A hike in the fog...

Monday, December 3, 2012

I woke up feeling fine and thinking that my plans for some time in the Adirondacks might actually work out.  I’d checked the weather for Keene Valley the night before and the indication was mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the low forties.  I had no idea what the trail conditions would be, but I had hiking shoes and books and the gear to keep warm.  I hopped in the Honda and began the two-hour drive south hoping that the grey skies and clouds in Massena would give way to better conditions in the mountains.  It didn’t.

I arrived at the trail head for Mt. Van Hoevenberg just east of Lake Placid in the late morning.  A spectacular view of the High Peaks of that area are offered to the driver as you proceed down the access road to the trail head, but not this morning.  They were completely shrouded in fog, which did not bode well for a man with a camera around his neck hoping for his first pictures of the mountains in winter.  As I climbed from the car and began contemplating the gear I would wear and what I would carry in my day pack, I considered whether I should bother hiking at all.  And then I remembered something Kim had said some years ago when speaking at her cross country banquet about the tribulations she had faced in trying to overcome injuries that had plagued her during her career.
“Someone told me to make sure to ‘enjoy the journey’ and not always be worried about the destination because the trip will be so much more fulfilling that way.”

Well...hiking in the Adirondacks in a thick fog and with no views was still a damned site better than being cooped up in an office working somewhere.  I headed down the trail thinking that maybe, just maybe, I’d actually have a view when I reached the peak, but that regardless, I’d enjoy each step and what it had to offer.

And it offered plenty.  There was little life since many birds have flown south and hibernating animals were, well, hibernating, but the trail was lush with a bed of pine needles as I hiked for the first mile through a beautiful conifer stand.  I reached the marsh created by a massive beaver dam and marveled at the industry of these amazing animals...the only other creatures on the planet that manipulated their environment to improve their chances of survival.  The going was a little sloppy here, but became the only obstacle on my hike.  The Van Hoevenberg trail offers an easily manageable slope for the remainder of the climb to its peak and spectacular views of the surrounding, higher peaks on a clear day.  I reached the summit in a little under an hour, but visibility remained about 100 feet...or just far enough to keep you from walking off the edge and plunging a couple of hundred feet to the rocks below.  I’d managed to break a decent sweat though it is only about a 1,000 foot elevation change from where I’d parked, but at least I’d burned some calories.  I spent some time hiking around on the trail beyond the peak which leads to the bob sled run used for the Winter Olympics in 1980 and continued training of U.S. athletes, but decided the time necessary to reach it might put me too close to darkness. By the time I’d returned to the Honda, I’d hiked five miles and spent three hours on the trail.  It was a good hike.

My stomach remained reasonably pain-free for the remainder of the day.  I’d had kefir for breakfast and another small bowl before dinner, each time mixing it with jelly to make it palatable.  I figured I’d just have some before every meal unless I started having issues again.  My fingers are crossed.

Hike Duration:  Two hours and 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 80 to 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1500.