Gail
New member
Mimi and I set off for the Adirondacks at 4:40am after a short 3.5 hours of sleep on Saturday night!
We had a long day ahead of us, 29-30 km but felt great about it. We set out from the parking lot at St Huberts at 7:40am and met one man from Long Island New York who was setting out for Noonmark. The only other person we saw that day was the gatekeeper who sent us off with good wishes.
We took the Gill Brook trail and headed towards Colden. The sun was so bright and warm, what a beautiful spring day.
Colvin and Blake were a little icy but the trail was packed pretty hard so we were in crampons pretty much all day. We dropped our packs on the trail before we went up Blake to give ourselves a bit of a break, we knew it would be a long day but we were determined to make all the peaks.
Nippletop was tough but we made it although the .2 miles to the summit felt like much longer than that! All the ups and down to Dial were worth it for the view we had. The snow on the mountains made for a spectacular view. Then of course it started to rain and we put on our rain gear. We were fine, a little tried but happy to be there and proud to have made all the summits like we had set out to do.
The Noonmark shoulder was quite bare with a few patches of snow. The dark brown earth and different colored mosses made a very pretty picture!
We had a lot of time to think that day, almost 12 hours. I think we both did a lot of spring cleaning of our minds. A very kind man once told us that the mountains are so big and strong that you can go there full of troubles and they will draw out all your troubles and leave you with a fresh clear mind. Well, I guess he is right because I think we both felt somewhat changed by the end of this day. Many good days lie ahead of us. Life is good!
One big lesson I learned is about driving after a long day. I told Mimi I will never drive home so tried again. Driving as tired as I was is as bad as driving when drunk. I should have pulled over and rested. Luckily we made it home safe and sound at midnight. Long day but many many happy memories thanks to an amazing hiking partner and wonderful friend. Merci Mimi!
We had a long day ahead of us, 29-30 km but felt great about it. We set out from the parking lot at St Huberts at 7:40am and met one man from Long Island New York who was setting out for Noonmark. The only other person we saw that day was the gatekeeper who sent us off with good wishes.
We took the Gill Brook trail and headed towards Colden. The sun was so bright and warm, what a beautiful spring day.
Colvin and Blake were a little icy but the trail was packed pretty hard so we were in crampons pretty much all day. We dropped our packs on the trail before we went up Blake to give ourselves a bit of a break, we knew it would be a long day but we were determined to make all the peaks.
Nippletop was tough but we made it although the .2 miles to the summit felt like much longer than that! All the ups and down to Dial were worth it for the view we had. The snow on the mountains made for a spectacular view. Then of course it started to rain and we put on our rain gear. We were fine, a little tried but happy to be there and proud to have made all the summits like we had set out to do.
The Noonmark shoulder was quite bare with a few patches of snow. The dark brown earth and different colored mosses made a very pretty picture!
We had a lot of time to think that day, almost 12 hours. I think we both did a lot of spring cleaning of our minds. A very kind man once told us that the mountains are so big and strong that you can go there full of troubles and they will draw out all your troubles and leave you with a fresh clear mind. Well, I guess he is right because I think we both felt somewhat changed by the end of this day. Many good days lie ahead of us. Life is good!
One big lesson I learned is about driving after a long day. I told Mimi I will never drive home so tried again. Driving as tired as I was is as bad as driving when drunk. I should have pulled over and rested. Luckily we made it home safe and sound at midnight. Long day but many many happy memories thanks to an amazing hiking partner and wonderful friend. Merci Mimi!
