Algonquin 6-9-09 and Nye (verify!!!) 6-10-09 (Numerous Pictures)

[dom15931]

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)

 

[dom15931]

Nye mtn

Nye: 6-11-09

I spent Wednesday being down with a headache and sore throat in the morning. Thursday morning I got up early. We were going to head to New Hampshire that day. I was feeling considerably better and the rain that was supposed to be moving in was nowhere in sight with mostly sunny skies. Meghan’s feet were sore and had blister’s from hiking Algonquin two days ago. 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.

I arrived at the Loj parking area and hit the trail at 6:45. Nye is an old nemesis and one you guys may have to verify if I defeated it this time. I found the summit to lack a sign or tag…though I hear the park has been taking them down…see further in my post where I reach the “summit”.

(My friend Chad and I tackled Street in February of 2007. The trail to Nye was not broken at all and there was about 6’ feet of snowfall! I remember making it about 100' before going into my shoulders in snow and saving it for later!)

I was moving good today. The path was in nice shape and the temps were very pleasant. Bug levels were minimal. Despite this being a herd path in many sections it is very easy to follow and many hikers seem to make an effort to maintain the trail. It is simply unmarked, no blazes, no tags.

I made it to Indian Pass Brook in good time, about 40 minutes I believe. Fording the brook was easy and the location of the crossing is well marked with river-rock cairns. I found that as I continued upward there were cairns in place at each location where you needed to cross the small brook that the path basically follows, jumping back and forth several times across it. The small brook and trail lead straight at the Street/Nye ridgeline plateau. The trail was nice. This is a very thickly forested mountain and the rocks are not nearly as bad as your typical Adirondack trail. The trail is steep, soft, and narrow enough to make a rapid descent a little more prone to injury in my opinion.

The views above 3300’ really aren’t quite as bad as some old reports/books make it. At around or slightly higher than this elevation the trail will twist and turn a bit a turn steeply upward for a bit. High up it recent years it is obvious that here has been a lot of recent extensive blowdown, opening up some views of the Macs here and there. They all have a branch or two in them and don’t make the best pictures, but they are worth looking at and make the hike much more enjoyable. Much of this blowdown has been cleared. I would assume this was by 46er’s and hikers, as the park does not claim to maintain the trail. Sawed off fallen trees over the trail is definitely maintenance! Someone is doing it. There are no “belly crawlers” but there are a few trees you gotta duck under or step over. I can remember climbing street in the heavy and deep snow pack some of the trees you had to duck under were belly crawlers at that time! I lost my original GPS under one of these I believe two years ago. It was strange home much I remembered this path even without all the snow.

Soon I had arrived at the plateau. You can see the light though the trees at the ridgeline and it is welcome sight and not a false ridge crest . The is an interest stone cairn/monument marking the trail split. I headed east to Nye. I was two hours into the hike at this point. I would travel about a quarter mile (straight line GPS measurement) to what I believe is the unmarked summit. The trail followed just under the ridgeline for a bit turned up and then went to at least a high point on the ridge and made most of a circle, with no obvious path forward in anywhere near the same condition. I moved fast and it only took me may 10 to 12 minutes to get here. I scoured this highpoint to make sure the trail did not continue. All I found was an “N” carved into a boulder and a rock that seemed ‘placed’ nearby and a dead end trail. There was another summit on the ridge that appeared to be of nearly the same height to the east, but it seemed too far, had a decent drop between where I was and it’s location, had no path I could find, and looked an awful lot like the adjacent lower summit on the ADK High Peaks Map regarding the contours. None the less I am still a bit shaky if I actually bagged this one. I took some pictures, including one of myself, near where I believed the summit to be. I did not have time to get over to the other summit to check it because I wanted to be back to the hotel in time.

I realized that I had spent about 30 minutes looking around the summit for any sign of a continuing trail, taking pictures, and finding a few views through the trees. I overstayed my welcome…the flies were biting. I headed down after applying some repellent. I did not get bit too bad. Standing on the summit my head would have, however, looked like a model of an atom with a lot of electrons circling around it, with the flies being the electrons. Ha!.

The blowdown made the hike down a bit more enjoyable with a few decent views here and there up high. I had no problems getting back or following the trail. I moved somewhat quickly to make up for my overstay at the summit (hopefully Nye’s true summit!). I arrived back at the Loj parking area at 11:10am. I really hope I got this. It would have cost me a lot of energy and time for a near miss for a second time on an EASY mountain!

Nye Pics: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/573041317FeTMtL

I also got some nice shots of the high peaks from the loj road:

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/573047371AFPAEQ



-Dom

 

[PA Ridgerunner]

Didn't see anything like this? Could be that the sign has been stolen by some low-life. It happens.

 

[dom15931]

I think I got it...evidence!

Think I got it...It appears blowdown may have really thinned the trees, but I am still uncertain. If I failed there would have to be a good 50 to 100 foot drop and another .2 to .3 miles to the nearly the same height summit to the east. That's whats bugging me. I am almost certain the summit to the east is a lessor summit...topo analysis suggests so...but I cant be sure.


This is not my picture. It is someone else's trip journal I found with google from 2004 See the tag on the tree and the rock.

http://www.the-boogiemen.com/hiking/snNyeSummit.jpg

Comparing this to my picture I believe the "tagged" tree is now tipped over at my left shoulder and behind me in this photo.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2003033460058707914OAzFsl

The branch structure matches and its a dbl conifer. Also the rock seen in the 2004 photo looks like the one partially in the above photo of mine and looks maybe to be the same as the "N" rock picture:

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2001840240058707914CIGYcE

 

[Umsaskis]

Funny, I had the same problem, back in 2003? I think. In the winter. I followed some other folks' tracks and there was no sign but the tracks ended. I kept going and it went downhill significantly from there, so I figured I was at the top; the map showed it being a pretty short spur path (and you can't always find signs or canisters easily in the winter anyway). So I came back down and met the people who had made the tracks in the col between Street and Nye. They assured me that where their tracks ended was the summit. Then I recently saw a photo with the sign - when was it put up? Would it have been there in 2003?

 

[dom15931]

Funny, I had the same problem, back in 2003? I think. In the winter. I followed some other folks' tracks and there was no sign but the tracks ended. I kept going and it went downhill significantly from there, so I figured I was at the top; the map showed it being a pretty short spur path (and you can't always find signs or canisters easily in the winter anyway). So I came back down and met the people who had made the tracks in the col between Street and Nye. They assured me that where their tracks ended was the summit. Then I recently saw a photo with the sign - when was it put up? Would it have been there in 2003?

If you google "nye mountain" Adirondacks You will find many trip reports in which the signs and markers are there and then they are gone. This seems to be ongoing. I was on street in february of 07' and there was a sign there. Nye was unbroken and I was unable to get to it.

I am now 99% sure that both you and I got the summit. It is just that second major bump on the ridge is almost dead level with what seems to be the highpoint. The topo map and trail reports I have read make no indication/mention of any significant drop from along the trail. I think using older pictures from pre 2007 will make it hard to determine the summit without a sign. Recent reports would be the best. There has been so much blowdown that a once viewless mountain now has some views.

 

[ColdRiverRun]

I was there last Wednesday and there was a yellow disc with NYE written on it. I don't recall the knocked over tree, as in don't remember either way.

 

[Viewseeker]

ya the disk was on one side then do 180 degrees and the wooden sign was there. Seem to remember a step up of a rock that made the summit..

 

[Pete_Hickey]

High up it recent years it is obvious that here has been a lot of recent extensive blowdown, opening up some views of the Macs here and there.

It started with Floyd ('99), which knocked a lot down. This opened up areas where trees were less protected than they used to be. For about 7 years after Floyd, A lot of trees would come down

I would assume this was by 46er’s and hikers, as the park does not claim to maintain the trail. Sawed off fallen trees over the trail is definitely maintenance! Someone is doing it. There are no “belly crawlers” but there are a few trees you gotta duck under or step over.

It's a minimal maintenance trail. I'm the guy doing it (with a little help from some friends, from time to time.)

The reason for the maintenence is to keep hikers on a single path, not to make it easy for them. That means, belly crawlers and head thumpers can stay if they are not forcing hikers to take another path.

Every few years, however, when I hike in the winter, and am crawling under things, I curse the guy maintaining that trail. The following summer, I take out a lot more blowdown than usual.

Then I recently saw a photo with the sign - when was it put up? Would it have been there in 2003?

It was put up on July 3 of either 2002, 2003 or 2004.

 

[rbalbs]

Congrats - You definitely were on Nye's Summit!

You were definitely on the summit. The tree on your left in the picture had the yellow summit disk on it as recently as 5/26/09 though the official sign was not.

Take a look at the attached pic showing the disc and summit landmarks and you can be sure of it!

Nice job

 

[dom15931]

Thank you!!!

You were definitely on the summit. The tree on your left in the picture had the yellow summit disk on it as recently as 5/26/09 though the official sign was not.

Take a look at the attached pic showing the disc and summit landmarks and you can be sure of it!

Nice job

That is EXACTLY the type of pic I was looking for...I definitely don't have to go back now to prove it to myself. THANK YOU! I am now 100% sure I was there...must not have looked up. I looked around eye level expecting an eye level sign or a cairn. I believe that the disk is still there, the sunlight would have been hitting it, it was not what I had expected or where (much higher).