Five miles of Heaven Baby

Time is always on your side, because in the end either you get busy livin or you get busy dyin. There will always be days where you're on such a mental high that all you want to do is top it or create a feeling equal to if not surpassing a moment of peace. In attaining harmony through physical strain your body feeds the mind. A level once know is now there to pass. This was a good day. Gothics is #1 on the list of favorites. Seen here at end of clip.

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The Good, The Bad & The Great

You really never know how a trip is going to turn out. Sometimes everything goes as planned and other times the %@#! hits the fan. Seth, James and I started on an early note getting to Lake Placid around mid afternoon. The day was looking great, the sun was shining making it perfect for some High Peaking. Just off Route 73 a short 2.2 miles ahead Porter Mountain loomed overhead. A smooth yet Buggy 2,000 vertical accent to the top, clean and quick. Just 1.5 miles away is the Summit of Cascade Mountain , being so close you have to catch it as well. Afterwards we headed towards Lake Harris Camp Site #1 to meet up with Jess and Colleen. We all enjoyed the Wegmans Burgers minus Colleen who slept peacefully in the car. The next morning MRE's were on the menu, being my first Made Ready to Eat meal it was a good one of scrambled eggs and home fries.

#4&5 Porter & Cascade June 27, 08

Day 2 was the flipside of the first,"If the Santanonis are Hell, then Bradley Pond Lean-to must be Purgatory." This seems to say it all. The grueling pace of dripping wet body's was complemented by echoing birds over Bradley Pond. Standing in Panther Brook while surrounded by mist with a crack of lightning close over head makes you feel alive. If the risk out weighs the reward, no matter how much pride you have sometimes you just need to turn around. The Santanonis(Nemesis) won this one, all the sweater the next time through. From Bradley Pond Lean-to five miles of Heaven awaited us in heading back. Good food is always key after a hard hike so we stopped at the Adirondack Hotel for some burgers and beers. Across the way Helms Aero Service temped our sense for satisfaction. That plane ride was probably the best 30 dollars I've spent.

Colleen and Jess had enough with all the bad weather and headed back home with the Mountain dog Tanner while Seth, James and I went back to Lake Placid for round 3. What better than a room at the Econo Lodge, jumping into the hot tub to sooth sore muscles and the anchovies and cheese pizza, well lets just say that's the first and last time I'll be eating that. The storm past clearing a path to the Lower Range. From Lake Placid through Keene Valley to the Garden Trail head. This hike was by far the best. Over many streams and brooks, passing waterfalls and climbing steep rock walls, exploring caves on Gothics will make this my favorite thus far. Upper Wolfjaw to Armstrong, from Gothics back over to Lower Wolfjaw. Having to hit up Armstrong and Upper Wolfjaw twice made it all the better.

#6,7,8&9 Upper Wolfjaw, Armstrong, Gothics & Lower Wolfjaw June 30,08

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Porter & Cascade

Grizzly Adams, James Zeger, Tanner, and I climbed Porter and Cascade Mtns. on 27 June 2008. Check out the video! It was the 2nd ascent of both for me, now I've done them in both winter (2005) and summer.



Porter Mtn & Cascade Mtn - direct link for any of you poor souls still browsing the web with Internet Explorer

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My Start

I got my start into the Adirondack High Peaks Wilderness Area (HPWA) just a little under 2 years before Grizzly Adams.

It was March 8th, 2005 and my brother and I had decided to go to Lake Placid for our college Spring Break. We climbed our first two Adirondack High Peaks the day of arrival, starting early afternoon and finishing in the dark, while snowing. Some immediate lessons learned there, although we really were prepared with headlamps and some background outdoor survival / safety skills.

The very first High Peak for both of us was Cascade Mountain, a common first as it is one of the shortest "ins" of all the 46. It was a cold and snowy day, not too much to be seen from Cascade's bald summit, and much too cold to take more than a few quick photos. In fact, after snapping just a few my digital Kodak ceased functioning due to the conditions.

We really were tired after having topped out on Cascade, and cold. But the trail sign (which was at feet-level due to amount of snowfall) indicated that adjacent Porter Mountain was less than a mile away! We had to go for it. And that was our second High Peak.

We spent the night at South Meadow Farm in the cabin and headed out for our third peak the next day, a ski up the toll road at Whiteface Mountain. We did ski the 5 miles up that road, however ended up turning around about 300 vertical feet of the summit where it became unsafe to continue. Disappointing. Absolutely thrilling!

I did have some experience in the Adirondacks prior to the trip--through Boy Scout Troop 138--however March 2008 definitely drew my initial encounter with the fabled land of the 46. Can't exactly recall how we chose to go after the mountains we did, although I'm sure my father-in-law the 46-R (# 2290) had something to do with it.

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