PA Ridgerunner
Active member
After a decent night's sleep, considering the anticipation of our big day, we met Snickers at the HPIC at 6am, and were on the trail by 6:10. The weather was damp and dreary to start, with a light rain falling for part of the hike to Marcy Dam...this was not the forecast, so we remained optimistic that we would have great weather for our finish. Somewhere around the dam, Cindy decided that she wouldn't accompany us all the way, so she gave us each a 46er patch and made us promise to finish. That was my first clue as to how emotional this day would be, as I about started to bawl when she handed them to us. We parted company just before the bridge over Marcy Brook and began the long climb to Lake Arnold Pass, where the sun finally started to peek out.
From the top of the pass to Feldspar lean-to the trail was a delight! Such terrific trail work has been done here since we last passed this way in May 2010 when we climbed Cliff.
We now had a full head of steam as we continued up to Lake Tear. We had only seen it from Marcy's summit and were eager to see her close up. Here's a photo of Fran straddling the outlet, fashioned after the photo James Burnside took of his son and included in "Hiking the 46 Adirondack High Peaks."
We made relatively short work of the climb of Gray...or at least our time on the summit. Took a couple of quick photos, but didn't tarry as our momentum was pushing us on to our finale on Skylight!
The climb from Four Corners to treeline was mostly in a stream, but it didn't seem to bother us. We did meet a couple of young guys descending, who were very excited to learn that we were about to finish. They congratulated us and bounded down the trail like mountain goats.
As we broke out of the trees and started to approach the summit, I realized that this was real. All the hard work, joy, fear, frustration, excitement, and fun had brought us here together. I turned to Fran, who was snapping my picture, held out my hand and said, "get up here where you belong." We walked hand in hand the last 50 yards to the summit. It was just the two of us, exactly as we had begun, August 31, 2007, on Porter. Well, not exactly the same...we're forever changed by this experience. We had the summit to ourselves for an hour on this beautiful summer day. Spent lots of time taking pictures, laughing, crying, being together, and being by ourselves -- savoring the moment and the achievement.
Fran has said a few times since that day that Skylight chose our finish for us. We were turned back on this same hike a year ago, which was a bitter disappointment. But now we can't imagine having finished anywhere else.
Here are a few pics from and of the summit:
Reluctantly we left this magical place. But we were still excited, as we were going to hike up and over Marcy on the way out! What a fun climb, and what fantastic views!
We arrived at the summit and found only Julia, the summit steward. She asked if we were the folks who had just finished our 46 on Skylight. Apparently the mountain goats were talking. Julia was kind enough to take our photo.
Interestingly we were joined by two young men who had just completed their first ever Adirondack High Peak. We stayed a while longer, enjoying the fabulous views.
At last we departed the top of New York and enjoyed a leisurely stroll back to the Loj parking lot, and a chilled growler of what we choose to call 46er IPA.
We arrived back at Random Scoots just before dark and were greeted by our hosts, inquiring how our day had been and if we had indeed finished our 46...big hugs and laughter all around! We wandered into the cabin and were so touched to find a "mountain" of fresh baked cookies, complete with a photo of Skylight, 46er patches & stickers, and a lovely note of congratulations (on 46er stationery!). A perfect ending to a perfect day!
Thank you to all of our "friends in high places" who have helped us to realize this dream.
Steve & Fran
More photos here.
From the top of the pass to Feldspar lean-to the trail was a delight! Such terrific trail work has been done here since we last passed this way in May 2010 when we climbed Cliff.
We now had a full head of steam as we continued up to Lake Tear. We had only seen it from Marcy's summit and were eager to see her close up. Here's a photo of Fran straddling the outlet, fashioned after the photo James Burnside took of his son and included in "Hiking the 46 Adirondack High Peaks."
We made relatively short work of the climb of Gray...or at least our time on the summit. Took a couple of quick photos, but didn't tarry as our momentum was pushing us on to our finale on Skylight!
The climb from Four Corners to treeline was mostly in a stream, but it didn't seem to bother us. We did meet a couple of young guys descending, who were very excited to learn that we were about to finish. They congratulated us and bounded down the trail like mountain goats.
As we broke out of the trees and started to approach the summit, I realized that this was real. All the hard work, joy, fear, frustration, excitement, and fun had brought us here together. I turned to Fran, who was snapping my picture, held out my hand and said, "get up here where you belong." We walked hand in hand the last 50 yards to the summit. It was just the two of us, exactly as we had begun, August 31, 2007, on Porter. Well, not exactly the same...we're forever changed by this experience. We had the summit to ourselves for an hour on this beautiful summer day. Spent lots of time taking pictures, laughing, crying, being together, and being by ourselves -- savoring the moment and the achievement.
Fran has said a few times since that day that Skylight chose our finish for us. We were turned back on this same hike a year ago, which was a bitter disappointment. But now we can't imagine having finished anywhere else.
Here are a few pics from and of the summit:
Reluctantly we left this magical place. But we were still excited, as we were going to hike up and over Marcy on the way out! What a fun climb, and what fantastic views!
We arrived at the summit and found only Julia, the summit steward. She asked if we were the folks who had just finished our 46 on Skylight. Apparently the mountain goats were talking. Julia was kind enough to take our photo.
Interestingly we were joined by two young men who had just completed their first ever Adirondack High Peak. We stayed a while longer, enjoying the fabulous views.
At last we departed the top of New York and enjoyed a leisurely stroll back to the Loj parking lot, and a chilled growler of what we choose to call 46er IPA.
We arrived back at Random Scoots just before dark and were greeted by our hosts, inquiring how our day had been and if we had indeed finished our 46...big hugs and laughter all around! We wandered into the cabin and were so touched to find a "mountain" of fresh baked cookies, complete with a photo of Skylight, 46er patches & stickers, and a lovely note of congratulations (on 46er stationery!). A perfect ending to a perfect day!
Thank you to all of our "friends in high places" who have helped us to realize this dream.
Steve & Fran
More photos here.
