As we move into the future it seems that there are less opportunities for us to disconnect and tune out. I know that personally I find myself becoming sucked out of the physical world an into the different screens that surround me more and more everyday. However, there is within all of us a basic animal need to be outside. Some of us heed this instinct more than others but anyone who can truly take a step outside of the world of cellphones, Facebook, E-mails and GPS and open up to the great stimuli that is nature. I recently did just this atop the tallest peak in all of New York State, Mount Marcy.
My dad and I drove up on a friday night after watching my high school play a football game. I slept most of the way since we took the RV but when I woke up in the morning we were at
"The Crusher." From there we drove out to the
Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) Loj in Keene Valley. from the Loj parking lot we headed out onto the trail to Marcy Dam.
On the way we encountered a group of "J&S" hikers. A "J&S" hiker is someone who hikes in jeans and sneakers. I don't consider myself to be particularly snobbish about my gear but watching someone go out on the trail who is completely unprepared and using bad judgement just bugs me. These particular J&Sers were also demonstrating exactly why you should just wear boots when you hike. One woman walked off the trail the entire time because she didnt want to get her jeans muddy. Just because you CAN hike in running or tennis shoes does not mean you SHOULD. Ok enough ranting for now. The J&Sers will come up again shortly.
Oh, and the view from Marcy Dam was superb.
From the dam we continued along the Van Hoevenberg trail to ascend Mt. Marcy. The trail up Marcy is long, mostly gradual, and very worn down. I wont detail every inch of the trail because much of it was unremarkable. However there were some very cool sections like Indian Falls about 4.4 miles out from where we started at the Loj. We were able to walk out onto the rock that the falls tumbled over and were treated to a beautiful view of Algonquin, another of the 46 high peaks.
The trail meandered onward and other than the length, there was nothing about it that was particularly difficult. That is, until we suddenly started noticing people passing us on the way down who were bundled up and we could see frost on the trees ahead. We also saw this sign:
We could see the the frost covering the trees and the grass on the summit which loomed ahead. This section was icy and began to get dangerous because of the pitch. But we ascended without a problem and made it to the summit where we collapsed onto some larger rocks high-fiving and celebrating our feat. We also talked to the
mountain steward who was there to make sure that people stayed off the alpine foliage that abounded at the top. This plaque stood as a marker for the summit:
Now I did say I would mention the S&J hikers again. They reached the summit about an hour and half after us and immediately sprawled out on the alpine grass. The steward was very nice to them in asking them to move off the grass and also to put leashes on the little dogs they had brought with them. It turns out they were French-speakers so this became a confusing situation. Some of them understood but one woman had no idea what was happening and refused to leave the grassy area. I guess you see all kinds when you are hiking the most popular mountain in the state.
The view from the top was cloudy at first but eventually opened up beautifully. We spent some time taking photos of the view and eating lunch among the giant peaks around us. Now I said that I disconnected completely from the world up here, however I had service for the first time all day and my phone was flooded with text messages. I also decided to see if facebook recognized where I was since you can "check-in" to places using mobile facebook, and so I just had to let the world know what I was doing. I guess its harder to disconnect than I thought.
We got some beautiful photos of the some of the other high peaks. Here is the Macintyre Range:
And the Great Range:
After taking in the view from all angles we decided it was time to go down. The hike out was the worst part since our legs and joints were hurting so badly. We trudged out, kicking rocks the whole way all the while feeling the afterglow that comes from a hard day of physical exertion. I realized from that hike just how nice life can be when you step out of the world of constant connection and stimulus and into the woods for a while.
