Cascade & Porter

Cascade's rocky summit

The Legendary Johnny Rocket and I had big plans this New Year’s.  The Rocket came up to the Adirondack Loj on Monday.  He climbed Colden yesterday.  I wondered if he would be up for the challenge of going to Marshall from the loj.  Marshall is best approached from the south.  Turns out Chris Hiker would not be up for the challenge after the drive from Vermont and an upset stomach.  This ends my streak of climbing a new 46er at 13 years.  

While staying at the loj, Johnny Rocket met Caroline from NJ.  She was interested in hiking with us.  We decided to do Cascade and Porter.  Cascade is one of the most popular mountains in the Adirondacks and for good reason.  It’s short (at just over 4 miles round trip) with great views (Great Range, Lake Placid, etc.) and has some ruggedness (the last 100 feet require some scrambling).  It’s the perfect introduction to the Adirondack Mountains and the 46ers.  These two made for a great first two winter ascents for Caroline (though she has been up both Marcy and Iroquois which are not a picnic). 

We started around 10am after some breakfast at the loj.  The temperature was around 10 degrees so it was cold.  Fortunately, I brought my balaclava.  It did not take me long to lose the trail.  There was a broken in trail that led up a brook, but it dead ended.  Johnny Rocket cruised on by.  I’m not sure how I missed it.  Though the trail was mostly packed snow, there were plenty of ice patches making microspikes essential.  They were a great pick up.  Not sure why I waited this long to buy them.

 

Caroline and The Rocket packing up

Lots of ice along the way

The Rocket lives!!!

The trail up Cascade does not allow any rest.  It’s uphill the entire way, but I remember it being steeper.  I’ll take that.  Soon we made it near the summit with the first views of the day.  Algonquin and Wright Peak stand close by with Wright’s slide clearly visible (remember that VPo?).  Lake Placid and Whiteface are visible to the north.  The ski jump can be seen.

Colden, Algonquin and Wright

The hikers on their way down let us know the summit is incredibly windy.  This is to be expected since the upper 100 feet of the mountain is exposed with no trees.  The wind was quite strong and made worse due to the cold temperature.  With the windchill, the temperature had to be below -10 degrees F.  That’s no joke.  The balaclava kept my nose from falling off.  The frigid temperatures did not keep me from enjoying the views.  Almost all the 46ers are in view: Giant, Dix, Nippletop, Marcy, Skylight, Haystack, Colden and Algonquin.  Close by are Porter and Big Slide.

Into the trees and toward the summit

Giant

The bare rock summit

The Great Range and Johnny Rocket

Whiteface in the distance

 After taking some quick summit shots, we scurried down to the col with Porter.  Only problem is that I blasted by the junction with Porter.  A couple of hikers on their way up confirmed my error.  We discussed whether to turn around or just head back down.  We turned around since it was still early. 

The route to Porter is mostly through a forest of evergreens with some views along the way.  Most of the trees are covered in ice and snow.  It’s so beautiful this time of year.  While talking to Caroline, I learned about Cyclocross.  It’s simply amazing I never knew about this before because it’s totally up my alley.  It has a great creation story.  In the early 1900s during the winter months, road cyclists would race each other from town to town to stay in shape.  If this meant riding through some farm land and having to carry their bikes over a fence or two, so be it.  Without doubt, I plan to do one of these this coming year. 

A path through the evergreens

Big Slide

Looks like a bird?

We reached the summit of Porter relatively quickly.  From Cascade, it’s a gentle ascent to its summit.  The views from here are similar to Cascade’s, but Porter does not provide a full 360 degree of views.  Today that was fine, since the summit did provide some shelter from the wind.  Another great New Year’s Eve hike courtesy of Johnny Rocket. 

Cascade from Porter

On the way down

Christmas Day 2014

This would be my first hike in the Hudson Valley since summer.  Originally I planned to go to Brace Mt on Christmas Eve, but the weather did not cooperate.  With all the rain and clouds, the Plattekill would make a great stop.

I got off to an early start since family would be at my mother's place for dinner.  With the warm weather, there were no signs of snow.  The Plattekill was higher than I believe any time that I've been here.  This takes away from some of its beauty.  Still the waterfalls here are an awesome sight.

Due to time, I stopped at the double falls, which are also called Honolulu Falls.  This is a beautiful spot.  Many turn around here since the going gets tough from here.  It's also a great swim hole.

My next stop would be Ferncliff Forest, since the sun came out and there would be some views.  I forgot about the draining of the pond.  I'm not sure if they are relocating it or not.  Time will tell.

Gillespie Peak

Highest point in Windsor County

Gillespie Peak can be found along the Long Trail just east of Brandon, VT.  It's the highest point in Windsor County.  I've been half-heartedly working on the county high points of NY.  Since many have access issues, it's highly unlikely I will ever accomplish that goal.  Vermont, on the other hand, only has 14 counties (compared with NY's 62) with next to no access issues.

Today would be the first day the purpose of the hike would be to summit a county high point.  The previous 6 Vermont county high points were reached for other reasons.  It's silly, but it happened to be a great day to be out.

The trailhead is found at Brandon Gap along Route 73 between the towns of Rochester and Brandon.  From here it would be a 3 mile walk north along the Long Trail.  The first mile was fairly steep including some 1,000 feet of elevation.  There was a coating of about 2 inches of snow.  On my way back from Gillespie it began to snow at a good clip.

Long Trail

Late afternoon in the snow

I started this hike quite late so I had to finish it with my headlamp.  About a half mile from the summit I reached a beautiful view point looking west at the setting sun.  It made the ascent all worth it.  

Sun setting on the never ending farm land

Pico & Killington

Killington

After hitting up the job fair at Killington, I decided to hike up to both Pico and Killington from Route 4.  Killington is the largest ski resort on the east coast by some measures.  Pico has more skiable terrain than anything found in the Hudson Valley.  I'm definitely in Vermont.

Killington and Pico are not just ski mountains.  The A.T. and The Long Trail skirt near its summits.  Killington is one of five of Vermont's 4000 footers and Vermont's second highest after Mansfield.  Pico is one of New England's 100 highest.  Both mountains are frequently visited by hikers.

Despite seeing that Killington was already open for skiing, I didn't think much about snow on the trail.  I would walk through it the entire way.  Fortunately, I got by fairly well without my winter boots or traction device.  The scenery was beautiful.  It was hard to believe it was early November.  But winter comes early in the higher elevations.

Snow covered trail

Unlike the trails in the Catskills, the A.T/ Long Trail by passes a lot of the summits making for less steeper grades.  The walking was quite easy and pleasant despite the elevation gained.  The spur trail to Pico would be the only part that was a bit difficult.  My Stabilicers would have been welcome here.  But the effort was well rewarded.  Though cloudy, never ending views of mountains could be made out to the north.  Those mountains are where the Long Trail heads to.  Views of the ski trails of Killington can be made out.  Mendon Peak (another of New England's 100 highest) is just to the west of Killington.  In the distance, another of the many ski resorts can be seen.  Okemo?

The view north from the slopes on Pico

Mendon Peak and some more Vermont slopes

Chris Hiker on Pico

The Beast of the East

The route over to Killington was a winter wonderland.  The snow started to get deeper, but not so much to where snowshoes were warranted.  The snow was new enough to not make a traction device necessary.  The spur trail to Killington was quite steep and rocky but easy enough to negotiate.  No views here, since the summit was caked in clouds.  On a clear day, my guess is that the views are excellent.  There are radio towers and a fire tower (which is closed to the public).  The slopes are not too far below.

The A.T. / Long Trail

Summit fire tower

Killington

The walk back was enjoyable.  Because of my late start, I had to hustle as the sun was setting.  On my way down Pico, I met Peter, a local doctor and his dog.  We raced out, beating the setting sun to our cars while sharing stories of our walks in the Adirondacks.  He grew up in the southern Adirondacks and is a 46er.  A great end to a great day.

Sunset is approaching

Endless VT mountains

Elk Hill

Another stop along I-81, Elk Hill would be a nice little, steep walk up some ski slopes with some great views of the surrounding farms.  I asked for permission since it closes at 3pm.  The guys had no problem, "everyone comes and walks up here."  Once on top, I understood why.