Double Bow
New member
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2005
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- 1,172
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After almost three weeks off the trail, I was jonesing for a hike real bad! Somehow, I convinced Sadie that doing Madison and Adams wouldn't be too tough, since we would be going up and back on Valley Way. I told her that it was less than 10mi, we'd be taking the easiest trail and that once we got up to the hut, it would be a cake walk to the two peaks. I do have a tendency to over simplify and I hadn't been up Adams in years... I did tell her the elevation gain though! 
Anyway, I had issues before we even started. On the drive up, I realized that I had forgotten my camera (DOH!) and once we arrived at the trailhead and were gearing up, I found that one of my poles was stuck colapsed all the way. We both tugged on it but with no luck. It was really stuck. I had issue with it sticking before but never this bad. So, with one functioning pole and three weeks worth of dust on me, we headed up. We took it fairly easy and stopped from time to time when our conversation warranted it. There were a few blowdowns but, they were easy to work around.
A good ways up, the gear gods decided to frown on me further and made me catch my crampons on a small tear in the leg of my pants making it a big tear! I fell on my hands and knees but the landing was relatively soft. As we continued up beyond the tentsites, I felt the trail get steeper and my body slow down. What was this? Was I getting... tired?? Sure I hadn't gotten enough sleep and I hadn't been out in a few weeks but, I didn't expect this! I apologized to Sadie and told her that I didn't know what was wrong with me. I had the energy to keep going but, I wasn't going very fast. We finally reached the hut and took a break for lunch. After sipping some tea, eating my bagel and resting, I felt a bit better.
After lunch, we went the rest of the way up Madison with no problem. The snow and ice had smoothed the way. Gone was the slow rock hopping of July. Now it was truly cake! We were very fortunate because while it was pretty cold, the winds were calm and the sky was perfectly clear. It was an incredible day and the views were amazing. In fact, we were able to see Mt Marcy!
On the summmit, I took a couple of pictures of a guy for him and it made me sad once again that I had forgotten my camera. Up there, I met Stormin' Norman. Hey there! After that, we headed down to the col. I was tired enough that if Sadie had said so, I might have been OK with heading down and saving Adams for another day. But, we both hate straglers so, on we went. We broke trail on the Airline Cut-off to the Airline and went up from there. It was really much more roundabout than we had realized and we both wondered if we were ever going to reach the summit. The description in the WMG made it sound short! Still, we got amazing upclose views into King Ravine, too close for Sadie's comfort.
Once we reached the summit, we were both in awe as we took in the amazing views. Sadie had thought they would be the same as the ones from Madison and was pleasantly surprised. Up there, we met an older gentleman traveling alone. We talked for a bit before heading down. He was really nice
The way back was much easier. This time, we took Gulfside back to the hut (that was fast) and descended as quickly as possible since the sun was setting soon. While the sun set as we descended, we had no need for headlamps. The sky was clear and the moon was incredibly bright. I could read my watch by its light!
After we reached the car, we found that our good luck had continued. Despite a trailhead warning from a ranger about break-ins, I had forgotten to lock my door. Luckily, nothing had happened. On the way back, when we got pulled over for speeding and were only issued a warning, our good luck continued further. We should have played the lottery!
At the end of the day, I realized that even in spite of my pole and my torn pants, I am very lucky. I'm lucky that we had such great weather, that I was able to go up there, and most of all that I have great friends that I can share these adventures with!
Anyway, I had issues before we even started. On the drive up, I realized that I had forgotten my camera (DOH!) and once we arrived at the trailhead and were gearing up, I found that one of my poles was stuck colapsed all the way. We both tugged on it but with no luck. It was really stuck. I had issue with it sticking before but never this bad. So, with one functioning pole and three weeks worth of dust on me, we headed up. We took it fairly easy and stopped from time to time when our conversation warranted it. There were a few blowdowns but, they were easy to work around.
A good ways up, the gear gods decided to frown on me further and made me catch my crampons on a small tear in the leg of my pants making it a big tear!
I fell on my hands and knees but the landing was relatively soft. As we continued up beyond the tentsites, I felt the trail get steeper and my body slow down. What was this? Was I getting... tired?? Sure I hadn't gotten enough sleep and I hadn't been out in a few weeks but, I didn't expect this! I apologized to Sadie and told her that I didn't know what was wrong with me. I had the energy to keep going but, I wasn't going very fast. We finally reached the hut and took a break for lunch. After sipping some tea, eating my bagel and resting, I felt a bit better. After lunch, we went the rest of the way up Madison with no problem. The snow and ice had smoothed the way. Gone was the slow rock hopping of July. Now it was truly cake! We were very fortunate because while it was pretty cold, the winds were calm and the sky was perfectly clear. It was an incredible day and the views were amazing. In fact, we were able to see Mt Marcy!
On the summmit, I took a couple of pictures of a guy for him and it made me sad once again that I had forgotten my camera. Up there, I met Stormin' Norman. Hey there! After that, we headed down to the col. I was tired enough that if Sadie had said so, I might have been OK with heading down and saving Adams for another day. But, we both hate straglers so, on we went. We broke trail on the Airline Cut-off to the Airline and went up from there. It was really much more roundabout than we had realized and we both wondered if we were ever going to reach the summit. The description in the WMG made it sound short! Still, we got amazing upclose views into King Ravine, too close for Sadie's comfort.
Once we reached the summit, we were both in awe as we took in the amazing views. Sadie had thought they would be the same as the ones from Madison and was pleasantly surprised. Up there, we met an older gentleman traveling alone. We talked for a bit before heading down. He was really nice
The way back was much easier. This time, we took Gulfside back to the hut (that was fast) and descended as quickly as possible since the sun was setting soon. While the sun set as we descended, we had no need for headlamps. The sky was clear and the moon was incredibly bright. I could read my watch by its light!
After we reached the car, we found that our good luck had continued. Despite a trailhead warning from a ranger about break-ins, I had forgotten to lock my door
. Luckily, nothing had happened. On the way back, when we got pulled over for speeding and were only issued a warning, our good luck continued further. We should have played the lottery! At the end of the day, I realized that even in spite of my pole and my torn pants, I am very lucky. I'm lucky that we had such great weather, that I was able to go up there, and most of all that I have great friends that I can share these adventures with!
