Sherman/9-11 Memorial Hike

In 2003 I decided to go for hikes in memory of 9-11. Upon returning from a 9/11 hike in 2005, I found my cat Sherman in a box after he'd been run over by a car. After taking a three year hiatus from hiking in the Adirondacks on 9/11 (2007 I was on my cross country trip, 2008 I spread Sherman's ashes on Overlook, 2009 I had classes and worked), I returned in hopes of tackling big bad Allen Mountain. In days past, Allen would be a backpack. In today's world of herd paths, Allen was a nice 10 hour walk.

The trail in starts near the Upper Works where there are remains of old mining operations. Early on the trail crosses a creek and wooden planks assist in the crossing of a pond. The trail then uses old logging roads for the next 4 miles before taking the herd path to the summit. The hike started at near freezing temperatures. So it was much to my dismay, that a crossing of the Opulescent River was required. This was one of those rivers that needed bears catching fish in order for the setting to be complete. I cannot begin to tell you how cold my feet were while crossing. On top of that the rocks were sharp, making an uncompfortable walk. There was a little island where I wanted to take in a photo of the sun rising over the mountains. Unfortunately, I somehow broke my camera before I started to cross. This was a shame. There were beautiful views all day long. Fortunately, I had a video camera and I hope to have some footage one day.

The herd path was fairly easy to follow. In spots it got quite muddy and in fact I took a spill because my foot got stuck. But along the path, there were a couple wonderful looking waterfalls. Eventually, the herd path went up one of the slides on Allen. This made the going slow, but views were constantly popping up. First, Redfield was in view. Then the Santanonis. Even the Sewards could be seen. The fire tower on Mt Adams was in view. By the time I reached the top, I was able to point out almost all the other 46ers. Allen's central location makes it a great spot to view most of the other 46ers.

While on the summit, I met a group from the Outdoor club of Clarkson University. We shared our stories of hiking in the Adirondacks. One of them mentioned he had climbed the dyke on Colden in the winter. That is something I absolutely would like to do some day. For most of the way down I hiked with them. It was nice to see they were not having an easy go either. The slide was quite slippery. One slip could lead to quite a tumble. Fortunately, I made it down without incident and was glad to be out in the Adirondacks for 9-11 once again.