una_dogger
Well-known member
Mileage: 12.8 round trip
Gain:3600 for Whiteface, a bit more added with Esther
ADK 46 numbers 13 & 14
It's 4:00 am on a saturday and the alarm is going off. We've got a wedding to go to! And its on a mountain top, what could be finer? I get to go to a wedding, I don't have to take a day off from hiking to do it! But the best part is the opportunity to witness two wonderful members of our hiking community sealing thier committment to one another and beginning a new phase of thier lives.
The ride from Vermont to the Wilminton Trailhead for Whiteface and Esther Mountains went easily, thanks to some suggestions from TeeJay and PigPen.
We hit the trail about 8:45am, with 5.2 miles and 3620 feet to climb to make it to the Whiteface Summit. With the wedding happening at noon, I was a annoyed that we hadn't left Vermont earlier. I told MichaelJ, "we need to maintain a 2.5 mph pace for the whole way up"..and.."I'm going to be at that wedding!". We struck off at a strong pace and held it. The trail was forgiving and climbed easily for the first two miles. On the way up, we passed through a beautiful open stand of hardwoods. We saw a large porcupine zig zag across the trail twice. Large square boulders dotted the sides of the trail as we climbed.
I admit we were hoofing it pretty fast, with the wedding foremost in our minds, I didn't pay too much attention to the trail. I knew we'd be coming back this way, and we'd see it all on the way down. The trail reaches the first shoulder on Whiteface, and through the trees the tops of neighboring mountains come into view. The trail steepens and becomes rocky, but never extreme. The sugar maples give way to white birch and gradually fir dominate, as the 3400 ft mark is reached. The trail became wetter and rockier, and a few slabs here and there added interest to our climb.
We rounded a bend and began climbing up a steep pitch, and we came upon three hikers. The first of which smiled and said "You're Una_dogger, I recognize you from your avatar! Where's your little dog???" It was Alan (Peakbagr), hiking in a group with rhihn and his lovely wife, Joanne. It was realy great to meet up with them! Peakbagr let us know that we had plenty of time to make the summit, and we were relieved.
We chatted for a bit and then MJ and I headed off, meeting up with them several more times on the hike. The trail reaches a high point, then drops into a boggy col, where it stays for nearly a mile. I was now hiking a bit ahead of MichaelJ, and came upon two more hikers. It was HarryK, who shouted out a "hello Una_dogger"! Its so great running into other members of the hiking community. I was also pretty impressed with myself for having caught up with HarryK ! (He must have been having a slow day... )
HarryK introduced me to Jean, and we all chatted a bit. MJ caught up to us -- and after some small talk, we said goodbye until the summit. We reached a large boulder in the col, that marks the start of the herdpath to Esther. MJ made a mental note, and we continued. The trail now has about 800 feet to climb to the summit of Whiteface, 4867 ft. The climb is gentle and breaks out of the woods near an impressive retaining wall that supports the toll road.
After crossing the road, the trail climbs a large ledge and then remains above treeline for the final half mile or so to the summit. The hike itself is relatively easy, and we were happy to have arrived at about 11:35, just in time to hang out, see old friends (Peak_bagr, Brian, TeeJay, Tom and Laurie) and meet new ones (Pamola, Marchowes, Kerry).
The summit was crowded with tourists and wedding goers alike. Tom and Laurie were happy and totally relaxed. They both wore thier ADK 46er tshirts, a great choice! The wedding was a wonderful assemblage of hikers and family, Tom and Laurie created a perfect way to blend all of the important people in thier lives on this very special day. I could say so much more, but I will save the details for them to share.
We left the summit about 1pm and headed back down the trail on the way to the Esther herdpath. Pamola and Marchowes hiked with us to the boulder, and then we parted ways.
I loved the trail to Esther. Only a week before hiking this peak, I learned the story of its namesake, a young girl name Esther who against her parents wishes, struck off in the woods on her own to climb Whiteface, missing that summit but becoming the first climber to reach Esther. The trail to Esther winds its way through a magical emerald green forest, and as I hiked, my thoughts kept drifting to Esther. I imagined her walking this same path, and seeing the same things we were now seeing.
Before leaving the summit of Whiteface, we were given some great advice by all -- "when on Esther, stay to to the right of the swamp, and you'll be fine". The trail drops to a col, and then ahead in the swamp, I spotted a HUGE pile of lumber -- right in the middle of the swamp..gulp...we knew that Pete Hickey and other maintainers would be out here tommorrow building bog bridges, looks like they'd be getting a bit muddier than they planned. (big thanks to all the volunteers, the swamp is a pretty one and the surrounding forest is seeing alot of erosion as hikers like us try to avoid it and its bootsucking mud).
A few more easy climbs beyond the swamp and we'd topped out on Esther. A memorial plaque to Esther McComb is embedded in the summit slab and it says at its base "for the sheer joy of climbing". Finer words were never spoken, Esther is a joy to climb!
We made our way back to the car, arriving about five pm. On the trip down my quads really began to complain, but we kept going. MJ took the lead and was a great motivator. After all, there was FREE BEER waiting for us at the Lake Placid Brew Pub..thanks again, Tom!
We took Rt 86 from Wilmington to Lake Placid, a beautiful road that follows the West Branch of the Ausable River, and offers commanding views of Whiteface. As we drove along we passed a number of cyclists, and I just couldn't stop commenting what a great ride Rt 86 would be. It turns out there is an IronMan Triathalon in Lake Placid next weekend.
At the brew pub, we hoisted brews with just about everyone from the summit including Maddy, along with a surprise visit by Pete Hickey, whom we assured, "the wood is there". Tom and Laurie were so happy and thier joy was contagious, I think we all had a great time! Thanks again, Tom and Laurie, and I'm so happy to have been able to share your big day!
Whiteface and Esther make ADK 46 13 & 14 for me, and Esther makes number 8 for MichaelJ.
Today, we rounded out the weekend with our first 40 mile bike ride. Woo hoo! What a great weekend, picture perfect weather, great friends, a super hike, yummy beer, and best of all -- seeing two of our own tie the knot.
Gain:3600 for Whiteface, a bit more added with Esther
ADK 46 numbers 13 & 14
It's 4:00 am on a saturday and the alarm is going off. We've got a wedding to go to! And its on a mountain top, what could be finer? I get to go to a wedding, I don't have to take a day off from hiking to do it! But the best part is the opportunity to witness two wonderful members of our hiking community sealing thier committment to one another and beginning a new phase of thier lives.
The ride from Vermont to the Wilminton Trailhead for Whiteface and Esther Mountains went easily, thanks to some suggestions from TeeJay and PigPen.
We hit the trail about 8:45am, with 5.2 miles and 3620 feet to climb to make it to the Whiteface Summit. With the wedding happening at noon, I was a annoyed that we hadn't left Vermont earlier. I told MichaelJ, "we need to maintain a 2.5 mph pace for the whole way up"..and.."I'm going to be at that wedding!". We struck off at a strong pace and held it. The trail was forgiving and climbed easily for the first two miles. On the way up, we passed through a beautiful open stand of hardwoods. We saw a large porcupine zig zag across the trail twice. Large square boulders dotted the sides of the trail as we climbed.
I admit we were hoofing it pretty fast, with the wedding foremost in our minds, I didn't pay too much attention to the trail. I knew we'd be coming back this way, and we'd see it all on the way down. The trail reaches the first shoulder on Whiteface, and through the trees the tops of neighboring mountains come into view. The trail steepens and becomes rocky, but never extreme. The sugar maples give way to white birch and gradually fir dominate, as the 3400 ft mark is reached. The trail became wetter and rockier, and a few slabs here and there added interest to our climb.
We rounded a bend and began climbing up a steep pitch, and we came upon three hikers. The first of which smiled and said "You're Una_dogger, I recognize you from your avatar! Where's your little dog???" It was Alan (Peakbagr), hiking in a group with rhihn and his lovely wife, Joanne. It was realy great to meet up with them! Peakbagr let us know that we had plenty of time to make the summit, and we were relieved.
We chatted for a bit and then MJ and I headed off, meeting up with them several more times on the hike. The trail reaches a high point, then drops into a boggy col, where it stays for nearly a mile. I was now hiking a bit ahead of MichaelJ, and came upon two more hikers. It was HarryK, who shouted out a "hello Una_dogger"! Its so great running into other members of the hiking community. I was also pretty impressed with myself for having caught up with HarryK ! (He must have been having a slow day... )
HarryK introduced me to Jean, and we all chatted a bit. MJ caught up to us -- and after some small talk, we said goodbye until the summit. We reached a large boulder in the col, that marks the start of the herdpath to Esther. MJ made a mental note, and we continued. The trail now has about 800 feet to climb to the summit of Whiteface, 4867 ft. The climb is gentle and breaks out of the woods near an impressive retaining wall that supports the toll road.
After crossing the road, the trail climbs a large ledge and then remains above treeline for the final half mile or so to the summit. The hike itself is relatively easy, and we were happy to have arrived at about 11:35, just in time to hang out, see old friends (Peak_bagr, Brian, TeeJay, Tom and Laurie) and meet new ones (Pamola, Marchowes, Kerry).
The summit was crowded with tourists and wedding goers alike. Tom and Laurie were happy and totally relaxed. They both wore thier ADK 46er tshirts, a great choice! The wedding was a wonderful assemblage of hikers and family, Tom and Laurie created a perfect way to blend all of the important people in thier lives on this very special day. I could say so much more, but I will save the details for them to share.
We left the summit about 1pm and headed back down the trail on the way to the Esther herdpath. Pamola and Marchowes hiked with us to the boulder, and then we parted ways.
I loved the trail to Esther. Only a week before hiking this peak, I learned the story of its namesake, a young girl name Esther who against her parents wishes, struck off in the woods on her own to climb Whiteface, missing that summit but becoming the first climber to reach Esther. The trail to Esther winds its way through a magical emerald green forest, and as I hiked, my thoughts kept drifting to Esther. I imagined her walking this same path, and seeing the same things we were now seeing.
Before leaving the summit of Whiteface, we were given some great advice by all -- "when on Esther, stay to to the right of the swamp, and you'll be fine". The trail drops to a col, and then ahead in the swamp, I spotted a HUGE pile of lumber -- right in the middle of the swamp..gulp...we knew that Pete Hickey and other maintainers would be out here tommorrow building bog bridges, looks like they'd be getting a bit muddier than they planned. (big thanks to all the volunteers, the swamp is a pretty one and the surrounding forest is seeing alot of erosion as hikers like us try to avoid it and its bootsucking mud).
A few more easy climbs beyond the swamp and we'd topped out on Esther. A memorial plaque to Esther McComb is embedded in the summit slab and it says at its base "for the sheer joy of climbing". Finer words were never spoken, Esther is a joy to climb!
We made our way back to the car, arriving about five pm. On the trip down my quads really began to complain, but we kept going. MJ took the lead and was a great motivator. After all, there was FREE BEER waiting for us at the Lake Placid Brew Pub..thanks again, Tom!
We took Rt 86 from Wilmington to Lake Placid, a beautiful road that follows the West Branch of the Ausable River, and offers commanding views of Whiteface. As we drove along we passed a number of cyclists, and I just couldn't stop commenting what a great ride Rt 86 would be. It turns out there is an IronMan Triathalon in Lake Placid next weekend.
At the brew pub, we hoisted brews with just about everyone from the summit including Maddy, along with a surprise visit by Pete Hickey, whom we assured, "the wood is there". Tom and Laurie were so happy and thier joy was contagious, I think we all had a great time! Thanks again, Tom and Laurie, and I'm so happy to have been able to share your big day!
Whiteface and Esther make ADK 46 13 & 14 for me, and Esther makes number 8 for MichaelJ.
Today, we rounded out the weekend with our first 40 mile bike ride. Woo hoo! What a great weekend, picture perfect weather, great friends, a super hike, yummy beer, and best of all -- seeing two of our own tie the knot.
