Paradox
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- May 29, 2006
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I met Chip and Puck at the LOJ parking about 7:30 am. They had driven 3+ hours from Connecticut, I had driven 1.5 hours from Plattsburgh. We headed off for Algonquin Peak: I was traveling a bit lighter as I had hopes of bagging Wright Peak and perhaps Iroquois if the weather held. Chip and Puck were loaded down with wine, cheese, and Barry White on their MP3 for a quiet night together in a shelter.
It quickly became apparent that I wearing my MSR's and carrying half their weight was moving faster than those two wearing crampons. I moved ahead and turned left at the Wright Peak side trail. Up to the treeline I was very comfortable in a single layer and nothing on my hands. I layered up with what I thought was enough at the treeline. But with .1 miles to the summit I had to stop and put on mittens and down parka and take off my iced over glasses. Bagging Wright I turned around immediately and headed for the treeline as the winds were fierce. I looked like a glazed doughnut as I took off the parka and opened the side zips on my pants.
Chip and Puck had written their time in the snow at the Wright Side Trail Junction and I reckoned that I was about 40 minutes behind them. So I went off to chase them and was able to catch up by the treeline where they had stopped to wait for me. Up we went stumbling into whiteness. With only about 100' to 300' of visibility, going up was relatively easy as we avoided spruce traps and reached the summit of Algonquin in only 25 minutes. Each of us had given up on the goggles as they iced up quickly and repeatedly. After a quick video on the summit of Algonquin we decided that I would not try for Iroquois, but would accompany them to the trail junction near Boundary Peak and drop down to Lake Colden.
Chip stated confidently that he had been up there before in bad weather and knew the way, then turned and made a beeline for Caribou Pass and the cliffs of Avalanche Mountain. Fearing for my friend, I chased after him, and shouting into the gale, I was able to stop him after only a couple hundred feet. I politely advised him to make a sharp right which he did briefly and then proclaimed we should head back the way we came. "Alright," I said, and did an aboutface. Soon thereafter I felt a cramponed foot in my backside and found myself in a sea of spruce traps. I looked back and Chip was fumbling for his newly aquired video camera and barking orders at Puck to make snowballs STAT. As I struggled toward them they were laughing, and yelling to me to do it again, as I clearly needed the exercise.
Chip then decided that he wanted to head to Scott Clearing, but after repeated prodding I was able to get him to return to our resting point at the treeline and head on down the way we came.
At this point, all three of us looked like glazed doughnuts which seemed to greatly impress the groups of hikers that we encountered on the way down.
At the trail to Whales Tail we parted company: Another viewless yet successful hike of peakbagging.
Chip has all the pictures, but my GPS track is on WIKILOC.
The date is incorrect in the title: The correct date is 2/19/2010
It quickly became apparent that I wearing my MSR's and carrying half their weight was moving faster than those two wearing crampons. I moved ahead and turned left at the Wright Peak side trail. Up to the treeline I was very comfortable in a single layer and nothing on my hands. I layered up with what I thought was enough at the treeline. But with .1 miles to the summit I had to stop and put on mittens and down parka and take off my iced over glasses. Bagging Wright I turned around immediately and headed for the treeline as the winds were fierce. I looked like a glazed doughnut as I took off the parka and opened the side zips on my pants.
Chip and Puck had written their time in the snow at the Wright Side Trail Junction and I reckoned that I was about 40 minutes behind them. So I went off to chase them and was able to catch up by the treeline where they had stopped to wait for me. Up we went stumbling into whiteness. With only about 100' to 300' of visibility, going up was relatively easy as we avoided spruce traps and reached the summit of Algonquin in only 25 minutes. Each of us had given up on the goggles as they iced up quickly and repeatedly. After a quick video on the summit of Algonquin we decided that I would not try for Iroquois, but would accompany them to the trail junction near Boundary Peak and drop down to Lake Colden.
Chip stated confidently that he had been up there before in bad weather and knew the way, then turned and made a beeline for Caribou Pass and the cliffs of Avalanche Mountain. Fearing for my friend, I chased after him, and shouting into the gale, I was able to stop him after only a couple hundred feet. I politely advised him to make a sharp right which he did briefly and then proclaimed we should head back the way we came. "Alright," I said, and did an aboutface. Soon thereafter I felt a cramponed foot in my backside and found myself in a sea of spruce traps. I looked back and Chip was fumbling for his newly aquired video camera and barking orders at Puck to make snowballs STAT. As I struggled toward them they were laughing, and yelling to me to do it again, as I clearly needed the exercise.
Chip then decided that he wanted to head to Scott Clearing, but after repeated prodding I was able to get him to return to our resting point at the treeline and head on down the way we came.
At this point, all three of us looked like glazed doughnuts which seemed to greatly impress the groups of hikers that we encountered on the way down.
At the trail to Whales Tail we parted company: Another viewless yet successful hike of peakbagging.
Chip has all the pictures, but my GPS track is on WIKILOC.
The date is incorrect in the title: The correct date is 2/19/2010
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