una_dogger
Well-known member
It's 4am and my alarm is ringing. Didn't I just do this saturday?? Yep, and I'm going hiking in the Daks again! What a great week!
The short and sweet of it:
Terra and I hopped in the car at 5:00 am, arrived in Keene Valley at 7:15am, enjoyed an artery clogging prehike breakfast at the Noonmark. Arrived at the Loj early, paid my dues and am now a card carrying member of the ADK.
Met Nancy (HighonLife) at 8:20am, laced our boots and weeeeee're off!
The day was already hot and hazy and I think both of us were feeling the heat on the way up. We summitted Tabletop first. I really liked the herdpath up, green and narrow with an enchanted forest feel. We summited around 11:30 and spent a few moments taking in the views, then headed down.
The trail up Phelps was also in great shape, clear of any blowdown. In the open areas near the top the sun was oppressive. I felt myself slowing down a bit here in effort to keep from feeling overtaxed. We summitted Phelps about 1:30pm, and enjoyed the summit for about twenty minutes, watching some clouds roll in; reviewing the map and identifying all the nearby summits.
On the way down we heard far off thunder, but it remained distant, and with the exception of a few refreshing raindrops, we remained dry. We were back at the Loj just before 4pm, and had the opportunity to congratulate a group of 10-12 year old girls who had just climbed Mount Jo with their camp counselors. The words, "Strong Girls Rule!" brought proud smiles to thier enthusiastic faces.
Said goodbye to Nancy after planning our next hike!
Thanks again to Nancy for being an awesome hiking friend. So often I am the one with the map and studying each sign at trail junctions, but today I again had the pleasure of being a "backseat hiker" just along for the ride.
Phelps and Tabletop make ADK 15 & 16, only 30 more to go!
The short and sweet of it:
Terra and I hopped in the car at 5:00 am, arrived in Keene Valley at 7:15am, enjoyed an artery clogging prehike breakfast at the Noonmark. Arrived at the Loj early, paid my dues and am now a card carrying member of the ADK.
Met Nancy (HighonLife) at 8:20am, laced our boots and weeeeee're off!
The day was already hot and hazy and I think both of us were feeling the heat on the way up. We summitted Tabletop first. I really liked the herdpath up, green and narrow with an enchanted forest feel. We summited around 11:30 and spent a few moments taking in the views, then headed down.
The trail up Phelps was also in great shape, clear of any blowdown. In the open areas near the top the sun was oppressive. I felt myself slowing down a bit here in effort to keep from feeling overtaxed. We summitted Phelps about 1:30pm, and enjoyed the summit for about twenty minutes, watching some clouds roll in; reviewing the map and identifying all the nearby summits.
On the way down we heard far off thunder, but it remained distant, and with the exception of a few refreshing raindrops, we remained dry. We were back at the Loj just before 4pm, and had the opportunity to congratulate a group of 10-12 year old girls who had just climbed Mount Jo with their camp counselors. The words, "Strong Girls Rule!" brought proud smiles to thier enthusiastic faces.
Said goodbye to Nancy after planning our next hike!
Thanks again to Nancy for being an awesome hiking friend. So often I am the one with the map and studying each sign at trail junctions, but today I again had the pleasure of being a "backseat hiker" just along for the ride.
Phelps and Tabletop make ADK 15 & 16, only 30 more to go!
