Two weekends ago I headed to the Adirondack Mountains. I have been going to the ADK’s since I could walk. I have many good memories of hiking up the mountains in the area. For some reason, however, I had never climbed the highest one, Mt. Marcy. So I headed down to the ADK’s on Saturday morning and arrived at the trailhead at Hart Lake at 9 am, surprised as usual, at how close the ADK’s are to Ottawa.
They were predicting rain in the area but the thundershowers were not supposed to happen till 2 pm. I started out in very humid weather so I wasn’t too disappointed at 2 miles in when it started to lightly rain. By 3 miles, however, it was a downpour but I was out looking for an epic adventure, so I ran on!
Soaked to the bone at the top of Marcy!
Mt. Marcy is not a steep mountain compared to the other mountains in the area so I could run a good portion of it. With about 45 minutes to go to the top, the trail turned into to a pretty, yet wet, waterfall!! But luckily this only added to my epic adventure.
Top Marker
Anna Crawford told me it would take 2 hours and 30 minutes to get to the top. I arrived at 2:30 to the second. The top was totally socked in so I didn’t get a great view from the highest mountain. In fact, I didn’t know I was at the top until I found the top marker; visibility was about 4 meters. I quickly snapped a few pics and headed down for tree cover as it was windy at the top and I didn’t want to take the time to change.
Heading down, two concerned hikers stopped me and quizzed me if I had good rain gear and a change of clothes, which I of course did.
Heading down was tons of fun as there is nothing I like more then barreling down a mountain on rocks with the chance of slipping. I did stop for a quick lunch at Indian Falls and of course the sun came out and the clouds blew away so if I had just left Ottawa 45 minutes later I could have had a view at the top! I finished the hike/run in 4 hours and 15 minutes. I was tired after but fueled by e-load, an Oh Henry bar and a Kettleman’s special, I didn’t bonk!
Yumm...
I met up with my parents at the Trails End Inn B&B in Keene and had a well deserved supper and celebrated my Mom’s 65th birthday. The next day I hiked up Round and Noonmark Mountains with the hiking group my Dad was leading. It was also a wet day but the tops were a bit clearer. I headed home the next day back to work.
The clouds clearing out at Indian Falls.
"Jessica Spring - Illustration + Design"