Hi....remember me?

I really need to get off Facebook and spend more time here!

Happy news to report! I was assigned my ADK 46er number....I am #6677 and I joined 294 other hikers who completed their 46er journey this year. I will join my fellow hikers from the class of 2009 in May at the Crown Plaza in Lake Placid at the 46er Banquet! We'll receive or certificates and hopefully meet our correspondents. I can't wait!! In other news...I am now up to my 12th Winter Hike.

Brian and I hiked to Mt. Marcy last Saturday. What a gorgeous day! It was hovering around "0" most of the day. He remembered to bring his wind meter this time and "caught" a gust right around 40mph. Gnarly!

Almost there!

After a quick lunch, we headed to the summit....5,344ft above sea level. Our elevation gain was only around 3,000ft

At the plaque on the summit of Mt. Marcy...

Doesn't get any better than this! It was blowing like stink...30+mph (as Brian says), but that's ok, it's all part of the adventure!

Waaaaaaaay overdue for an update!

Yikes---We're more than half-way through January and I haven't posted anything since Nov 9th. Shame on me!

Lots of news to report!

I completed my "46" High Peaks journey on Esther Mountain on November 14, 2009. The day started off in the 50's, humid ,overcast and then quickly down the pooper. By the time we reached the herdpath to Esther, it was sprinkling with no indication of stopping. By the time we reached the summit, it was a raining and it was windy....so windy in fact the rain was coming in sideways. We enjoyed a feast of cheese, crackers, shrimp, cheescake bites, strawberries, and champagne! This was also the completion of Brian's 2nd summer round. Excellent day despite the weather. We were joined by Pam Y., Lee and Siobhan N., Matt C. and Richard.

The plaque on the summit dedicated to Esther McComb

Brian and I celebrated our 16th anniversary with a hike to Hurricane Fire tower in Keene on December 2, 2009. We bought each other matching Stanley food containers so we could bring soup on longer hikes.

Here's to another 16 years and many more hikes!

Me with Whiteface Mtn. in the distance

A rusty fire tower and a handsome husband

Our official anniversary photo...it doesn't take much to please me.

Bad Blogger, Bad blogger

that's me! I have neglected my poor little blog. Oh well, the earth is still spinning in its proper axis, so no harm no foul.

Here is a short re-cap of hikes since mid-August:

8-13-09 #32-34 Ha-Ba-Sa Loop 18.7 miles
8-21-09 #35 Mount Marshall 14 miles
9-5/6-09 #36-39Skylight/Gray/Cliff/Redfield 22 miles
9-19-09 #40 Whiteface 8 miles
10-17-09 #41,42 Donaldson/Emmons 15 miles
10-22-09 #43 Allen 16-19 miles
10-26-09 #44 Seward 15 miles
11-4-09 # 45 Seymour 14 miles

Pheeeeeeeeeeew. That's alot of hiking! I hope to finish up this Saturday on the 14th on Esther! I can't wait!! After that, I guess I'll have to start working on my Winter 46! Not sure if I'll be able to complete them all, but I'll do my darndest!

Now, where was I.....

When I last blogged, I had just returned from High Peaks #30 and 31---Sawteeth and Gothics. Holy Canoli---I've done 8 since then!

**Part 2 of a 3 part post....I just realized I'm getting ahead of myself so I'll have to edit & add to this later....

In a nutshell, Brian, Pam and I hiked to Mount Marshall on Aug 21 in lieu of an overnight camping trip to Cliff and Redfield. There was a 70% chance of rain that weekend and if you hike with me, you can double that percentage. Safe to say, there would have been a 140% chance of rain. Not fun. Anyhoo, we decided to make Marshall a day hike and if we got wet, we knew we could go home and take a hot shower and not spend the night shivering in a tent in the middle of the Adirondacks.

We kept a steady pace all the way in---made it to the Henderson Monument. This monument was erected in 1854 to honor David Henderson, a key player in the early mining days in the Adirondacks. It sits near the edge of a pond and more often than not, is partially submerged.

We took a slight detour near Flowed Lands and happened to find some Sun Dew, a Venus Fly Trap type of plant.

After getting back on the trail, we reached the rock cairn and headed to summit, approximately 1.5 miles away. This trail was very different from the others. It was very green, ferny, and lush. I half expected a hobbit or troll to jump out at us. The trail meandered in and out of Herbert Brook--that was neat, but I prefer dirt and rocks to slippery moss-covered brook beds. Of course it rained...we were semi-wet when we stopped for lunch about .5 of a mile below the summit.

We made to the summit, none the worse for wear...attended to some warbrobe issues, tylenol and knee brace issues and potty break issues. So here I am in my dorky doo-rag trying to keep the wet hair out of my eyes. # 35 for me...woohoo!

Now, where was I.....Part 1

The Haystack-Basin-Saddleback Loop was the hike du jour on Aug 13th. We met up Chip and Siobhan at the Garden and hit the trail at 4:45am...good thing I brought my head lamp. I needed all 3 Peaks, so I knew it would be a long day...14.5 hours to be precise.

We enjoyed a nice little hike to JBL, saw a few deeer and kept moving on. We passed the Bushnell Lean-tos, Slant Rock and a gazillion tent campers along the way. It really felt good to be awake and outside. By 9:30(ish)am, we were at this sign and only half a mile from our first peak of the day.

There she (or he) is...Mt. Haystack, the 3rd highest of the High Peaks, elevation 4,960 ft. Unfortunately, to reach Haystack, you have to go up and over Little Haystack...which by the way is not little and does not resemble a haystack. It's rocky and the backside facing "Big" Haystack is steep.

See, I told you...looks like fun, huh?

We're getting closer...

Ok, now we're there! Look at those clouds and blue sky! It was very warm on the summit and windy. My feet hurt so I decided to adjust my $60 inserts which was basically a waste of time. We enjoyed a good 20 minute break. It was my choice to continue on or head back to the car. I chose to forge ahead b/c I didn't want to have to make another trip out here.

The gang--Brian, Me, Siobhan, Chip


After descending Haystack, we pushed on to Basin. It wasn't too bad---there was a ladder (below) and several steep slabs, most of which were wet. Why? Because it had just rained. Did you forget I was on this hike, LOL?!

By the time we reached the summit of Basin, elevation 4,827ft., we were in the clouds. No worry, I was just glad that I made it in one piece. Woohoo #33! That's Wally by the way. He and another guy had just come from Saddleback, our next summit. Wally looked to be in his mid-to-late 60's or early 70's. Rock on Wally! There's hope for me, LOL!

I tried to eat my PB&J but the smell of Brian's salmon was making me gag. Accccck. I could only choke back some crunchy cheetos and a swig of gatorade. The hike down Basin was steep in spots. By the time we reached the col, it was raining and we heard thunder. And boy, did I get dirty looks!!! I'll take responsibility for the rain, but not the thunder!z

Alrighty, onward to the cliffs on Saddleback. Yikes! WTH have I gotten myself into...seriously? I don't know what else to say except holy crap! There is a faint trail up the middle where the trees are and the rest is on the cliffy sections...just follow the blaze marks. Big girl panties don't fail me now.

Not a hike for weenies or the faint-hearted...

Brian said "don't look down"

Look Ma, no nets!

Siobhan giving me a push

Yes, it was that steep!

I can't even put into words what was going through my head at this moment...

I'm glad you find this amusing!

The summit is up here somewhere

Nope, not yet....

Ok, now we're on the summit of Saddleback, elevation 4,515ft and I'm holding back some serious tears. That was the scariest thing I have ever done. Ever. It was complicated by the fact that it was raining.

Me and Brian---woohoo # 34 for me!

About 10 minutes after summiting, we were headed down the Range Trail and don't ya know, it started to pour..and I mean POUR. The rain drops were HUGE! Nothing like a good soak. After a few minutes, it slowed down we were on our way again. We took the Ore-Bed Trail back down to JBL--where I removed the insert from my left boot. On the way to the Garden, I stopped again at the Deer Run lean-to and removed the right insert. Ok, the boots inserts went back to the Merrell Outlet the next day.

Great hike---18.7 miles round trip and 14.5 hours :)

Sawteeth & Gothics

Could it be true....another gorgeous day for a hike and NO RAIN! I'm stunned...actually I'm shocked! We invited "Posthole Pam" to join us--we haven't hiked with her since the Dix Range Hike (the 16 mile/16 hour hike). Hmmm, do you think she was mad at us? Our neighbor Dom "da Bomb" also tagged along. He hiked a High Peak a few weeks ago and was interested in doing some more.

We left the St. Hubert's parking area a little after 7am--we ended up in the overflow lot b/c the main lot was already full! We had a nice leisurely walk to the trail register. The AMR guard-ranger type person asked us what our plans were and said we would enjoy terrific views. Boy, the High Peaks were hopping that day---there were tons of people out all doing the same thing!

Anyhoo, we had to walk about the entire Lake Road up to the dam...somewhere around 4 miles. Dom wasn't even breaking a sweat! Brian wanted to be sure we saw Indian Head, Rainbow Falls, and Beaver Meadow Falls...check, check, double check!

At the dam--Lower Ausable Lake in the background

Eye level view of the Lake

I finally got a decent view of Indian Head!

Rainbow Falls---tucked away in a little gorge



Rainbow Falls viewed from above

I kept a slow pace, slower than normal that is--for some reason I couldn't find my groove. Oh well. I was sure I would "find" it at some point. I usually get my second wind later in the day. We finally got to the junction---fortunately only half a mile to go to Sawteeth!

Here's Dom giving Pam a helping hand on one of the scrambles as we neared the summit.



Yay! We made it! Let's eat!

The view of Gothics from Sawteeth--looks scary! Hell, Sawteeth looked scary too! Those two names aren't very inviting or friendly-sounding like Cascade and Porter.

High Peak #30 for me!

Me, pointing out that we are ONLY 6.1 miles from the truck. There was another group that came up from the Scenic Trail...we were already done with lunch so we packed up and down so they could enjoy the summit.

On to Pyramid and then Gothics! It was only 1 mile from the junction to the summit of Gothics, but that is one hell-of-a-mile! We had to go over Pyramid, a steep sub-peak.

The views were fantastic as expected. I took the opportunity to clean dirt from under my finger nails---I don't like dirty nails, LOL! We were only .3 of a mile from the summit and could see hikers going up the trail. It looked intimidating from where we were...

Here's Dom taking some photos

We headed over to Gothics after our rest on Pyramid. I think it only took about 15 minutes to get over there. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. We stopped and chatted with a group very close to the actual summit. You could see for miles and miles! It was pretty neat---just about a 360 degree view--we saw the roof top of Johns Brook Lodge, the beach house on Lower Ausable Lake and of course several of the High Peaks.

Brian and I on the summit of Gothics, # 31 for me!

Pyramid from Gothics

Pam, me and Dom on the right, standing right over the survey bolt.

Time to move on...we started down the trail to the col between Gothics and Armstrong. It didn't take very long to get down, but there were several slabs us short-legged people had to navigate carefully. When we reached the col, Dom realized it was only half a mile to Armstrong and asked if we could go up. Brian said I could find a shady spot and rest if I wanted. What!!?? I already did Armstrong in May so I really didn't need to do it again. However, I did not want to be outdone by a 17 yr old!! Whippersnapper!! Geez, I'm not that out of breath! The scoot up to Armstrong wasn't that bad and seemed to go by quicker this time. Hurray for Pam and Dom--they came thinking they would summit 2 High Peaks and ended up with 3!

Brian and I on Armstrong---with better views this time. Dom was interested in going on to Upper Wolfjaw, but I gave him the evil eye, LOL, Ok, I was getting tired by this point.

Dom going up one of the ladders

and Pam going up the same one

The hike down the Weld Trail was uneventful, although Pam's knee was acting up and my left hip was doing the same. Dom got poked in the eye by a branch. Pam and Dom got to see Beaver Meadow Falls. It wasn't running like it was in May, but it's still pretty and you could feel the "coolness". We made it back to the Lake Road and stopped at the smaller dam to see the fish.

Not a bad day--total of 14.1 miles in about 12 hours. Pam brought some homemade Maple Syrup Pumpkin Cheesecake for the ride home...mmmmm, it was very tasty! Thanks Pam!