Adirondacks: Mount Redfield and Cliff Mtn.

Tuesday, Oct 6, 2020 - People who follow both my blogs know that yesterday I had a post in "Dixon Heading West" about visiting Christie's in New York City and seeing ART (Monet, Rodin, Pollock) - read it here. It was the-first-of-2 "Crossover Blogs", and at the end of the day I was up here in the Adirondacks. Today is the-second-of-2 "Crossover Blogs", since "Dixon Heading North" deals with hiking in the Northeast.

I have done 31 of the 46 mountains (4000 footers) in the Adirondacks; today's plan is to do Mount Redfield and Cliff Mountain:

This morning's trailhead is a one-hour-plus drive:

The map for today:
and the hike I wound up accomplishing:
WHAT A HIKE - 20.2 miles in 10 hours 50 minutes!

It wasn't as cold as the last time I was up here:

I got to the parking a little after 7 AM, and I started at 7:13:

30 minutes in, I'm on a nice trail:

I saw a cool spider web-in-the-morning-fog:
And then I looked out into the meadow:

I didn't need to do any "sight-seeing" because I had done this trail when I hiked Mount Marshall 3 weeks ago (read that blog here), but I still enjoy the beauty of nature:

2 hours into the hike I reached the "2nd Register", which I signed, and left my backup water bottle:
I walked down to the "Flowed Lands" and ate 1/2 my grilled chicken sub:

Cool stonework right near the Register:

My first sighting of the "dam at Lake Colden":

Looking back at a hiker I had passed:

I have been hiking for 2 hours 40 minutes, and now the trail goes up alongside (and crosses) the Opalescent River:

There are 2 flumes on this stretch of the River, and they are REALLY COOL. They are also impossible to get good pictures of:

After an hour on this trail, I reached the cairns for Redfield and Cliff:
This was 7.7 miles (3 hours 40 minutes) into the hike.

5 minutes later you are at the clearing/cairn which marks the split - Cliff to the right, and Redfield to the left:
I left my backpack here, and went up the trail to Mount Redfield.

Secret secret - I brought my hand-trimmers to clear the herd paths, but the trails were pretty wide open. The moss up here is INSANE!!!:

You soon go up alongside (and in [but never cross over]) the appropriately-named Uphill Brook:

1 hour 5 minutes from the split-herd-paths, I'm on the summit:

With a wonderful view out the back-side
with a super view out to the northeast to Mount Marcy:

On the way back down, there was a view of Marshall, Iroquois Peak, Boundary Peak and Algonquin Peak, but nothing that makes a good picture (chain-saw, anyone?). I was back down at the "cairn split" at 12:57 PM, and started up to Cliff Mountain - I immediately hit THE BOGS, Although I was clean going up, I sunk ankle-deep on my way back down. Cliffs going up:

Although Cliff Mountain is not a long hike, it does have quite a few hard parts. In addition to the "tricky cliff parts", when I was done with the cliffs, I still had 1/2-mile to go (including down-and-up) before I finally reached the "true summit" at 1:54 PM:

On they way back down, I got a GREAT VIEW:
and also, thanks to a slippery log, a face-plant:
Don't worry - I'm fine, fine, fine.

A final look at Lake Colden:

I finished at 6:16 PM, with plenty of daylight. GREAT HIKE! Oh, and I broke another hiking pole when I did my face-plant:
Don't worry, I have a spare!

An hour and 10 minutes back to the Super 8 in Ticonderoga, and a Hot Bath. Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad for dinner, and "Homesteading in Alaska" for this evening's entertainment. Thank you GOD for all these GREAT Adventures!

Tuesday drive to-and-from the trailhead:

Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars, 2019
A lot of quotable lines, as you can imagine in an album from Bruce dealing with (from a press release) a "range of American themes, of highways and desert spaces, ..."

Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen - Too Much Fun, 1990 compilation album

Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen - Live from Armadillo World HQ 1973, 1973 live album
This is cd 1 of a 2-cd live album. cd 2 will be tomorrow.

I like listening to music while I hike, so today we're going to try the boom cubes and my nanos, listening to:

Dave Matthews Band - The Central Park Concert, 2003 (3 cds)

Miles Davis - Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1, 1967 (3 cds)

This quintet featured Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums) (the same line-up as his Plugged Nickel cds, but 2 years later).

Coming down from Redfield, a couple coming up went to the side. I said "Thank you - you're so kind!", to which he replied "You're so kind for playing us this jazz." - maybe it's a hiker thing.

various artists - Hed Kandi World Series: Ibiza, 2008 (3 cds)
Um, no one said "Thanks for playing this House Music."

Van Morrison - Into the Music, 1979

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Wednesday Drive Home - I waited until 8:30 AM to leave the Super 8. I had a fun quick visit with relatives in Middlebury, then Library stops, then HOME:

Home by 2 PM! 236 miles today, 861 miles for the whole trip - WOW, Thank you God for this Great Day! (and this Great Adventure!)

I had my windows down (mid-60s) and the speed limit fluctuated between 35 and 55, so I started the trip listening to music:

Because they sounded SO GREAT yesterday, I wanted to listen to more LIVE COMMANDER CODY:

Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen - Live from Capitol Theatre 1975, 1975 live album
This is cd 2 of a 2-cd live album. cd 1 was yesterday.

Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes, 2014
An ELECTRIC version of "The Ghost of Tom Joad", plus a wonderful studio version of "Dream Baby Dream".

Neal Stephenson (a sci-fi author I really like) wrote his opus Cryptonomicon in 1999, and I'm doing cds 10 + 11 today: