Dennis Dixon is heading North!

Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019 - Up to now I have done 12 of the 46 mountains (4000 footers) in the Adirondacks:

Last Sunday Wendy asked me when I want to go back out here. After a bit of time I came up with the correct answer: "When would you like me to go/When would be a good time for you to have me go?" She said that this coming weekend would work best! I didn't want to be gone too long, so I only planned Thursday and Friday:

Phelps Mountain on Thursday, and Mt. Donaldson, Mt. Emmons, and Seward Mountain on Friday.

Today I'll do Phelps Mountain:

After my Breakfast in Boston, I hit the Mass Pike at 9 AM. Beautiful sunny day in Massachusetts. 20 miles east of the NY State line - Not going to South Dakota this trip:

instead, I'm heading up to 4161 feet (Phelps Mountain).

I was able to be at the Adirondak Loj at 2 PM. Wikipedia: (pronounced "Adirondack Lodge") is a historic lodge in North Elba, Essex County, New York. It is near Lake Placid in the Adirondack Mountains. ... The Loj sits on a private protected area of 706 acres that includes Heart Lake and Mount Jo; the preserve is owned and managed by ADK.

Don't forget to Register:

um, it is kind-of hard to miss.

Nice walk on a boardwalk in the 1st mile:

Nice wet walk through the woods:

Until you get to Marcy Dam:

Um, Martha, I think the bridge is out.

From that spot, a real pretty view upstream:

You then go downstream, on a bridge over Marcy Brook, and up the other side to continue on the trail. Marcy Brook looks great - downstream:

and upstream:

A little while later you cross over Phelps Brook on the High Water Bridge - downstream:

and upstream:

The rain has stopped, and the sun is shining "up there".

After crossing the High Water Bridge, continue up the trail. DO NOT TAKE A LEFT INTO THE CAMPING AREA:

Unfortunately, I saw that someone scratched "PHELPS" on the sign, took the left, and spent 20 minutes wandering around in the woods:

Back on the trail, about another 0.3 miles takes you to the left-pointing sign for Phelps Mountain:

The trail took about an hour to climb (one mile). Pretty steep, with a lot of hand-over-hand stuff:

At 5 PM I hit the open granite slab area, with GREAT VIEWS south:

I don't know the names of these peaks, but I'm sure I will be meeting them in the future.

There was NO SIGN, so I spent some time wandering around:

I eventually found a hole-in-the-rock, and put one of my hiking poles in it. It turns out that one of the blogs out there says "Off to the left, there's a hole up on the rock and that signifies the summit." So that's where I took my selfie:

When I paid for parking ($5 because I joined the Adirondack Mountain Club last March), the Ranger said that sunset was 6:35. I don't know if that is when it gets DARK, or if there is an extra 30 minutes of twilight. But that was in a hour-and-a-half, and I didn't like what I was seeing off to the west:

4.4 miles to go.

An hour later I took my last look at the Marcy Dam area:

I finished in the dark and rain, but I finished at 6:45, which means I did the last 2.33 miles in 42 minutes!

Hey - really nice hike! 9.87 miles in 4 hours 26 minutes (the yellow is last week's Nye/Street hike):

It should have been less, but I think the fooling-around-in-the-woods was God's way of keeping me from getting myself into trouble by trying to also climb Table Top Mountain. There's always another day.

I had an easy drive, bought a small pepperoni-and-green-pepper pizza, and checked into the "Quality Inn on Lake Placid". They even gave me the same room I had last weekend!

Pizza and Thursday Night Football - Thank you God for this Great Day!

Staying in one of my mp3 cds that I burned back in June 2000:

Pete Townshend - Deep End Live!, 1986 live album

"After the Fire" is a Great Song!

Phil Collins - Face Value, 1981 debut solo album

The first song - "In The Air Tonight" - was featured on the first episode of Miami Vice Sept. 16, 1984. Being used to hearing on tv "hit songs performed by other artists", I was shocked when the real song came on the tv - It was AWESOME how you could hear real rock music on a cool tv show (and one of the major things that made "Miami Vice" a cool tv show).

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes - Hearts of Stone, 1978

Linda Ronstadt - Living in the USA, 1978

Her version of "Ooh Baby Baby" is FANTASTIC!

Paul Simon - Paul Simon, 1972 debut solo album

Pretenders - The Singles, 1987

Steve Martin - Comedy Is Not Pretty!, 1979

R.E.M. - Fables of the Reconstruction, 1985

Roberta Flack - First Take, 1969 debut solo album

2 of the cuts, "Compared to What" and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", are Really Wonderful.

Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019 - Enough about "camping" and "hiking" - its time to do some MOUNTAIN CLIMBING! I'm now into "The Northeast 111". It is supposed to be the 111 mountains in the Northeast (Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, plus New York) over 4000 feet, but, to quote the amc4000footer.org page: When the list was first compiled there were only 111 peaks. Since then, measurements have gotten better, and there are now actually 115 peaks that comprise the list. Since I did the 2 down in the Catskills last May 2018, that leaves the 46 mountains in the Adirondacks:

This area is TOO FAR to day-trip, so I've been a little worried about how I'm going to handle this: rent a cabin-in-the-woods for a summer and just bang them out day-by-day/week-by-week/month-by-month?

But upon looking at the map, it seems like there are areas-of-mountains (consecutive peaks along ridge lines), and therefore maybe I can bag multiple peaks in single days. Let's see what happens!

I was able to bag 6 of them in 2 days last May:

Let's try to hit 3 pairs of them over these 3 days:

Thursday I did Cascade Mountain and Porter Mountain, and yesterday I did Esther Mountain and Whiteface Mountain, so I'll try for Nye Mountain and Street Mountain today:

I checked out of the Quality Inn at 7:30 AM, and was heading down the road to the Adirondack LOJ when I just had to stop a take some pictures:

Then 5 more minutes down the road I saw the cars parked on the other side of the road, heading north. I've been to enough concerts, so I just did a u-turn and became the next-in-line. Aside from the fact that we were still over a mile away from the trailhead, it was pretty cool - hikers eating breakfast, stretching their legs, walking their dogs. I like the vibe.

I pulled my stuff together, locked the car, and joined the hikers. 1.2 miles later I was at the Adirondack LOJ entrance:

I had guessed correctly - the Parking Lots were FULL:

Very pretty walking down to Heart Lake:

My trail goes around this Lake to the right.

As you continue on the trail, be sure to register:

I love this trail - although there are some roots and some rocks, it is mostly pounded dirt - Great for hiking!

It goes alongside Indian Pass Brook for a while, before you cross:

Looking downstream as I crossed over:

From here you start going uphill. There are basically 3 parts: not-so-steep, steep, and really-steep. This is a picture of the steep area, which sort-of goes up a dry brook ("dry" is a relative term - I certainly would not want to try this in May!):

At least you don't get self-deluded by thinking it is going to get easier.

Eventually you get to the clearing which has the intersection with the trail up to Nye Mountain:

In this picture, the trail came in from the right, the trail up to Nye branches straight ahead, and the trail up to Street goes left out of this photo. And for those people who think there are "no signs" up here:

At 10:55 I was at the top of Nye Mountain:

Nice chat with a fellow hiker. I've read "complaints" about "too many people", but I like passing people and saying hi - there are NO SIGNS on these trails, so seeing another person means that you are on the right path.

Wonderful path through the woods:

Fabulous moss all around up here:

I made it to the top of Street Mountain at 11:30, but because I was looking down (avoiding mud), I missed the sign on the tree. I continued down a side path and quickly came to a couple of guys with a pair of very friendly dogs - and a beautiful view:

I asked about a sign, and they said "Oh yea, it's back there up on a tree." So I found it:

It was now 11:36 and I had been hiking 3 hours and 20 minutes - let's see how long it takes to get back down (while enjoying the hike, of course).

Back at the trail clearing/intersection, I heard some girls coming up, speaking French. So I stopped for water (and also because these trails are NARROW, and almost-only allow single-file). They popped up and I said "Bonjour!", and they smiled and said "Good morning!", and we wished each other Good Hiking.

Nice view as I'm banging down the "really-steep" part of the trail:

I signed out at the Register at 1:40 PM:

Walking back up the road at 2 PM:

Wonderful view from that bridge:

And there is MY CAR at 2:10

WOW - Great Hike! 11.86 miles in 6 hours 1 minute:

So - I have more plans for today. The Adirondack Experience (formerly the "Adirondack Museum") in Blue Mountain Lake is displaying some of its seldom-viewed collection:

This exhibition is only running from May 24, 2019 until October 14, 2019, so it is definitely on my to-do list. The Museum is open until 5 PM.

Additionally, I want to (need to) become familiar with the various trailhead options - their locations, ease-of-access, etc. One centrally-located trailhead is Upper Works Trailhead, which is located at the yellow star:

So I have 2 1/2 hours of driving ahead of me:

I actually only got 2/3 of the way up to the Upper Works Trailhead before I ran out of time:

but it does look like a paved road! I changed into my "museum clothes" here.

I made it to the Adirondack Experience at 4:30

Unfortunately, because half the exhibit was works from Private Collections, no photos were allowed. But I had previously printed the checklist for the works in their collection, so I could "check off" the pieces that I see. (images from their online database) Highlights include:

Thomas Cole - "Schroon Lake, ca. 1846:

Sanford Robinson Gifford - "A Twilight in the Adirondacks", 1864:

William Trost Richards - "In the Adirondacks", 1857:

as well as a SUNNY picture by Ralph Blakelock - "Untitled: the Log Cabin", 1890 ca.

And then it was 5 o'clock - time to HEAD HOME!

I know "they say" 5 hours, but they don't account for a McDonald's stop just north of Albany, or a couple of "stretching breaks" - Home at 10:30. WOW - Thank you God for this Great Adventure!

Let's get today right into music:

HA HA HA - the first song today was "Take Me Home" from Phil Collins - No Jacket Required, 1985