beverly
New member
Cave Dog a/k/a Ted Keizer completed his goal of hiking 50k hikes in all 50 states this morning. He started in Oregon on September 15th and finished today at Adirondack Loj. Some 1600+ miles total. Makes my head spin and my feet hurt thinking about it!
The final, epic hike left most of Lake Placid and Saranac Lake without power. Those of us on the summit of Mount Jo this morning were buffeted by stiff winds - gusting enough to push us around and make picture taking difficult. I don't think the Dog Team caused the power outage, but - hey - you never know.
Cave Dog set out yesterday at 9am, attempting to emulate Bob Marshall's 14 in a day hike . Those of you familiar with that hike know that Marshall did it in July, leaving JBL at 3:30am and finishing back at the Loj at 10:40, having summited 13 High Peaks and Mount Jo.
Cave Dog's route took him out from the Garden at 9am. Unlike Marshall's summer hike in 1932, the 2005 late November weather didn't cooperate. It was in the 40s at the start, and by the time he finished the temperature had risen to over 60.
After summiting Big Slide, Lower Wolf Jaw, Upper Wolf Jaw, Armstrong, Gothics and Saddleback, Cave Dog was stymied by the cliffs descending Saddleback. It was late at night and he couldn't see his feet below him, the fog and mist were so thick. He resorted to taking off his headlamp and shining it down on the ground, in order to find the route. Paint blazes were covered with snow and ice, or otherwise hidden by the fog and as he inched along, he would come to a precipice, peering doubtfully into the abyss below him.
At the same time, gale force winds were pushing him around. I was snug in bed in Lake Placid and the winds outside Snow Dog's place were howling all night. I can't imagine being out in that kind of weather at night on those cliffs!
At this point, Cave Dog decided - or rather the conditions decided that there was no way to continue on to Basin. He began to have his doubts descending Gothics, but at least on that route the cables were there for him to hang on to, to prevent him from being blown off the mountain.
So Cave Dog came down the Orebed Brook trail, and continued his hike at lower altitude, completing the 'necessary' mileage to finish 50k (except for the last 2 miles round-trip to Mount Jo.)
Unfortunately, Night Dog had hiked into the Basin/Haystack col to resupply him with food and water. There was no way to let him know that Cave Dog had to change his plans. After spending most of the night out in the deepest reaches of the High Peaks, totally soaked from the mist and intermittent sprinkles, Night Dog made it out and was able to rejoin the Dog Team at Heart Lake. He was just a touch hypothermic (OK - he was shaking uncontrollably, but we were able to warm him up with some spare clothes) We were so glad we didn't have to send in a search party for him. Thanks for the tremendous effort, ND! You are incredible!
Cave Dog finished up all but those last two miles by 4am and was able to get a couple of hours of sleep before we all met up at 7. The ride into the Loj was interesting - dodging the blow down and the one huge tree blocking half the road a mile from the parking lot.
The early morning gathering included family and friends, photographers, videographers, print and TV reporters - including the Explorer Editor. Most of us headed up Mount Jo (we were less than 15 total
We were snapping photos as Cave Dog ran around jumping on the summit - at times almost suspended in air and leaning into the wind. It had to be 35-40mph wind with some stronger gusts. Views from the top were limited - but we did have views towards Indian Pass, the MacIntyres and the Great Range. The mountaintops were totally socked in. We lucked out though - no rain.
On the way down I was ahead of the group by 50 feet and heard a loud crack - it sounded like a gunshot. It was a large tree that had just cracked in front off me and was doing what trees do when they go tim-ber! I practically jumped out of my boots to go backwards. Thankfully its fall was broken by other trees and my heart rate slowly receded from 200 beats per minute.
Upon returning to the Loj, we were met by more media and Roger Marshall and his wife. Roger is the nephew of Bob Marshall. Bob was on his way to visit 8 year old Roger when he died at the age of 38. He told us some wonderful stories about his family and later was to take Cave Dog to his old stomping grounds in Saranac Lake. He lives in Burlington and it was terrific that he came over for the finale.
We all went back to Adog's house - a stones throw from the ski jumps in Placid - only to discover there was no power for our post hike pancake celebration. Ever resourceful, the Dog Team broke out the propane burner for hot water and the pancakes were flipped in the Duofold van.
An extraordinary ending to an extraordinary challenge - an idea inspired by Bob Marshall and brought to fruition by Cave Dog. It was great to see a lot of the Dog Team - Snow Dog, Adog, Lucky Dog, Sea Dog, Crag Dog, Schwach Dog, Honey Dog, Sugar Dog, Rad Dog, Night Dog and other Dogs that I am sure I am forgetting, after dodging rain, wind and flying tree limbs on my way down the Northway.
Cave Dog said this was the most difficult of all the 50 hikes. We knew it would be. I don't think he would have it any other way.
Live the Dream!
Solstice Dog
The final, epic hike left most of Lake Placid and Saranac Lake without power. Those of us on the summit of Mount Jo this morning were buffeted by stiff winds - gusting enough to push us around and make picture taking difficult. I don't think the Dog Team caused the power outage, but - hey - you never know.
Cave Dog set out yesterday at 9am, attempting to emulate Bob Marshall's 14 in a day hike . Those of you familiar with that hike know that Marshall did it in July, leaving JBL at 3:30am and finishing back at the Loj at 10:40, having summited 13 High Peaks and Mount Jo.
Cave Dog's route took him out from the Garden at 9am. Unlike Marshall's summer hike in 1932, the 2005 late November weather didn't cooperate. It was in the 40s at the start, and by the time he finished the temperature had risen to over 60.
After summiting Big Slide, Lower Wolf Jaw, Upper Wolf Jaw, Armstrong, Gothics and Saddleback, Cave Dog was stymied by the cliffs descending Saddleback. It was late at night and he couldn't see his feet below him, the fog and mist were so thick. He resorted to taking off his headlamp and shining it down on the ground, in order to find the route. Paint blazes were covered with snow and ice, or otherwise hidden by the fog and as he inched along, he would come to a precipice, peering doubtfully into the abyss below him.
At the same time, gale force winds were pushing him around. I was snug in bed in Lake Placid and the winds outside Snow Dog's place were howling all night. I can't imagine being out in that kind of weather at night on those cliffs!
At this point, Cave Dog decided - or rather the conditions decided
that there was no way to continue on to Basin. He began to have his doubts descending Gothics, but at least on that route the cables were there for him to hang on to, to prevent him from being blown off the mountain. So Cave Dog came down the Orebed Brook trail, and continued his hike at lower altitude, completing the 'necessary' mileage to finish 50k (except for the last 2 miles round-trip to Mount Jo.)
Unfortunately, Night Dog had hiked into the Basin/Haystack col to resupply him with food and water. There was no way to let him know that Cave Dog had to change his plans. After spending most of the night out in the deepest reaches of the High Peaks, totally soaked from the mist and intermittent sprinkles, Night Dog made it out and was able to rejoin the Dog Team at Heart Lake. He was just a touch hypothermic (OK - he was shaking uncontrollably
, but we were able to warm him up with some spare clothes) We were so glad we didn't have to send in a search party for him. Thanks for the tremendous effort, ND! You are incredible!Cave Dog finished up all but those last two miles by 4am and was able to get a couple of hours of sleep before we all met up at 7. The ride into the Loj was interesting - dodging the blow down and the one huge tree blocking half the road a mile from the parking lot.
The early morning gathering included family and friends, photographers, videographers, print and TV reporters - including the Explorer Editor. Most of us headed up Mount Jo (we were less than 15 total
We were snapping photos as Cave Dog ran around jumping on the summit - at times almost suspended in air and leaning into the wind. It had to be 35-40mph wind with some stronger gusts. Views from the top were limited - but we did have views towards Indian Pass, the MacIntyres and the Great Range. The mountaintops were totally socked in. We lucked out though - no rain.
On the way down I was ahead of the group by 50 feet and heard a loud crack - it sounded like a gunshot. It was a large tree that had just cracked in front off me and was doing what trees do when they go tim-ber! I practically jumped out of my boots to go backwards. Thankfully its fall was broken by other trees and my heart rate slowly receded from 200 beats per minute.
Upon returning to the Loj, we were met by more media and Roger Marshall and his wife. Roger is the nephew of Bob Marshall. Bob was on his way to visit 8 year old Roger when he died at the age of 38. He told us some wonderful stories about his family and later was to take Cave Dog to his old stomping grounds in Saranac Lake. He lives in Burlington and it was terrific that he came over for the finale.
We all went back to Adog's house - a stones throw from the ski jumps in Placid - only to discover there was no power for our post hike pancake celebration. Ever resourceful, the Dog Team broke out the propane burner for hot water and the pancakes were flipped in the Duofold van.
An extraordinary ending to an extraordinary challenge - an idea inspired by Bob Marshall and brought to fruition by Cave Dog. It was great to see a lot of the Dog Team - Snow Dog, Adog, Lucky Dog, Sea Dog, Crag Dog, Schwach Dog, Honey Dog, Sugar Dog, Rad Dog, Night Dog and other Dogs that I am sure I am forgetting, after dodging rain, wind and flying tree limbs on my way down the Northway.
Cave Dog said this was the most difficult of all the 50 hikes. We knew it would be. I don't think he would have it any other way.
Live the Dream!
Solstice Dog
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