Two down, 44 to go! I'm not in a hurry though.
I had a minor detour from my Fire Tower Challenge when invited by my cousin to do a couple high peaks. I was a little reluctant because I didn't want to hold him back but agreed. Granted, they are the two weeniest peaks of the 46 High Peaks in the Adirondacks, but high peaks nonetheless!
The weather up north was naturally predicted to be chance of showers, while in my home town it was to be sunny and a slight chance of a shower. The sky was blue as we got on the Northway, but the farther north we drove, the thicker the clouds... then the drizzle.
It was muddy, as to be expected. I forgot to bring my Gaiters and my pants were mud splashed up to the knees in just a few short minutes.
It didn't downpour at any part of the hike, but even when it wasn't raining, we were walking through the clouds. The hike up was a lot easier than I expected. I didn't need to stop much except for putting on and taking off the Stabilicers. There was no need for snowshoes, but there was some very slick ice for the top portion of the trek.
At the junction of trails for Cascade and Porter there is a sign for .3 miles to the summit of Cascade and .7 to Porter. We went up to Cascade first, where we were greeted by a large cairn and a false summit. Up to the real summit we were walking on clouds (as literal as that can be). The view is amazing from the bare rock summit, unfortunately, I could barely see two feet in front of me. The wind was unexpectedly mild, but we decided to save our lunch for the summit of Porter.
The trail to Porter brought us around a very tall boulder, which I am told some argue could be the actual highest point of the mountain. A little ways past the boulder and you are at the summit of Porter. Cascade actually blocks the wind making a nice lunch eating spot.
No wildlife to report of... no flowers yet. We did see some cool looking moss draped over the trees, however. All in all, an easy way to bag two high peaks in a day (took us less than 4 hours, I'd say) and a great way to warm up for the bigger challenges. I hope to bring Sister up there this summer, I'm sure we'll do fine by ourselves! We'll just have to pick a day where we can see the view!
Here are the rest of my pictures from the hike.
I had a minor detour from my Fire Tower Challenge when invited by my cousin to do a couple high peaks. I was a little reluctant because I didn't want to hold him back but agreed. Granted, they are the two weeniest peaks of the 46 High Peaks in the Adirondacks, but high peaks nonetheless!
The weather up north was naturally predicted to be chance of showers, while in my home town it was to be sunny and a slight chance of a shower. The sky was blue as we got on the Northway, but the farther north we drove, the thicker the clouds... then the drizzle.
It was muddy, as to be expected. I forgot to bring my Gaiters and my pants were mud splashed up to the knees in just a few short minutes.
It didn't downpour at any part of the hike, but even when it wasn't raining, we were walking through the clouds. The hike up was a lot easier than I expected. I didn't need to stop much except for putting on and taking off the Stabilicers. There was no need for snowshoes, but there was some very slick ice for the top portion of the trek.
At the junction of trails for Cascade and Porter there is a sign for .3 miles to the summit of Cascade and .7 to Porter. We went up to Cascade first, where we were greeted by a large cairn and a false summit. Up to the real summit we were walking on clouds (as literal as that can be). The view is amazing from the bare rock summit, unfortunately, I could barely see two feet in front of me. The wind was unexpectedly mild, but we decided to save our lunch for the summit of Porter.
The trail to Porter brought us around a very tall boulder, which I am told some argue could be the actual highest point of the mountain. A little ways past the boulder and you are at the summit of Porter. Cascade actually blocks the wind making a nice lunch eating spot.
No wildlife to report of... no flowers yet. We did see some cool looking moss draped over the trees, however. All in all, an easy way to bag two high peaks in a day (took us less than 4 hours, I'd say) and a great way to warm up for the bigger challenges. I hope to bring Sister up there this summer, I'm sure we'll do fine by ourselves! We'll just have to pick a day where we can see the view!
Here are the rest of my pictures from the hike.
1 comment:
there are several high peaks that are pretty easy! Dont be nervous :) Sorry about the socked in view. we had the same conditions on Giant. Glad to hear you did them and thanks for a good report on the current conditions up there.
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