In the Adirondacks...

Friday, June 21, 2013

Kyle arrived at 1 a.m. and after some final preparations and repacking of the trunk, we were on the road at 2.  Everyone nodded off quickly since they hadn’t slept that night yet, so I had the silence of the night to myself.  I did a lot of thinking as I drove to keep myself occupied and my mind alert.  I’d gotten 4 hours of sleep and though I normally get more like 7-8, heading to the Adirondacks always has me jazzed and keeps me from getting tired.  I would have preferred to plug in my audio book, but didn’t want to disturb my fellow travelers…so it was thinking for the next several hours.

Dawn came early on this summer solstice morning.  I could see light on the horizon before 5 a.m., earlier than at home since I was heading east and approaching Buffalo.  It would be the earliest sunrise of the year and by 5:30, was easily light enough to kill the headlights.  I made Utica by 7 and began driving the back roads through the park that made the ride so much more interesting.  We hit Speculator, NY around 9 a.m. and took some time to stretch our legs.  I’d been holding off on buying gas to this point so I could spend money in one of the small towns of the park, but discovered that there was no service station in the town…at least not on the road I was traveling.  I continued on for the next 75 miles before finally finding a station near the entrance to Interstate 87, which I’d be driving for a short distance before again entering the part of the park where we’d be camping and hiking.

We made the trailhead after 9 hours of driving and packed in our gear to a campsite about 25 minutes away on Round Pond.  I discovered the site a couple of years ago and love it.  Located in the eastern High Peaks, fires are permitted and since it is tucked into a col, it blocks all sound from the road we’d just left.  Situated right on Round Pond, a clear, cool mountain lake with stunning views of Dix and other surrounding mountains, it’s serenity is undeniable.

We pitched our tents and headed back to the car for a short drive to the trailhead for our hike.  The group had nixed my idea to climb Jay Mt., opting instead for an easier hike to take in a waterfall or two.  Disappointed because I always want to climb something with a view, I went along a led a 2-hour hike along the Ausable River.  It was easy going providing plenty of opportunity for conversation and exploration. 

We returned to the car and drove to Chapel Pond for a cleansing dip that I sorely needed before eating.  We went to Noon Mark Café for dinner where I ate a mushroom burger with a diet coke.  I drove them to Lake Placid for a tour of the famous city before returning to the trailhead for a hike back to our campsite and some more conversation around a campfire made from downed limbs we’d scavenged in the woods around the site.  Though not as challenging a hike as I would have liked, we’d spent almost four hours hiking through the day.  And besides, any time in the Adirondacks beats about anything else I can imagine.

Hike duration:  Four hours.

Training Heart Rate:  90 bpm.

Calories burned during workout:  1400.