Socked-in for the Holidays

 

"Hey, Quinn. Do you want to go on a hike on Christmas Eve before we hang out with our family?"

"Sure thing!"

"Awesome."

"I want to hike in the dark and get scared!"

"Uh..."

"But Sunny will be there so I won't get scared."

"Okay..."

Quinn and I woke up before 5:30 on Christmas Eve morning.  Sunny was really funny that morning and had to be coaxed into his harness for the day's activities. Our plan was to go on a hike up Prospect Mountain in Lake George. Rain was forecast at home and most parts of the Capital Region, but there was supposed to be snow in Lake George. We packed up a bunch of gear in our packs and headed North.

It was about 7:00am by the time we got started at the trailhead in Lake George. I figured we could tackle the steep ascent up the East trail directly from the village.  Although the sun  was starting to fill the cloudy sky with a blue glow, Quinn still got to use the dinosaur headlamp Aunt Erica gave him for last Christmas.

Quinn had a blast crossing the freeway. Sunny tolerated it.

The trail was mainly ice and snow with a stream running down through the old cable car path. We mainly used the well-worn path to the side of the stream when that was present. I had Quinn crunch in the leaves for the most part and held his hand on the more difficult icy spots. I had my microspikes on for the majority of the hike and I bought Quinn his own pair shortly after we returned.

Quinn picked his way up the trail as best he could. He came up with an ice-detecting invention all on his own (a stick). I must admit that he was a bit annoyed at the ice and he declared this trail "not my favorite".

Sunny was in his element by the time we got out of the car, as usual. I'd gotten him a good haircut a couple of weeks ago and his paws were still in good snow condition. He kept up his energy throughout the hike despite his reluctance earlier.

We were lucky to have the snow this day, but the trail was a bit sloppy from all the rain and warm weather we'd been having. We stopped every once in a while to enjoy being outdoors. I knew we had a deadline to keep, but I want to make sure Quinn has fun on these outings.

Despite the annoying ice, Quinn remained in good spirits.

Quinn showed off his leaf-jumping skills under the pavillion near the summit. We came across several groups of hikers taking advantage of the cooler weather on our adventure this day and they were all super friendly.

We made it to the summit in good time. The views were socked in, but we hung out at the top for a bit, throwing snow and sticks down. Quinn was very curious why the "house potties" had been removed from the parking area.

I considered the difficulty we had ascending the mountain and gave Quinn the option to either descend quickly the way we came or have a longer but easier hike down the road to the halfway point instead. He chose to take the road and I acquiesed. Since it's a much farther walk than just descending via the trail, I let him ride my shoulders most of the way down to where the trail meets the road again.

 

This proved to be a pretty dumb move. As it turns out, Quinn actually had no problem descending the second half of the trail. He had a really fun time sliding down the parts he'd found most difficult on the way up. I could have saved myself a lot of effort if I'd simply trusted in his ability to figure his own way down.

We made it back with plenty of time to drive South to spend time with our family. Although it rained at home, I was really glad Quinn got his own special white Christmas.

Here you can see the actual Adirondack style trail (straight up the mountain) on the left and the looping road on the right. 

We'll be doing more Winter hikes this season. It's a lot of fun as long as you keep an eye on the forecast, the time, and your gear. Quinn has a new pair of microspikes of his very own now, so he should be good to go the next time we do a trail like this.