Jay had an October backpacking trip planned for quite some time. This trip would be a loop in Pharaoh Lake Wilderness starting at Putnam Campground, past Grizzle Ocean and Pharaoh Lake, over Pharaoh Mountain, past Oxshoe (and many other ponds), down past (and maybe a pit stop at) Treadway Mountain, and back to Putnam pond. The plan was to hike it all over four days with stays at Lean-tos on Pharaoh Lake, Oxbow Pond, and Clear Pond. Sunny and I were more than happy to join Jay and Zuko. We would also be lucky enough to be joined by Andrew and Dan. I'd been having issues with my overnight pack...
Plans for this week's hike were highly fluid, but they eventually accreted into a day with Quinn doing two easy hikes. I'd been chasing a sunrise hike for a while and Quinn himself had never seen a sunrise, so I thought it would be awesome to find a place where we could experience one without having to camp out the night before. I settled on Belfry which is a fire tower at the end of a very short road walk very near the East side of Exit 30. I also wanted Quinn to have a fun experience in our second hike and I figured the ease of the trail and the view at the end would make Mount Van Hovenberg...
Autumn is officially upon us in the Adirondacks and the foliage is popping. Although I have no qualms about tackling high peaks right now, it's certainly a lot easier to find parking on other hikes. Sunny and I were lucky enough to be joined by Korra, Zuko, Dan, and Jay for a hike I've been wanting to do for a while, the Nun Da Ga O ridge on the Soda Range. Since both Dan and Jay also needed Big Crow for their Lake Placid 9er and everyone was more than up for a bigger adventure than just summiting the mountain.
A couple of days after Sunny and I finished our 46er on Whiteface, Quinn asked me if we could hike a 46er together. If I'm being honest, whenever I hear something like this on social media, my first thought is "Sure they did", assuming some kind of prompting or goading. I should apologize to these people because this kid definitely came with it on his own. Obviously, no parent is obligated to entertain every notion their offspring comes up with (nor should they). However there are a couple of High Peaks hikes that I know he's ready for considering the other hiking he's successfully done. I...
We all set our alarms for 5am and slept a somewhat fitful but comfortable sleep in the Heart Lake lean-to. When we awoke, the dogs were absolutely shot out of a cannon and ready to go. I'd made a point to get as much packed ahead-of-time the night before so I wasn't holding everybody up as usual; I think I succeeded. I also managed to not bash my head against the rock in front of the privy like I had the morning of the Street & Nye hike last year, so that was a bonus.