Adirondacks 2008
span lang=”EN-US”o:p/o:p/spanst1:date year=”2008″ day=”28″ month=”3″ st=”on”span lang=”EN-US”Friday March 28 2008/span/st1:datespan lang=”EN-US”o:p /o:p/span p class=”MsoNormal”span lang=”EN-US”It was under spring-like conditions that the a href=”http://picasaweb.google.ca/moulec/Adirondacks_March_2008/photo#5183952060740676770″uOttawa /aOutdoors club headed south to the st1:place st=”on”Adirondacks/st1:place for a long weekend of winter camping, mountain climbing and snowshoeing. The weather conditions would be a mystery until we arrived at the trailhead. st1:city st=”on”st1:place st=”on”Ottawa/st1:place/st1:City is within a hare’s breath of setting a seasonal snowfall record. Would there be more snow in the Lake Placid? On our way south we stopped at st1:place st=”on”st1:city st=”on”Malone/st1:City, st1:state st=”on”NY/st1:State/st1:place for the traditional Friday fish and chips pre-trip meal. We briefly detoured to Price Chopper so I could buy fig newtons and pretzel goldfish. /span/p p class=”MsoNormal”span lang=”EN-US”o:p/o:pAs we headed south the condition grew worse. It started to snow. The snow was accumulating on the road. span style=”" /spanAs we drove down the park access road we spotted wild turkeys grazing on a nearby field. Further along the road we had to make an emergency stop as a deer was in the middle of the road eating road salt. We arrived at the a href=”http://picasaweb.google.ca/moulec/Adirondacks_March_2008/photo#5183952112280284386″ADK Lodge/a and loaded our backpacks with group gear. This year we would split into two groups as there is a cap of nine people per campsite, we had 15. Under blustery conditions we headed out on the trail towards to a href=”http://picasaweb.google.ca/moulec/Adirondacks_March_2008/photo#5183952168114859314″Marcy Dam/a. We left at an inopportune time as they were four other groups that would be heading towards Marcy Dam at roughly the same time all in search of scarce lean-tos. I was asked to scout ahead and try to get first dibs on the largest lean-to, known as the a href=”http://picasaweb.google.ca/moulec/Adirondacks_March_2008/photo#5183952176704793922″“palace/a.” (N44 09.443 W073 57.079 e=2347 feet) It is the largest on st1:place st=”on”st1:placetype st=”on”Lake/st1:PlaceType st1:placename st=”on”Marcy/st1:PlaceName/st1:place. I got lucky but by only five minutes before the next group arrived in search of an abode. The snowy conditions would work to our advantage keeping the evening temperatures in the mid-twenties. Despite the higher elevation of the st1:place st=”on”Adirondacks/st1:place had received there annual average amount of snow. span style=”" /spanFor supper, we had started with a mixture Knorr Swiss soups mixed with coconut paste. The main course was pasta. While sitting around eating supper a href=”http://picasaweb.google.ca/moulec/Adirondacks_March_2008/photo#5183952198179630434″Steph/a, the leader, offered us some wisdom, what freezes will stay frozen over the weekend. This could mean that your toothbrush, toothpaste, liquid soap or water bottle might freeze and stay frozen. As we settled in for the night, I ditched my snowlion boots and donned my booties and gators. A pair of tights and Gore-Tex shell pants would keep my legs warm. As the conditions grew chillier, I applied more and more layers making it hard to bend forward. On top, I had base layer coolmax top, a REI lightweight shirt, 200 weight Polar fleece vest, a 300 weight Polar Fleece jacket and a Gore-tex shell. I felt toasty wearing all this gear. Before bedding down for the night I dropped a couple of layers./span/p p class=”MsoNormal”span lang=”EN-US”Saturday/span/p p class=”MsoNormal”span lang=”EN-US”I awoke at 0500 to find it was still dark. I dozed off for a couple of hours before getting up at 0730. For breakfast we had a deluxe breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and bagels. A cup of black coffee would be all that was needed to restore one’s senses. After breakfast I had my first experience with the cold. It would take two hands to squeeze out toothpaste as it as had frozen overnight. As well, I had to de-thaw my toothbrush in my mouth as it was crunchy from freezing overnight. At 10:00 with bags packed we head west to pickup the Algonquin Peak trail (Junction N44 10.334 W073 57.528). Along the way we were passed by the other group traveling at a brisk place and they were eager to be the first to ascend the mountain. There speed would become a hazard. Over the course of the hike we would gain 3,000 feet. As we climbed we peeled off layers as we were working up a sweat. Along the way we eyed the frozen falls (N44 09.578 W073 58.779 e=3277 feet). This would be a water refilling stop on our return. We stopped at the st1:place st=”on”st1:placename st=”on”Wright/st1:PlaceName st1:placetype st=”on”Peak/st1:PlaceType/st1:place trail junction (a href=”http://picasaweb.google.ca/moulec/Adirondacks_March_2008/photo#5183952254014205378″N44 09.156 W073 59.152 e=3994 feet/a) to put on warmer clothing. At this point we were close to the edge of the tree line. We could see the snow blowing near the peak. I headed out first and did a a href=”http://picasaweb.google.ca/moulec/Adirondacks_March_2008/photo#5183952296963878386″solo /asummit (st1:place st=”on”st1:placename st=”on”Algonquin/st1:PlaceName st1:placetype st=”on”Peak/st1:PlaceType/st1:place summit solo @1400 a href=”http://picasaweb.google.ca/moulec/Adirondacks_March_2008/photo#5183952279784009186″N44 08.613 W073 59.206 e=5115 feet/a). (http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=6022) On the way up, I had a weird experience as I was breathing hard and sweating profusely while receiving a blast of arctic cold air. The going got a little rough near the top and I was forced to bash my snowshoes’ crampons into the snow-ice base to get a purchase. A misstep could cause one to slide down the side of the peak. I took a self-portrait and headed down to lead the remainder of the group up to the summit. The going was challenging as the crampons on their rented snowshoes were not aggressive as mine. We would use rock carrons for navigation. There was much relief once we back into the shelter of the trees. It was at this point that the fun began. It was child like. We slide down the trail on our bums. Once back at the Wright Peak trail junction we took a a href=”http://picasaweb.google.ca/moulec/Adirondacks_March_2008/photo#5183952339913551410″lunch /abreak. Our trek back to the waterfalls was a brisk one. Using a a href=”http://picasaweb.google.ca/moulec/Adirondacks_March_2008/photo#5183952361388387922″precarious /amethod we refilled water bottles. We took another rest break at major trail junction and met a href=”http://picasaweb.google.ca/moulec/Adirondacks_March_2008/photo#5183952417222962834″Peter Fish,/a one of the early Park Rangers. We were arrived back in camp late in the afternoon to find a surprise. Something had attacked the food pack and left discarded package of brownies underneath the bag. A quick check of the bag revealed that the a href=”http://picasaweb.google.ca/moulec/Adirondacks_March_2008/photo#5183952202474597746″martin /amust have a penchant for chocolate. There was some discussion if it would pay us a visit overnight. Would the martin climb into someone’s sleeping bag for warmth? Steph came back to camp a little later to pass along news of the other group. They were a disappointed lot. They didn’t reach summit. Without a compass, a map, or GPS they decided to take a shortcut and see if they could summit by sighting the peak and snowshoeing off trail in hope of beating our group to the top. This wasn’t a wise idea. Midway up the slope they had to turn back as the snow was too deep.span style=”" /spanFor supper we had a couscous stew along with a raspberry, apple flan for dessert. Tonight, would be a colder night as we had a healthy crop of stars visible overhead. In anticipation I added another layer of clothing, a down vest (-15C/5F overnight). /span/p p class=”MsoNormal”span lang=”EN-US”Sunday/span/p p class=”MsoNormal”span lang=”EN-US”Once again I was awake early but didn’t emerge from my toasty sleeping bag until there were others about. Breakfast was hot fruit mixed with a dry cereal. By mid-morning we were back on the trail heading in a southerly direction bound for a href=”http://picasaweb.google.ca/moulec/Adirondacks_March_2008/photo#5183952511712243506″st1:place st=”on”st1:placename st=”on”Avalanche/st1:PlaceName st1:placetype st=”on”Lake/st1:PlaceType/st1:place./a It would be a warm hike. The snow was melting and starting to gum up our snowshoes. We had lunch while sitting on the frozen st1:place st=”on”st1:placename st=”on”Avalanche/st1:PlaceName st1:placetype st=”on”Lake/st1:PlaceType/st1:place. (N44 08.117 W073 57.883 e=2959 feet) The bright sun reflecting off the snow gave many of us the start of a tan on our faces. Once back at camp we had to peel off more layers as there was melt water dripping from the roof of the lean-to. With a href=”http://picasaweb.google.ca/moulec/Adirondacks_March_2008/photo#5183952520302178114″lighter packs/a we reached the van in record time. We stopped in st1:place st=”on”st1:placename st=”on”Saranac/st1:PlaceName st1:placetype st=”on”Lake/st1:PlaceType/st1:place for a hearty post-trip meal./span/pp class=”MsoNormal”br /span lang=”EN-US”/span/pp class=”MsoNormal”span lang=”EN-US”a href=”http://picasaweb.google.ca/moulec/Adirondacks_March_2008/photo#5184365322493898578″map/abr //span/p
Home for the holidays
Late last week, my holiday plans were uncertain. I had a couple of modes of transportation for getting home for the holidays. While surfing I was able to locate a cheap flight to Toronto at an incredibly low price. It bought the ticket as quickly as I could. The past couple of days at my folks place have been relaxing and given me chance to get some much needed rest. I’ve read two books over the last little while. The first, “Cold Mountain,” by Charles Frazier and the other is “Replay,” by Ken Grimwood. Both books are a good read. I am glad that I had a chance to read “Cold Mountain” as it answered many questions that remained unanswered when I saw the movie. a href=”http://jasonplancaster.com”Jason’s/a father gave me a list of recommended books to read over the holidays and “Cold Mountain” and “Replay” were highly recommended.br /br /Yesterday, I decided to check some of my local geocaches and will head back to them over the next couple of days with a camera. There are some bouldering faces that I want to get Jason’s opinion on as they could be climbable once the weather improves.
Bouldering
span lang=”en-us”span style=”font-family:Times New Roman;”Last night, I was back at the gym climbing working on my bouldering. I climbed the “red” route a couple of times to get my arms warmed up. While wondering around, the gym is still new to me, I discovered a couple of caves that were hidden away. I usually climb in the two gravel floor area and then migrate to the “X” platform room that I have talked about in blogs. The extra cave will give me some more challenges. The gym is having a bouldering fest all day tomorrow so I’ll stop in see what it is all about./span/span
Small Victory
Tonight at the a href=”http://www.verticalreal.com/en/index.htm”climbing gym/a, I did something I’ve wanted to do for a while, climb onto the a href=”http://flickr.com/photos/verticalreal/86087849/”platform /awhich is a structure in the middle of one of the bouldering rooms. The room is circular and has an “X” shape a href=”http://flickr.com/photos/verticalreal/86087964/”climbing wall /ain the middle. When you climb the X or any of the walls it takes up to a platform on the next floor. I had been climbing the “red” route for a while and decided it was time to go over the edge. I used brute force at the end to pull myself onto the platform. My first victory can a little cost, a white chest as my black t-shirt rubbed on the floor of the platform. I was stoked and climbed the wall a couple of more times each with a little more flare. Hmm, this to find a new color marker…
Golden Key Leadership Retreat
p class=”MsoNormal”span style=”font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;”span style=”font-size: 12pt;”On the weekend I headed down to /span/spanspan style=”border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;” class=”yshortcuts” id=”lw_1195062743_0″Toronto/span for a leadership retreat associated with the a href=”http://www.goldenkey.org”Golden Key Honor Society./a We met at a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/GoldenKey_HartHouseFarm_Nov2007/photo#5132450952709709234″Hart House /aon the University of Toronto campus and then took the bus up to the a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/GoldenKey_HartHouseFarm_Nov2007/photo#5132451356436635314″Hart House farm/a which is about an 45 minute drive north. I came representing the Ottawa chapter, and a couple of people came from Alberta with the majority of the people coming from span style=”border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;” class=”yshortcuts” id=”lw_1195062743_1″Toronto/span. Over the weekend we went hiking, played capture the flag in the dark and did a couple of leadership exercises. Our first task was to split into two teams and come up with a team name and chant. My team was called “Mas cash” which was based on the first letter in our given name while the other team was called “the Wonka Nerds.” During one of our breaks we hiked around the property and explored the caves/a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/GoldenKey_HartHouseFarm_Nov2007/photo#5132451158868139602″cliffs /aas well as take some novel pictures (a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/GoldenKey_HartHouseFarm_Nov2007/photo#5132451249062452866″people arranged by height/a). We each took the a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator”Myers-Brigg personality test/a and determined our leadership styles. It was fun adventure and gave me a chance to network with people from different chapters./p p class=”MsoNormal”span style=”font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;”span style=”font-size: 12pt;” (a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/GoldenKey_HartHouseFarm_Nov2007″main photo gallery)/abr //span/span/p
Virtual Reality Climbing
On Thursday night I went to, a href=”http://www.verticalreal.com/en/index.htm”Virtual Reality/a, a climbing place very close to where I live and did an hour of bouldering. It was neat when I arrived as the guy asked why I had climbed sooner living so close to the place. They have a couple of bouldering caves some having padding on the floor and others with fresh gravel. They also have an area where you can boulder up the side of the wall and then climb onto a platform on the a href=”http://flickr.com/search/?w=29046729@N00amp;q=competitionamp;m=tags”second floor/a. Some of the faces are marked with color tape (difficulty ratings) and there are others with different size mounts. The top-rope area is smaller than a href=”http://www.earthtreksclimbing.com/”Earth Treks/a. It was a great night and I’m looking forward to my Thursday night bouldering expeditions.
Noonmark and Hopkins Peaks
Late on Friday night I got a call from Chris MacDonald to say that he was organizing a last-minute weekend hiking trip to the the Adirondacks. The plan was to climb Noonmark (3491 feet) and Hopkins (3150 feet). This would be my third hiking trip with Chris Mc this year so I knew what to expect. After catching my breath, I replied that I was eager to go. The plan was to meet at 7:00 am on Saturday morning. I headed over to the 24 hour grocery store to get some last minute supplies.br /br /On Saturday morning, we met at John Galbraith’s house and headed over to meet Kerry McDaniels at her house along the way out of town. Our next stop would be Lake Placid where we bought lunch for Saturday and Sunday. We registered at the a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Adir_Nov2007_Noonmark_Hopkins/photo#5129524377802857938″Adirondack Loj /aand then drove south to Keene Valley to a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Adir_Nov2007_Noonmark_Hopkins/photo#5129523866701749378″start our trek/a up Noonmark. Before heading out we registered at the sign out box a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Adir_Nov2007_Noonmark_Hopkins/photo#5129523892471553170″a/a, a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Adir_Nov2007_Noonmark_Hopkins/photo#5129524309083381138″b/a. As we started to climb the temperature started to drop. a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Adir_Nov2007_Noonmark_Hopkins/photo#5129524042795408610″Ice crystals/a were visible in the soil and we would find a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Adir_Nov2007_Noonmark_Hopkins/photo#5129524201709198674″ice /aat the summit. Along the way we had to climb a couple of neat a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Adir_Nov2007_Noonmark_Hopkins/photo#5129524141579656466″ladders/a. I was the first to reach the summit which was a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Adir_Nov2007_Noonmark_Hopkins/photo#5129524163054492978″cold and windy/a. I was under-dressed for the conditions having left my polar fleece jacket, gloves and hat in the car. Before we heading back down the trail we took a a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Adir_Nov2007_Noonmark_Hopkins/photo#5129524244658871666″picture /ain the lee of the wind. It would take about 30 minutes before my hand warmed up. Chris Mc, Kerry and I were the first to reach the trailhead and I took a picture of the a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Adir_Nov2007_Noonmark_Hopkins/photo#5129524339148152242″sunset /awhile waiting for John to finish the hike. Once we were all together we headed into Lake Placid for a meal and headed back to the Loj.br /br /I was up at 6:30 am on Sunday and had a quick shower. The cook would bang his breakfast gong at 7:15 am and I wanted to hit the shower before the masses did so. Breakfast took the form of all-you-can-eat pancakes and oatmeal which were a welcome sight. After checking out we headed back down into the Keene Valley to summit Hopkins. Along the trail I snapped a picture of a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Adir_Nov2007_Noonmark_Hopkins/photo#5129524407867629026″myself /awhile catching my breath. As I was getting closer I noticed a rock face off the trail and wondered if a href=”http://jasonplancaster.com”Jason /awould climb it if he was a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Adir_Nov2007_Noonmark_Hopkins/photo#5129524467997171202″here/a or a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/Adir_Nov2007_Noonmark_Hopkins/photo#5129524506651876882″here/a. Chris Mc, Kerry and I had lunch on the summit of Hopkins and I showed Kerry how to sight a bearing with her compass. When the sun was out it was pleasant to sit out on the rocks and catch the rays. Once the food has settled in our stomach we started our reluctant slow descent back to the car. As the sun was setting we bid the Adirondacks goodbye and started our trek north.
Ts’yl-os (pronounced sigh-loss)
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_5w5ZZWchEd4/RyvN1IWlXFI/AAAAAAAAChc/YOMptAdjCLE/s1600-h/chilkolake1_4.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_5w5ZZWchEd4/RyvN1IWlXFI/AAAAAAAAChc/YOMptAdjCLE/s320/chilkolake1_4.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128418913350409298″ border=”0″ //abr /br /When I was growing up the premier of British Columbia announced that he was forming a new provincial park called Ts’yl-os. The newspaper gave the subscribers a chance to request a poster of hikers at a href=”http://www.britishcolumbia.com/parks/?id=42″Chilko Lake/a with the mountains in the background. I took up the offer and the poster is on the wall I pass by each morning. Ts’yl-os is located 250 km North of Vancouver. The url of the park is a href=”http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/ts.html”http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/ts.html/a. One of my goals over the next couple of years is to camp, and hike in Ts’yl-os park as well as to hike up one of the peaks.
Bouldering and climbing
Over the past couple of days, I have climbed twice and bouldered once. My first climbing attempt was made in a href=”http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/central/rocks.html”Rocks State Park/a which about an hour’s drive north of Baltimore. a href=”http://jasonplancaster.com”Jason/a, Dave, Emily and I arrived at the climbing site mid-afternoon which allowed each of us to get in at least one climb. There was a bit of excitement on the way to the area as Dave’s water bottle went ajar and formed a leak in the bottom but was still a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonplancaster/ClimbingAtRocksStatePark1014/photo#5121691468407654450″usable/a. Before we could start climbing Jason climbed up to adjust the location of the top rope. (a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonplancaster/ClimbingAtRocksStatePark1014/photo#5121691412573079490″p1/a, a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonplancaster/ClimbingAtRocksStatePark1014/photo#5121691455522752546″p2/a, a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonplancaster/ClimbingAtRocksStatePark1014/photo#5121691408278112178″p3/a) Once the rope was in place, a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonplancaster/ClimbingAtRocksStatePark1014/photo#5121691386803275666″Emily /awas the first to climb. Jason gave the climb a 5.6 rating. a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonplancaster/ClimbingAtRocksStatePark1014/photo#5121692529264576658″Dave /awas the next to climb. As the sun was starting to set, I attempted to climb the rock face but got stuck at an a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonplancaster/ClimbingAtRocksStatePark1014/photo#5121692774077712658″outcrop /awhich I couldn’t climb over. The rock face will have to wait until next time.br /br /On Tuesday night we went over to EarthTreks and I completed my first bouldering problem which was the “intro” problem. I tried a slightly more advanced “red” problem and nearly finished it. But since I failed to touch the final mount with both hands the climb was invalid. I spent the remainder of my bouldering working on the beginner problem trying to pause between each stage. Later in the evening, I top-rope climbed four/five problems that got successively more challenging. Having readily available chalk and my new climbing shoes were a great help in climbing a couple of 5.4 and 5.5s (I think).
East Dix, South Dix, Hough Peaks
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp0.blogger.com/_5w5ZZWchEd4/RvgTYdx58II/AAAAAAAACA8/ygxtSTNDP7M/s1600-h/DSCF0665.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp0.blogger.com/_5w5ZZWchEd4/RvgTYdx58II/AAAAAAAACA8/ygxtSTNDP7M/s320/DSCF0665.JPG” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113858687910932610″ border=”0″ //abr /o:p /o:pOn the July long weekend I did an st1:place st=”on”Adirondacks/st1:place hike with a href=”http://ohoc.ncf.ca/”OHOC/a. As a group we hiked up a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Marcy_%28New_York%29″st1:place st=”on”st1:placetype st=”on”Mt./st1:placetype st1:placename st=”on”Marcy/st1:placename/st1:place/a at 5344 feet making it the tallest peak in the st1:place st=”on”Adirondacks/st1:place. I spent much of the time hiking with Kevin Woodley as were of comparable strengths. On the second day I climbed Table Top at 4427 feet and Phelps at 4161 feet. Kevin climbed Colden at 4714 feet. While catching up on email at the Atlanta airport I received a email from Chris McDonald one of the leaders of the July trip to see if I wanted to climb a couple of more peaks. I shot back a quick email to say I was eager to climb a couple of peaks in the a href=”http://www.keene-keenevalley.com/”st1:place st=”on”st1:placename st=”on”Keene/st1:placename st1:placetype st=”on”Valley/st1:placetype/st1:place/a. Over the next couple of days we worked out the details of who would bring what gear. On Friday morning we started our journey to st1:place st=”on”Lake Placid/st1:place. We stopped in at a href=”http://www.ems.com/”st1:place st=”on”EMS/st1:place /ato rent a bear barrel which is now a requirement for overnight hiking. While waiting for ChrisMc and Kevin to sort out the barrel details I took a picture of st1:place st=”on”st1:placename st=”on”Mirror/st1:placename st1:placetype st=”on”Lake/st1:placetype/st1:place and called a href=”http://jasonplancaster.com/”Jason /ato wish him a happy birthday on Saturday. Our next stop was to buy some last minute provisions. We would drive by the st1:place st=”on”st1:placename st=”on”Heart/st1:placename st1:placetype st=”on”Lake/st1:placetype/st1:place –Adirondack Loj access road and head south for about ten miles. Since our hiking would be done on herd path or unmarked trails we stopped in at the a href=”http://www.mountaineer.com/”Mountaineer /astore to get some tips. p class=”MsoNormal”o:p /o:pbr /Once at the trailhead we loaded up Nalgene bottles and mounted our a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/AdirondacksSept2007EastDixSouthDixHoughPeak/photo#5113557868401520402″packs/a. (N44 06.729 W073 42.459) span style=”" /spanThe first part of the trail was easy going until we missed a fork in the trail. After searching for a while we walked across the river and found the trail continued on the other side. The guide book said to take note of the Rock of Gibraltar so I stopped and had a couple of a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/AdirondacksSept2007EastDixSouthDixHoughPeak/photo#5113557988660604738″picture/a of me next to it. We would like for the three hours running the risk of setting up camp in the dark as sunset was at st1:time minute=”0″ hour=”19″ st=”on”7:00 pm/st1:time. Much our time was spent hiking on either side of the st1:place st=”on”st1:placename st=”on”Bouqeut/st1:placename st1:placetype st=”on”River/st1:placetype/st1:place and constantly looking for the next carron. We soon left the river and started our climb. As the sun was setting the trail came to a sudden end. There was some discussion was to where we were. We had missed a campsite that we were going to use a reference point. We quickly set up our tents and ate store-bought subs for supper. The debate about our location continued and we decided to talk about it in the morning./p p class=”MsoNormal”o:p /o:pWe were all up at st1:time minute=”30″ hour=”18″ st=”on”6:30/st1:time. After a hot breakfast of oatmeal and tea we packed our gear. The access to East Dix (4026 feet) is via a rock slide that is about 800 yards long. Water dribbles down the slide and gave us a couple of pools in which pump water. ChrisMc was absolutely certain we had made a mistake somewhere along the hike. Gazing up at the slide it appears to be to short. We hiked down for 30 minutes and met up with the river again. I fired up the GPS and set the coordinates to UTM, ChrisMc pulled his compass and map and we studied the map. After checking and rechecking we were quite sure of where we were on the map. ChrisMc had underestimated the distance we had hiked (7.5 km/4.66 m). We decided to chance it and head back up to the slide. Once back at the slide we loaded up our daypack (a href=”http://www.rei.com/product/747522″REI UL Flash pack /a+ a href=”http://www.rei.com/product/733683″100 oz camelback/a + Nalgene bottle) with the gear and lunch we would need for the remainder of the days. It was at this point I got to know my colors a little better. Dark brown/black on rock is quite slippery while gray and white surface give you good purchase. Each of us took a different route and eventually reached the sub-summit at which point we met a well used trail. We hiked for a while before reaching the summit of East Dix (4026 feet) (N44 03.990 W073 45.413). We took a couple of pictures (a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/AdirondacksSept2007EastDixSouthDixHoughPeak/photo#5113558181934133170″solo/a,span style=”" /spana href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/AdirondacksSept2007EastDixSouthDixHoughPeak/photo#5113558233473740770″group/a) and then hiked over to South Dix along a well traveled path for about a mile. The hike to South Dix was filled with many switch backs which makes it hard to build any hiking speed. Along the way we hiked through an area where they had a blow down a couple of years ago. We stopped for lunch at the summit of South Dix (4068) (N44 03.587 W073 46.485) (a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/AdirondacksSept2007EastDixSouthDixHoughPeak/photo#5113558254948577266″pic 1/a) Lunch took the form of bagels, packaged tuna, carrots and fig newtons. /p p class=”MsoNormal”After lunch we started our descent into the valley that separated South Dix from Hough. We met two girls at the campsite midway that had climbed three of the four peaks that we had hoped to climb. They looked tired and beat up. There hike had started at st1:time minute=”30″ hour=”7″ st=”on”7:30 am/st1:time from st1:place st=”on”st1:placename st=”on”Elk/st1:placename st1:placetype st=”on”Lake/st1:placetype/st1:place in the south. Over the next hour we would gain 400 feet and a rapid rate. There was a cool part of the climb I really liked. You had to take your pack off and slide sideways between two rock faces and climb up 25 feet. Once on top you could feel the full force of the wind. It was cold. We would climb for another 20 minutes before reaching the summit, a large rock (4409 feet) (N44 04.172 W073 46.667) I was forced to take off my hat as it the wind was a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/AdirondacksSept2007EastDixSouthDixHoughPeak/photo#5113558306488184866″whipping/a. At this point we decided not to attempt a climb of st1:city st=”on”st1:place st=”on”Macomb/st1:place/st1:city as we were short for time and it would be easily accessed from st1:place st=”on”st1:placename st=”on”Elk/st1:placename st1:placetype st=”on”Lake/st1:placetype/st1:place.span style=”" /spanRetracing our steps we hiked from Hough, to South Dix to East Dix. Before starting our descent of the slide we stopped for a Clif bar to rejuvenate. I was running low on water. I had drunk my camelback and half a nalgene bottle. Over in the distance there was some ominous black cloud. It looked like rain or snow. Just as we were starting our descent the cloud opened and it started to pore. ChrisMc and I sat underneath an overhang and waited out the rain. After clearing the sub-summit we each took a different route down to the base. I opted to head into the bush as soon as it was available. Trudging on brush gives you good traction as you hike down. This worked for a while until I mis-stepped a slipped on a black rock. I rolled as I was going down and landed on my bum and left pelvic. At a quick check over, I headed down the slide at a snails pace. Once back at camp I make some hot tea and munched on fig newtons. We were all relieved for a hot drink and something to stop the hunger pangs. Kevin and I cooked dinner which was combined three chili, bean and curry dishes. After dinner, I cut down a small maple and spruce tree. It was great to sit around the fire and reminisce about the day’s hike. /p p class=”MsoNormal”We were up at st1:time minute=”30″ hour=”19″ st=”on”7:30/st1:time to find that the weather had changed at it was a cool 40F. The hot tea and oatmeal were what was needed to warm us up. Once we were packed up we headed down the trail and were able to make good headway. I had set the GPS to count down the miles-to-the-car as reference marker and watched the distance diminish quickly. Before reaching the car we stop at a a href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/AdirondacksSept2007EastDixSouthDixHoughPeak/photo#5113558431042236514″swimming hole/a and had a brisk swim. Once back at the car we changed into our street clothes and took aa href=”http://picasaweb.google.com/moulec/AdirondacksSept2007EastDixSouthDixHoughPeak/photo#5113558461107007602″ final picture/a. We stopped in at st1:place st=”on”st1:placename st=”on”Keene/st1:placename st1:placetype st=”on”Valley/st1:placetype/st1:place for a late breakfast. /p
