The curse is broken...I think

What curse you ask? The curse that it must rain everytime I hike. It was brought to my attention a few months ago that whenever I have hiked with a group, it has rained. I wish it wasn't true, but it is. I checked my hiking log-book and sure enough, almost every hike since May, it has rained. At least it wasn't the beginning of each hike, it was usually on the way out.

Anyhoo, Brian and I decided to take advantage of a forecasted "dry" day and hike to Iroquois on Thursday. In order to summit, Iroquois, we had to hike up to Algonquin, down the other side, up&over Boundary Peak, down again and then up Iroquois...and then do all that in reverse.

We started from the HPIC around 8:10am and made good time to the junction. We were going to stop at the falls below for a snack, but stopped about 15 minutes before reaching it. The terrain was very different this time around. The last time I was on this trail was in January when I did Wright with Brian and Pete. Summer hiking definitely takes a toll on the knees and hips with all that rock hopping! I remembered some of the landmarks like the falls, the brown sign with the yellow arrow pointing right, passing the camp site on the left side of the trail and the ledges on the right side. Other than that, it was like a brand new hike.

Photo op at the falls--in the winter, this entire area was filled in with snow and ice.

This is an example of ATIS work---maintaining and improving trails to avoid erosion. Wouldn't it be nice if all the trails were like this all the way to the top?! Unfortunately, they are not.

The trails are more like this...

and this...

and very often, like this.

Lots of slabs on this trail!


Did I mention this trail was very rocky?

This was a section of the trail after the junction for Wright Peak. And yes, it was that steep.

Sub-alpine flower--the sandwort

On the summit of Algonquin for the second time! We were not the first ones to summit, maybe the third group that day. We said "hi" to the summit steward and looked for a spot to sit that was out of the wind.

Lake Colden and the Flowed Lands

Enjoying lunch behind a rock--sporting my Dollar Store sunglasses because I lost my favorite pair on the Dix Range hike.

One last look at our dry boots!

Gentian, another alpine flower

Brian with Mt. Colden in the background

Summer hiking vs Winter hiking

Headed down Algonquin to Boundary. We should have known that the rain the night before would not let us get away so easy. There were several muddy sections on the way over to Iroquois, so much so that I felt the need to name the larger puddles--Boundary Bath & Body Works, Lower Lake Iroquois and Upper Lake Iroquois...ok, I guess you had to be there, LOL. There was one really wide puddle that was a good 12 to 14 inches deep! Could have been deeper than that, but I didn't want to find out.

Forgot the name of this...will have to edit

Another scramble going up Iroquois...not nearly as bad as the one right below the summit....having flashbacks to the Colvin hike.

Mission accomplished---On the summit of Iroquois! I had a little snack and changed socks while Brian went to take pictures of Shepard's Tooth. We left shortly after that so we could beat the crowds on the way out. I think we made it back to Algonquin by 2:30ish. The summit was pretty crowded at this point.

Brian at one of the cairns on Boundary. Poor guy--he is officially a "redneck". We forgot to bring sunscreen so he ended up with a nice little sunburn on his neck.

Wallface Mountain from Algonquin

Mount Marcy---been there, done that, will probably do it again!

A wood wasp perhaps...Brian spotted this on the way back to Boundary. I had just stepped over it and some roots when he noticed it. He thought it looked like some sort of wasp and wanted to take a picture of it. Good luck with that. I'll be up ahead about 500 feet.

Headed down Algonquin---we passed so many people as they were going up.

Lake Placid in the distance

Heart Lake

Not a bad day at all in the Adirondacks! We hiked a total of 10.2 miles in 8.5 hours and worked up one heck of a sweat. Oh boy, did we stink when we got back to the truck! We got a snack at the HPIC and headed home. We ended up stopping in Keene Valley to eat at the Noonmark Diner. I wasn't sure if they would serve smelly hikers, but they do!