JMoore
04-09-2010, 10:02 AM
After getting our first taste of the 46 last fall, the boys (10 &12) and I have been thinking about getting back to the high peaks all winter and bagging another 46. We've spent the winter, gathering gear, reading books and maps and exercising!
The boys were on spring break this week and we wanted to try Wright and Algonquin. So after watching the weather we decided the best day looked like the Wednesday, so I took the day off and we traveled to Lake Placid Tuesday night. My wife also decided to join us.
We had hoped for an earlier start, but we spent some time looking for a geocache on the the Adirdondack Loj Road. (5 Canadians Gruff) Finally found it! Tough one. So we didn't get started until 9 - 9-30AM. It had rained hard the night before and the trail was pretty muddy and the snow had been softened up. We made good time initially but eventually, the snow and ice slowed us down. I had read trail reports prior to going about the hard packed snow so we didn't bring snow shoes and just bare-booted it. (first mistake) Our snow shoes are the full sized ones, so I'm not sure how they would have worked anyway. So we often had to work our way around the slick icey patches and would occassionaly "post hole" in the soft snow.
We got to the waterfall, just past the camping area on the Algonquin, trail when my wife decided she had had enough. My GPS told me it was only .5 miles to the summit of Wright, so we decided to drop our packs with her, the boys and I take a few essentials and push toward the summit. From there the trail turned really steep and icey, but we made good time to the trail junction. There we met three other hikers. Two had just been to Algonquin and told us about how windy it was and were headed back to the Loj. The third, headed up the trail with us to the summit of Wright. About this time the weather had started to turn. All day it had been bright, sunny and in the 50's. But it had quickly become overcast and started to spit. By the time we reached the tree line it was quite windy. About 100 yards from the summit it got really bad, the wind was howling and sleet and rain were hitting us side ways! We quickly hit the summit and headed down. We had to often slide down on our bottoms to avoid being blown over! At one point one of my Jack Russels crawled in a cravasse and didn't want to come out! I didn't catch the guys name, but the hiker that went with us to the summit was a big help. He stayed with us until we safely reached the tree line. He had a 46'r patch (with winter rocker). Thanks for your help!
We finally got back to my wife, we were soaked to the bone! But having the right clothes help. After a bit of hiking, we dried out quickly and got back to the Loj around 5:30. We'll have to get Algonquin another time. Despite the rough weather, we had a great time, learned alot and are already talking about our next high peak.
Here's my photo album
http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p194/mgupnorth/Wright%204-7-10/
And a few photos.
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p194/mgupnorth/Wright%204-7-10/Wright4-7-10A.jpg
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p194/mgupnorth/Wright%204-7-10/Wright4-7-10C.jpg
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p194/mgupnorth/Wright%204-7-10/Wright4-7-10G.jpg
The boys were on spring break this week and we wanted to try Wright and Algonquin. So after watching the weather we decided the best day looked like the Wednesday, so I took the day off and we traveled to Lake Placid Tuesday night. My wife also decided to join us.
We had hoped for an earlier start, but we spent some time looking for a geocache on the the Adirdondack Loj Road. (5 Canadians Gruff) Finally found it! Tough one. So we didn't get started until 9 - 9-30AM. It had rained hard the night before and the trail was pretty muddy and the snow had been softened up. We made good time initially but eventually, the snow and ice slowed us down. I had read trail reports prior to going about the hard packed snow so we didn't bring snow shoes and just bare-booted it. (first mistake) Our snow shoes are the full sized ones, so I'm not sure how they would have worked anyway. So we often had to work our way around the slick icey patches and would occassionaly "post hole" in the soft snow.
We got to the waterfall, just past the camping area on the Algonquin, trail when my wife decided she had had enough. My GPS told me it was only .5 miles to the summit of Wright, so we decided to drop our packs with her, the boys and I take a few essentials and push toward the summit. From there the trail turned really steep and icey, but we made good time to the trail junction. There we met three other hikers. Two had just been to Algonquin and told us about how windy it was and were headed back to the Loj. The third, headed up the trail with us to the summit of Wright. About this time the weather had started to turn. All day it had been bright, sunny and in the 50's. But it had quickly become overcast and started to spit. By the time we reached the tree line it was quite windy. About 100 yards from the summit it got really bad, the wind was howling and sleet and rain were hitting us side ways! We quickly hit the summit and headed down. We had to often slide down on our bottoms to avoid being blown over! At one point one of my Jack Russels crawled in a cravasse and didn't want to come out! I didn't catch the guys name, but the hiker that went with us to the summit was a big help. He stayed with us until we safely reached the tree line. He had a 46'r patch (with winter rocker). Thanks for your help!
We finally got back to my wife, we were soaked to the bone! But having the right clothes help. After a bit of hiking, we dried out quickly and got back to the Loj around 5:30. We'll have to get Algonquin another time. Despite the rough weather, we had a great time, learned alot and are already talking about our next high peak.
Here's my photo album
http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p194/mgupnorth/Wright%204-7-10/
And a few photos.
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p194/mgupnorth/Wright%204-7-10/Wright4-7-10A.jpg
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p194/mgupnorth/Wright%204-7-10/Wright4-7-10C.jpg
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p194/mgupnorth/Wright%204-7-10/Wright4-7-10G.jpg