Dennis Dixon is heading North!: September 2020

Monday, Sept 28, 2020 - I have done 28 of the 46 mountains (4000 footers) in the Adirondacks; today's plan is to do Wright Peak/Algonquin Peak/Iroquois Peak:

This morning it is a 20-minute drive to get to the Trailhead Parking:

The map for today:

and the hike I wound up accomplishing:

What a hike - 16.55 miles in 9 hours 2 minutes!

I got to the parking just before 7 AM; checked in with the Ranger/Store to see that all the trails were open; and I started at 7:11:

Very nice boardwalk 1/2 mile in:

I love the golden/yellow light filtering down through the trees:

One mile in, I reached the clearing where my trail goes off up to the right:

It is a really HARD TRAIL:

You just keep stepping on/or over/or around these rocks, step after step. Very Slow going. (You can already see my camera start to fog up)

For perspective, this shows one guy that passed me:

It was starting to get misty (as in "up in a cloud"), and even raining on-and-off. I was not expecting this for today (tomorrow yes, but not for today!)

Right before the turnoff for Wright Peak I found a little friend on a rock:

At 9 AM I left my pack, and headed up the side-trail to Wright Peak:

It was pretty hairy up above the tree-line:

Another guy had passed me - not "trail running" but traveling VERY light and fast. As I was going up, he was coming down, and I said "So, who's GREAT IDEA was this???" - and he replied "Just us crazies!"

By 10 AM I was back down and heading UP to Algonquin Peak:

10:24 - above the tree-line:

And on the summit at 10:36 AM:

There were a few other hikers on the summit (I think):

Just for the heck of it, other blogs show what I am missing today from Algonquin Peak (looking southeast at Mount Colden):

Going down from Algonquin Peak I had a nice chat with a Summit Steward, who reminded me about staying on the path (don't kill the sensitive vegetation up here!!). I took the opportunity to 1) THANK him for all his work, and 2) suggest that perhaps "some signs" would be a good idea.

I headed into the herd path up to Boundary Peak and Iroquois Peak - narrow and wet. I was able to find a small clearing where I had 1/2 my sandwich, and left my backpack. 30 minutes after Algonquin Peak I was up on Boundary Peak (not an official peak because of nearness/height difference to other peaks)

Up on Boundary Peak I saw a cute little guy:

It turns out he (she?) is a "Red-Spotted Newt", or "Red Eft", one of the "Adirondack Salamanders".

20 minutes later I was at the end of Iroquois Peak:

I'm fine, but you can tell my phone/camera is starting to lose it.

Bob Marshall, one of the original Forty-Sixers, did this hike in 1918, and he loved this vista. “We unanimously agreed that this was the finest view any of us had ever gotten,” he wrote after his visit (although he later esteemed the view from Mount Haystack even more).

I left there at 11:30 AM. 25 minutes later I was back at the "trail intersection", and took THE REAL TRAIL (Trail 71 "Algonquin Peak from Lake Colden") STRAIGHT DOWN FOR 2.1 MILES!! It is a dangerous trail - it has yellow trail markers on trees, but often it goes into the stream, and is very difficult to figure out where it comes back out. The Trail is very steep, and the rocks that you stand on/hop on are wet. An hour-and-a-half later I was at the bottom. Regular camera lens:

selfie camera lens:

25 minutes later I was at the foot of Avalanche Lake:

I pulled my phone/camera out and pressed the on button. The screen came up, but when I touched the screen, nothing happened!! (So, NO PHOTOS) I thought it was because EVERYTHING WAS WET (ZipLock bag next time), but Wendy says my fingers were too cold. We'll see - NEXT TIME!

It took about thirty minutes to get to the northeast end of the Lake, which included plank bridges bolted into the side of the cliff, scrambling over rocks, and climbing up and down ladders. I passed a group of teenage girls who had camped out the night before, and were moving kind-of-slow (but that's ok - it is not a race!)

Google Earth does a good job conveying the coolness of Avalanche Lake:

I definitely want to come back, in nice weather!

From there, it was 2 hours (5-and-2/3 miles) to get back to the trailhead at 4:14 PM.

I carried more-water-than-I-needed (because I was cool and WET the whole hike), but that sure beats the alternative! 20 minutes back to the Quality Inn in Lake Placid, and a Hot Bath.

Compare-and-contrast photos from my "regular camera lens":

and my "selfie camera lens":

Oh, and YES, it is a BEAUTIFUL EVENING here in the Adirondacks! Pepperoni pizza for dinner, and Monday Night Football. 22 miles driving today (which is why I like to stay in Lake Placid when I'm hiking out of the Adirondack LOJ area). Thank you God for all these GREAT Adventures!

But my map got kind-of-destroyed:

Monday drive to-and-from the trailhead:

various artists - If I Stay, 2014 movie soundtrack

I like listening to music while I hike, so today we're going to try the boom cubes and my iPod, listening to Miles Davis - Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965 (8 cds)!!

cd 1 December 22, 1965 - first set

cd 2a December 22, 1965 - second set

cd 2b December 22, 1965 - second set

cd 3 December 22, 1965 - third set

cd 5 December 23, 1965 - first set

cd 6 December 23, 1965 - second set

cd 7 December 23, 1965 - third set

cd 8 December 23, 1965 - fourth set

This quintet featured Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums).

IT WAS GREAT LISTENING TO THIS MUSIC ON THE HIKE! When "the fast guy" passed me on the trail, he said "I like the jazz." - maybe it's a hiker thing.

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Because a BIG STORM was coming through on Tuesday, I drove straight home (well, with maybe a stop at Nick's Roast Beef):

Although I wrote down all my directions, I had fun not looking at them at all while going through Vermont!

Home by 1:30! 288 miles today, 620 miles for the whole trip- WOW, Thank you God for this Great Day! (and this Great Adventure!)

I started listening to Bob Dylan, but I kept expecting the weather to CRASH (and then listen to books-on-cd) - but I outran the storm - it went north, while I went east! So "Music All Day" - Driving "music I don't usually listen to" on my silver and orange nanos:

Bob Dylan - New Morning, 1970