able to add a climb of Big Crow for one last view of the Great Range before heading back to the lowlands.  The shark fin sticking up on the right of the top picture is Big Slide.