More great climbing on day two...

Friday, September 23

The rain continued to fall into the early morning hours, but when it stopped I climbed from my tent to do what guys do in the middle of the night and noticed that the skies had cleared and were sparkling with stars. I tried to get John up to witness the splendor, but he snored through my efforts. I was up for good by 6 and began packing the gear since we would be moving to a different site where my cousin, Donnie, could join us that night. Donnie camps out of the back of his Acadia and frowns upon hiking and sweating.

We returned to Noonmark Diner, but this time John and Paul got a full-blown breakfast. I ate my Kashi cereal at the car, using powdered milk…that didn’t quite dissolve. Ron, the firefighter, appeared for breakfast again and told us that the trail we’d wanted to climb the day before was now open. John looked at me to see my reaction. “I’d like to climb Gothics, Armstrong and Upper Wolfjaw, but that trip could take 9-10 hours and that would have us descending in the dark with headlights…which I don’t think is a very solid plan,” I said. He agreed and we headed for Heart Lake and the tent camping sites on Meadows Road just east of Lake Placid. These sites were free and could be accessed right from your vehicle, which made them very convenient for camping and climbing some of the best peaks in the Adirondacks, but offered nothing close to the peace and serenity of the back country.

We arrived there and set up our tents with the sun shining. By noon, we’d completed our tasks and were prepared to climb Wright Mt., which was the peak I’d climbed 11 days earlier with Savannah and Heidi. It was a fabulous peak for a workout and great views and could be done in a reasonable time…having us back well before dark. I’d made the climb with the girls in 3 hours, but Paul and John were in great shape and we ascended much more quickly, reaching the summit in 2 hours. Though not the deep blue skies I’d experienced with the girls, we still had excellent views in every direction and stayed on top for an hour eating our lunches and exploring for the remains of the B-47 that had crashed into the mountain in January of 1962 killing all four airmen aboard.

The descent was treacherous because of the wet rocks and took as long as the ascent had. We made it in two hours, but still had to hike the mile back to where our car was parked before retuning to the camp site.

I was disgustingly dirty and sweaty and with John in tow, headed for the creek running a couple of hundred yards from our site. The water was moving quickly and having originated high in the mountains was anything but warm. John screamed like a little girl as he entered the bone-chilling waters, echoing his distress off the distant peaks and leaving other climbers wondering what form of torture he was enduring…the sissy. I, of course, sat manly in the cleansing waters scrubbing mud caked from miles of trail from my battered legs. We returned to the site to find that Donnie had arrived and quickly loaded into his vehicle for the 30-minute ride to the Noonmark Diner. We would head for Lake Placid and the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream store where I would have a delicious smoothie before returning to our tent site and more rain.

Hike/climb duration: 5 hours
Training Heart Rate: 70 to 170 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 3,500.