My plan for the day was to walk the Robert Marshall 14 peak hike, only in reverse. I wouldn't rush at all, the plan was to watch the sunrise on Mt Jo Friday morning, walk the intervening 12 high peaks, then finish on Big Slide in time for sunrise Saturday morning. Marshall had walked the distance in 19 hours, and I figured 24 would be enough for me. Although I'd walked, and run, several similar hikes as recently as three years ago, this would be the first hike of this category since then. So I knew there was a possibility I wouldn't be able to go the distance. But more so than finish the hike I was anxious to find out if I was even still interested in doing these kinds of strenuous days in the mountains. Additionally, I wanted to see if my knee had really recovered from the injury I incurred back in April, and which had sidelined me completely for 2 months before I was able to resume hiking.
Good fortune shined upon me Thursday when Mark Lowell dropped in to say hi between hikes. When my plan came up in the conversation he volunteered to play the role of Herb Clark for me, which meant he would lug a good lunch and additional supplies up to Marcy and meet me there mid-hike. What a guy!! Mark would only hike with me for the first hour or two, then only briefly after leaving Marcy, but like me he wanted to end his day down in Keene Valley. So, Thursday evening Mark, Jane, and I took three vehicles down to the Roostercomb trailhead, and Jane shuttled us back home for a good night's sleep.
Friday morning Jane dropped us off at the Loj gatehouse at 5:23am, and sans headlamps in the early morning darkness Mark and I picked our way up Mt Jo's short trail. We topped out at 5:55am so see the bright glow of the sun hidden behind Cascade Mtn. With plenty of time for slacking, we slid out of our packs and took front row seats. The day couldn't have been better. Sunrise is not a lingering event, and one must be there watching when it happens. On this day the orb grew from the first sliver to full circle seemingly in only a minute, and at 6:11am, based on some previous discussion of atmospheric refraction, we declared the day had officially begun.
Down the long trail and back to the Loj, we made some adjustments and were on our way towards Marcy Dam at 7:10am. At the MacIntyre junction Mark continued on towards Marcy Dam, and I began my first long solo leg. We had agreed that it would be good to leave Marcy summit by 4pm, so I told Mark I would do my best to meet him there around 3:15-3:30pm. The agreement was that whoever was first to the summit would wait until around 5:30 then would head out alone, assuming the other had bailed out. The 5:30 time was chosen because that was the latest that I could arrive on Marcy and still be within my self-imposed 24 hour pace to reach Big Slide by sunrise.
Heading for the MacIntyres I set a measured pace, knowing I had plenty of time as long as I didnt' rush and burn out. I was concerned I might have trouble with this mode, but was relieved to find that I was quite comfortable. The first person I saw on the MacIntyre Range was on the summit of Wright as I reached there at 8:50am. Under other circumstances I would've wanted to sit and enjoy the summit for a few minutes, but with a long day ahead and subjected to the affects of a cooling breeze, I turned and retreated down to the junction. There I spoke for 10 minutes or so with a woman whose plan for the day was to climb Wright, Algonquin, Iroqouis, and Colden. She was a bit uncertain, but after she told me one of her other recent long days (Marcy, Gray, Skylight, Marcy, Tabletop, Phelps) I assured her she was well within her abilities to make the day's hike.
At this point I decided to keep the breaks fairly short until I reached Colden Dam, so I walked over the top of Algonquin at 9:54am, across to Iroquois at 10:21am, then down to the lake. I'd not been on this trail for over 33 years and was anxious to see it, basically for the first time. On this dry day it was a great trail, but in wet weather I could see that it might be troublesome, as it follows the brookbed over significant portions. I monitored my knee carefully during this long and rocky descent, and was thrilled that it never made a peep of a complaint.
Reaching Colden Dam at 11:49am I made my first of two sock changes for the day. For a footwear strategy I had opted for non-waterproof trailrunners with Schoeller low gaitors. As a backup in case I took a plunge into a mudhole along the way I had goretex socks in my pack, along with 4 changes of smartwools. But on this day so far I had managed to stay relatively dry, even on the trip over to Iroquois. The worst offender had been the wet foliage soaking my shorts and dripping down my legs, and the socks were damp enough to justify a change, but the shoes weren't so wet as to justify using the goretex socks.
From Colden I headed up the Opalescent to Uphill leanto, trying but failing to get a peek at the leanto itself as I went by, and continued on to the junction at the base of Feldspar Brook. I made a quick stop here, dropping my pack just long enough to get a snack from a back pocket, slipped back into the pack and munched down the bar. Amazingly, during this brief (2 minutes?) period someone had caught up from behind and they startled me with a loud and deep-voiced greeting. It was Mark! He had actually been sitting at the Uphill leanto when I'd walked by, the only place in his entire day where I might've passed him without being seen. So, I guess I didn't have to worry about leaving Mark waiting on the Marcy summit too long!
Together we headed up the long hill to Lake Tear, stopping for several minutes along the way at a trusted water source to refill our bottles. Up to this point I'd used about 2-2.5 liters. Continuing on we met several hikers in the Lake Tear area, including some sitting around at the base of the Gray path, and some on the Skylight trail. At four corners Mark and I headed up Skylight, making the ascent in about 18 minutes and summitting at 2:25pm.
Back down to four corners we relaxed for a few minutes before heading up Marcy. Climbing steadily we reached the summit at 3:28pm, then found and sat down with the summit steward (we knew she would be sitting in the "warm spot"). At this point Mark passed along all the stuff he'd been carrying for me. Mostly it was food, the only exception was my large headlamp, since I figured I wouldn't need it until after Marcy sometime. I considered giving him my water filter (about 22oz) but decided there was still a remote chance that I'd need it. We both slipped on outerwear for the breaktime, as the summit breeze was quite chilling and the temps were cool. During our half-hour stay on the summit a guy in a kilt showed up at the summit. It was of course the inimitable Pete Fish. Mark asked "How many is this?" and Pete replied "Today is 600". Amazing!
(continued)
Good fortune shined upon me Thursday when Mark Lowell dropped in to say hi between hikes. When my plan came up in the conversation he volunteered to play the role of Herb Clark for me, which meant he would lug a good lunch and additional supplies up to Marcy and meet me there mid-hike. What a guy!! Mark would only hike with me for the first hour or two, then only briefly after leaving Marcy, but like me he wanted to end his day down in Keene Valley. So, Thursday evening Mark, Jane, and I took three vehicles down to the Roostercomb trailhead, and Jane shuttled us back home for a good night's sleep.
Friday morning Jane dropped us off at the Loj gatehouse at 5:23am, and sans headlamps in the early morning darkness Mark and I picked our way up Mt Jo's short trail. We topped out at 5:55am so see the bright glow of the sun hidden behind Cascade Mtn. With plenty of time for slacking, we slid out of our packs and took front row seats. The day couldn't have been better. Sunrise is not a lingering event, and one must be there watching when it happens. On this day the orb grew from the first sliver to full circle seemingly in only a minute, and at 6:11am, based on some previous discussion of atmospheric refraction, we declared the day had officially begun.
Down the long trail and back to the Loj, we made some adjustments and were on our way towards Marcy Dam at 7:10am. At the MacIntyre junction Mark continued on towards Marcy Dam, and I began my first long solo leg. We had agreed that it would be good to leave Marcy summit by 4pm, so I told Mark I would do my best to meet him there around 3:15-3:30pm. The agreement was that whoever was first to the summit would wait until around 5:30 then would head out alone, assuming the other had bailed out. The 5:30 time was chosen because that was the latest that I could arrive on Marcy and still be within my self-imposed 24 hour pace to reach Big Slide by sunrise.
Heading for the MacIntyres I set a measured pace, knowing I had plenty of time as long as I didnt' rush and burn out. I was concerned I might have trouble with this mode, but was relieved to find that I was quite comfortable. The first person I saw on the MacIntyre Range was on the summit of Wright as I reached there at 8:50am. Under other circumstances I would've wanted to sit and enjoy the summit for a few minutes, but with a long day ahead and subjected to the affects of a cooling breeze, I turned and retreated down to the junction. There I spoke for 10 minutes or so with a woman whose plan for the day was to climb Wright, Algonquin, Iroqouis, and Colden. She was a bit uncertain, but after she told me one of her other recent long days (Marcy, Gray, Skylight, Marcy, Tabletop, Phelps) I assured her she was well within her abilities to make the day's hike.
At this point I decided to keep the breaks fairly short until I reached Colden Dam, so I walked over the top of Algonquin at 9:54am, across to Iroquois at 10:21am, then down to the lake. I'd not been on this trail for over 33 years and was anxious to see it, basically for the first time. On this dry day it was a great trail, but in wet weather I could see that it might be troublesome, as it follows the brookbed over significant portions. I monitored my knee carefully during this long and rocky descent, and was thrilled that it never made a peep of a complaint.
Reaching Colden Dam at 11:49am I made my first of two sock changes for the day. For a footwear strategy I had opted for non-waterproof trailrunners with Schoeller low gaitors. As a backup in case I took a plunge into a mudhole along the way I had goretex socks in my pack, along with 4 changes of smartwools. But on this day so far I had managed to stay relatively dry, even on the trip over to Iroquois. The worst offender had been the wet foliage soaking my shorts and dripping down my legs, and the socks were damp enough to justify a change, but the shoes weren't so wet as to justify using the goretex socks.
From Colden I headed up the Opalescent to Uphill leanto, trying but failing to get a peek at the leanto itself as I went by, and continued on to the junction at the base of Feldspar Brook. I made a quick stop here, dropping my pack just long enough to get a snack from a back pocket, slipped back into the pack and munched down the bar. Amazingly, during this brief (2 minutes?) period someone had caught up from behind and they startled me with a loud and deep-voiced greeting. It was Mark! He had actually been sitting at the Uphill leanto when I'd walked by, the only place in his entire day where I might've passed him without being seen. So, I guess I didn't have to worry about leaving Mark waiting on the Marcy summit too long!
Together we headed up the long hill to Lake Tear, stopping for several minutes along the way at a trusted water source to refill our bottles. Up to this point I'd used about 2-2.5 liters. Continuing on we met several hikers in the Lake Tear area, including some sitting around at the base of the Gray path, and some on the Skylight trail. At four corners Mark and I headed up Skylight, making the ascent in about 18 minutes and summitting at 2:25pm.
Back down to four corners we relaxed for a few minutes before heading up Marcy. Climbing steadily we reached the summit at 3:28pm, then found and sat down with the summit steward (we knew she would be sitting in the "warm spot"). At this point Mark passed along all the stuff he'd been carrying for me. Mostly it was food, the only exception was my large headlamp, since I figured I wouldn't need it until after Marcy sometime. I considered giving him my water filter (about 22oz) but decided there was still a remote chance that I'd need it. We both slipped on outerwear for the breaktime, as the summit breeze was quite chilling and the temps were cool. During our half-hour stay on the summit a guy in a kilt showed up at the summit. It was of course the inimitable Pete Fish. Mark asked "How many is this?" and Pete replied "Today is 600". Amazing!
(continued)
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