Adventures in the Adirondacks

An escape to the woods was much needed. On the 25th, two of my friends and I ventured outside of Vermont into the Adirondacks in New York to escape the hubbub of university life for the weekend. We left on Friday (late) and made it to the Upper Works trailhead at 6:30 pm, so we only had about half an hour of daylight left. Our goal was the half-way camp along the Calamity Brook trail up to Lake Colden.

The light slowly faded below the mountains, setting the red maples and yellow elm leaves on fire as the sun sank below the horizon. The darkness beckoned forth the frogs, and the continual rustling of leaves as they hopped along the trail startled me every time. (It is bear country, okay?)

We didn’t manage to find the halfway point camp, so after about an hour of hiking with our packs we decided to call it a night once we found a flat area off to the side of the trail. We set up everything in the darkness, made dinner, and headed to bed.

In the morning, we started off the day with cold oatmeal and fruit as the little peak stove I brought gave up the gas last night and was only whistling air out in the morning. Our goal for the day was to hike up to Mt. Marcy, the tallest peak in New York at 5,344 feet. We continued up the trail with all of our gear expect the tents, as we were worried that someone on the heavily trafficked trail may want to snag some nice gear laying on the side of the road.

The hike took us along the river for most of the way, through pine trees and maples in dark old woods. We balanced on many rocks, logs, and planks to avoid the surplus of mud and wet ground as we continued onwards and upwards. A few curious squirrels and chipmunks crossed our paths, and the birds called ahead. The foliage was brilliant in its autumn glory and the water was as clear as the eye could see. We made it to Lake Colden Dam, then turned to the right to cross the suspension bridge that connect us to the Mt. Marcy trail. The climb was gradual until we were about 2.2 miles out, then the grade swiftly steepened and it was an arduous journey to the top. About a mile out, the grade increased even more and our calves burned as we climbed up through the alpine zone to the arctic level, passing pines and low bush blueberries to get to the place where only lichen and some valiant grass grew. Scaling rocks, we braved the winds and summited the peak.

Once we made it to top, we lost our breath from the amazing 360 views of mountains all around in beautiful splendor. Though windy, it was one of the warmest peaks I’ve been at, and we stayed to enjoy lunch before beginning the journey back to camp. The way back was harder on the knees though equally as beautiful. We made it back to camp before dark, after around 17+ miles of hiking.

It was totally worth it.

Since my stove was nonfunctional, we went onto a little sandbar in the river and built a small campfire so we could boil water for dinner. After jumping into the brook and enjoying a lovely meal on the sandbar, we played a game of banana grams (similar to scrabble but without the board) and called it a night.

We left the next morning with a sad demeanor to leave the woods and return to everyday life. The weather echoed our sentiments and it began to drizzle as we walked the three miles back to the car.

The woods are good for the soul. Days of thinking not of lists or budgets or to-dos, but of the blue sky above, the bright leaves surrounding, the brook babbling to the side...No obligations other than enjoying nature and making sure the next step is moving forward.