Month: October 2015

Dear Grace,*

I’d had a rotten cold all weekend but figured it was nothing the mountains couldn’t sure, so I kept my hiking date to climb Sawteeth Mountain this morning. As you must know, to get to the trailhead for Sawteeth, you park your car, hike half a mile up a road to the very private, very exclusive Ausable Club, which lets hikers pass through. It was beautiful with the bright leaves in the hills over the golf course. Some very fancy cars passed us on this road.

The Ausable Club dates back to 1886, when a group of Keene residents and visitors were concerned about lumbering in this area and bought 25,000 acres to preserve it. Much of that land and subsequent acres purchased have since been conveyed to NYS to maintain as “forever wild.” Once we went through the main gate, it was fun seeing all the smaller trails that lead into the woods from the Lake Road.

I’m guessing this “Ladies Mile” sign dates back to the earlier days of the club, when the women would take shorter hikes in their skirts while the men went exploring. All the ladies I saw today passed by this dainty bridge in favor of the high peaks beyond.

Once we were past the club, it was another three and a half miles of flat walking on the Lake Road to get to the beginning of the Sawteeth Trail. Along the way, we listened to the sound of the brook and watched for beavers. There was no sign of them, even though their activity was evident.

Our next million-dollar view came at the dam, overlooking Ausable Lake.

It was hard to leave the little bridge that afforded us this gorgeous lookout, but there was climbing to do – and lots more to see along the way.

The summit of Sawteeth has limited views, so we decided to take the steeper, scenic route down. It was such a good decision.

This ended up being a longer hike than we’d planned – just over 13 miles RT – but it was so, so worth the sore feet and tired knees. The views were as stunning as anything I’ve seen, anywhere. And you know what else? My head cold was a whole lot better at the end of the hike. Sunshine and leaves are magic that way.

Good climbing!

~Kate

* Grace is Grace Hudowalski, the first woman to climb all 46 high peaks. She was a founding member of the Adirondack 46ers, the group’s 1st president, and later on, its secretary and historian, roles she filled until she died in 2004. It used to be that if you wanted to be a 46er, you had to log each climb by writing a letter to Grace. And Grace would write back. She answered thousands and thousands of letters, with encouraging words and sometimes, her own reflections on a climb, too.  Today, the 46er application process is simplified; one only needs to keep simple climb records on a club form that can be downloaded. But I wish I’d had the chance to climb these mountains and write letters about them when Grace was around to read them. I love her story and her strength and the way she urged others to get outside and explore and tell their stories. So I’ve decided to write the letters anyway. I think Grace would have liked that.

Dear Grace,*

It hardly felt like October today, with blue skies and temperatures reaching 70 degrees. I’d beard amazing things about the hike up Giant Mountain via the Ridge Trail and was excited to have such perfect sunshine lighting up the fall leaves. Our first lookout, about half a mile into the hike, brought beautiful views over Chapel Pond below. The kids at my rock climbing gym come here sometimes for bouldering and say it’s one of the best spots in the area. We couldn’t see anyone climbing from so far up, but I like to think they were down there, having adventures.

At .7 miles, we reached Giant’s Washbowl, which is a wonderful name for a short story. I don’t have an idea for it yet but have tucked it into my notebook, just in case.

This hike was steep in places. I’ve heard Giant described as a “three-mile staircase,” and while it wasn’t as relentless as I’d expected, it was a workout. Thankfully, there was plenty to look at whenever we stopped to catch our breath.

Marsha and I made it to the summit in just about two and a half hours and took our time enjoying the warm rocks and views. Shortly after we arrived, three men showed up and explained that they were at a conference for work. They’d left one guy behind to take notes. We asked how much they’d pay for us not to share their photos. 🙂

The steep parts of Giant were a fun challenge on the hike down. Sometimes, Marsha and I played it safe and sat down to slide instead of risking a fall, but all in all, it wasn’t as tough as we thought it might be to descend. Looking down at our feet to avoid tripping paid off when we spotted this cool millipede.

We made it back to the trailhead just about six hours after we’d set out. I’m finding that my favorite mountains have as much to do with the weather and the sky as the actual terrain, so it’s not surprising that this was near the top of the list so far. Giant is such an autumn beauty. It’s one I’m already planning to revisit.

Good climbing!

~Kate

* Grace is Grace Hudowalski, the first woman to climb all 46 high peaks. She was a founding member of the Adirondack 46ers, the group’s 1st president, and later on, its secretary and historian, roles she filled until she died in 2004. It used to be that if you wanted to be a 46er, you had to log each climb by writing a letter to Grace. And Grace would write back. She answered thousands and thousands of letters, with encouraging words and sometimes, her own reflections on a climb, too.  Today, the 46er application process is simplified; one only needs to keep simple climb records on a club form that can be downloaded. But I wish I’d had the chance to climb these mountains and write letters about them when Grace was around to read them. I love her story and her strength and the way she urged others to get outside and explore and tell their stories. So I’ve decided to write the letters anyway. I think Grace would have liked that.

October 3, 2015

Dear Grace,*

“Every hike is different” is something I’ve heard over and over from people who have climbed all 46 Adirondack High Peaks. I’ve climbed a dozen now, and I appreciate that sentiment more with every mountain.

My friend Sandy and I had on-again, off-again hiking plans for this week, based on a weather forecast that finally improved to the point where we decided to go for it and spend our Saturday hiking Mt. Marcy. Both our boys had climbed this high peak and deemed it “not that bad,” so we were feeling good about the hike, our longest to date at 15 miles RT. We set out from Adirondack Loj at 7am on the dot and hiked through the morning fog, enjoying the fall leaves.

Our first clue that this might be an “interesting” hike came two miles from the summit, when we started meeting people coming down. “Did you climb Marcy?” we asked the first guy. He shook his head. “Tried. Too icy. I had to turn back at mile six.”

Good climbing!

~Kate

———————–

* Grace is Grace Hudowalski, the first woman to climb all 46 high peaks. She was a founding member of the Adirondack 46ers, the group’s 1st president, and later on, its secretary and historian, roles she filled until she died in 2004. It used to be that if you wanted to be a 46er, you had to log each climb by writing a letter to Grace. And Grace would write back. She answered thousands and thousands of letters, with encouraging words and sometimes, her own reflections on a climb, too.  Today, the 46er application process is simplified; one only needs to keep simple climb records on a club form that can be downloaded. But I wish I’d had the chance to climb these mountains and write letters about them when Grace was around to read them. I love her story and her strength and the way she urged others to get outside and explore and tell their stories. So I’ve decided to write the letters anyway. I think Grace would have liked that.

September 28, 2015 – Street and Nye Mountains

Dear Grace, *

Today, the forecast was for overcast skies and maybe some rain showers — a perfect day to climb a couple peaks with wooded summits, like Street and Nye. So my new hiking pal Marsha and I enjoyed the view of Heart Lake, signed in at the trailhead at 9:34am, and started our hike through the fall leaves. Along the way, we chatted with a man who was making his second attempt at Street and Nye. The first time he’d tried, the water was too high for the brook crossing, but happily, that wasn’t an issue today.

We reached the junction, where the two trails diverge, just after 11:30 and decided to tackle Nye first, since the trail was shorter and the view the lesser of the two. Ten minutes later, we were at the summit – something we knew not because of the beautiful views from up high but because the trail simply came to an end and there was a simple sign letting us know we were there.

We returned to the junction, headed up Street, and summited just before noon. This one is wooded, too, but there are a couple of trails that lead to overlooks with limited views that were more limited than usual today with the clouds.

We had lunch, climbed down, and signed out at 3:20pm, so the two mountains took just under six hours in all. Not my favorite peaks, but I did love the cute toad we met, the fascinating old lumber camp remains along the trail, and the brook.

These rock-hopping water crossings always make me feel like I’m ten years old again. Mountains have a way of turning us all back into kids & adventurers, and for that, I’m thankful.

Good climbing!

~Kate

—————–

* Grace is Grace Hudowalski, the first woman to climb all 46 high peaks. She was a founding member of the Adirondack 46ers, the group’s 1st president, and later on, its secretary and historian, roles she filled until she died in 2004. It used to be that if you wanted to be a 46er, you had to log each climb by writing a letter to Grace. And Grace would write back. She answered thousands and thousands of letters, with encouraging words and sometimes, her own reflections on a climb, too.  Today, the 46er application process is simplified; one only needs to keep simple climb records on a club form that can be downloaded. But I wish I’d had the chance to climb these mountains and write letters about them when Grace was around to read them. I love her story and her strength and the way she urged others to get outside and explore and tell their stories. So I’ve decided to write the letters anyway. I think Grace would have liked that.