~*~ Daks Elevation Gain Bang ~*~

High Peaks near Lake Placid, NY

Date: July 8 – July 10

Hikers: Lumberzac, Backslacker, EarthNSky, Phantom Soul, GreenMonkee, Sherpaman & Towi, and lilmountaingirl

Mileage:

Elevation Gain/Loss:

Thursday

I met EarthNSky around 1:30pm so we could carpool up to Lake Placid. After ohhhing and ahhhing our way through upstate NY and the High Peaks, we headed into Lake Placid to grab some dinner before hitting camp. Lumberzac had recommended a great camping site off Adirondack Loj Road. While serving as a mosquito buffet, ENS and I quickly set up my tent and then ran back to the car to eat and escape the swarms of insects. After finding another site that was less buggy, we ran back, grabbed our packs, picked up my freestanding tent and ran down the road. I’m sure it was a sight. Around 8:30pm, Backslacker drove in with Phantom Soul and Green Monkee. While they went about setting up camp, Lumberzac finally arrived. The gang was all here! We chatted until about 10:30pm and then decided to crash, alarms set for 5:00am (what the…??!?!?!?)

Friday

By 5:10am, everyone was up and moving, albeit slowly. We went about taking down our (car camping) tents and packing our gear. After dropping Backslacker’s Explorer Solo (it’s a new-wave single sided tent, for those of you that don’t know) at Adirondack Loj, we took two cars to the Roostercomb Trailhead on Rt. 73. We were on the trail by 7:30am…a nice gradual little hike in, benches every 30 yards or so (and this is supposed to be a buttkicker?). Lumberzac signed us into the register and then all hell broke loose. Climb. Climb. Climb. Repeat. I love climbing but it took me a good couple of miles before my legs kicked in and I got my breathing squared away. The trails in the Daks are nice, not loaded up with rocks and blowdowns like many in PA. We stopped every so often to grab a quick drink. Shortly, we noticed the spur trail up to Roostercomb. Dropping our packs (ahhhh sweet freedom!), we headed up the .4 miles to the summit. So far, the weather was cooperating and the view was beautiful. We could see our destinations of Hedgehog, Lower and Upper Wolfjaw looming in front of us. We could also see that we would be losing most of the elevation we gained before having to climb again!

Back down to the trail to pick up our packs (ugh) and off we went again. The steep descents are murder for me. I would rather just climb all day if given the option. We went up and over Hedgehog to Lower Wolfjaw and then proceeded on to Upper Wolf Jaw. There were some great scrambles on the ascent to Upper Wolfjaw which made the climbing more fun. “Hmmm…how am I gonna get up that one?!?” The weather wasn’t fully cooperating and we were pretty much socked in with clouds at that point. We decided to have lunch when we reached the base of Upper Wolfjaw Mountain. As everyone (except Zac who traditionally munches on something at each summit) had lunch, we talked a bit about the weather. It was decided that due to the time and conditions, it would be best to do Armstrong and Gothics and then head down a side trail to the nearest campsite.

By the time we hit the trail again, it was about 1pm. The rain wasn’t letting up but thankfully there was little wind. Armstrong was another nice climb, along with more scrambling. This is a hike that works your entire body! On a particularly steep rock face, there is a huge wooden ladder that you need to climb. I was quite happy for that ladder because short of superhuman abilities, there was no getting up that rock. It was probably a 20’ elevation gain too, so hey…that helped! The view from Armstrong was probably beautiful…if we could have seen it. The clouds and rain left us with zero visibility. As Lumberzac said…”Mountain Nazi says ‘NO VIEW FOR YOU!’” We didn’t dally on the summit too long before heading off to Gothics.

Now…the climb up Gothics was nice. Steep, check…rock slabs, check…scrambles, check. Again, zero visibility above treeline which was a bummer. Most of us that had been to the Daks were insistent that we were owed views from prior trips where we found ourselves socked in. Today would not be the day for it. Lumberzac had warned that the descent off of Gothics would be tricky, that there are cables in place to use as a railing of sorts and that the slabs are steep and unforgiving. Now add rain to that mix. I wasn’t too scared at first, though we moved slowly and were crabwalking at times…scooting our butts down the slab. Then it happened. I heard “shhhhooooosh” followed by “are you okay??!?!” When I looked down, ENS was sprawled out on the rock and had slid down a good 15 feet before catching himself on a crack in the rock. Not only did it scare him, it scared the rest of us as well. We lowered ourselves in order to have our center of gravity as close as possible to the rock and literally crawled. The cables were helpful on some parts (mostly because we could pretend like we were Batman (KABLAM). scaling the sides of buildings.

As I scooted down on my butt, I could hear Phantom Soul behind me and I kept thinking…if he goes, he’s taking me out, then I’m taking Green Monkee out, who will take out Lumberzac, who will take out ENS. Needless to say, it was nerve wracking. Then I heard another “Shhhoooooosh” and “OW”. I turned and all I could see was Backslacker’s pack sticking out of the spruce. He had lost his footing and fell, in turn, straining his knee. Oh man, this trip was getting ugly. ENS’s ankle was hurting and swollen from a sunburn and now Backslacker’s knee was giving him trouble as well. It was bad enough being healthy on that descent. Talk about adding injury to insult!

Now…we were headed for Orr Bed Shelter, a mere 1.8 miles from the summit of Gothics. To give you an idea of the difficulty…it was over 4 hours before we all reached the shelter. We spent all evening hanging off of tree trunks, spruce trees, rickety wooden ladders that ended mid-rock slab and each other trying to get off the mountain. I have a new respect for Gothics. It was an amazing trip down and I would love to get back there in nice weather to really enjoy it. We were nerve-wracked, tired, bruised and banged up but it was great!

Once at the shelter, we met Lumberzac’s cousin, Sherpaman and his dog, Towi. Everyone changed into dry clothes (that had them). ENS and I borrowed Green Monkees tent to set up because 1) there wasn’t enough room in the shelter and 2) both he and I had only brought liners and figured we would be warmer sharing tent space than we would in the lean-to. ENS set up the tent and that was the last we saw of him. He’s sly…he managed to get room service in the High Peaks. The rest of us filtered water, cooked dinner and ate before calling it a night. The rain was coming down harder so we put away the bear canisters and crashed.

Saturday

It’s chilly and it’s pouring out. The creek is rushing like mad and it’s loud. I have no idea what time it is and neither does ENS. Then I hear a voice yelling…but can’t make it out. About 15 minutes later, it comes again and turns out to be Backslacker with our wake up call (at 10am!!!). I crawled out of the tent to discover it’s not raining. The creek and the dripping from the trees had us fooled. The group is at the shelter packing up so ENS and I pull our stuff together as well. We’ve decided to hike out to Sherpaman’s car at the garden, pick up our cars and hit Lake Placid for some food. By the time we were ready to leave, it was pouring again.

We hauled butt to get out of the woods. Everyone was ready to be dry for awhile! Since the rain had been coming so hard all night, the creek crossing was ugly. The first bridge we got to was closed and in sorry shape. We pondered crossing it anyway for about 10 minutes but the ranger station on the other side made us think twice. I imagined them to be watching us with binoculars just waiting for one of us to step foot on the rickety thing. We decided to head back up the trail about ½ mile to another bridge. But there was no bridge…Sherpaman set out on the rocks to see if he could find a dry way over. ENS followed suit and made it about halfway. You could almost see his thought of “screw it, I’m already wet” as he stepped into the stream and just walked the other half. Works for me! So there we had it ~ we successfully forded the stream! We hightailed it out to the Garden to be dry. We picked up the cars, headed back to camp and set up our tents for a car camping night.

Lake Placid was busy on this Saturday afternoon. The storm was getting worse so we parked the cars and went in search of food & beer. Settling on a pizza place, we ordered Yeunglings and some hot food. It was soooo good. Dry clothes and hot food after two days of being cold and wet work wonders! Before we went back to the campsite, we picked up some beer for the evening.

The rest of the night, we hung around the beer (no fires allowed, so we circled the beer instead) and chatted. I went to use the “toilet” (as posted) and discovered a wooden box with a lid sitting in the middle of the forest. That’s just great…really! Anyway, Backslacker had a tarp in his car so we were able to sit on bear canisters under a shelter and out of the rain. We propped the middle up with a stick which Towi would have loved to play with! It was nice to sit around and get to know each other…most definitely a lot of backpacking talk (imagine that!?!?) We also debated on whether or not to swipe the big brown tarp from the seemingly empty campsite. We decided not to which was a good thing because the Tarp People showed up later that evening when the rain subsided.

Sunday

We awoke around 6am on Sunday morning to clear blue skies and a forecast of 90* weather all day. BEAUTIFUL! We left the tents set up so they would dry and as we packed up the gear, threw our wet boots and clothes into the running cars to heat/dry them. Good idea, right? Yeah…right until you open the door and catch a whiff of ass coming out of the hot car. Good Lord…and ENS had a rental car! I’m sure Enterprise was thrilled to death with the stench. “What the hell died in here?!?”

We geared up lightly for the dayhike (ahhhhh the feeling of barely any weight on your back) and walked down the road of the camping are to the trailhead. The first 2.8 miles are just an old fire road which is a great way to stretch your legs before you get into the climbing. Goal today? Bag a peak, get a view! Backslacker’s knee was still in rough shape from the tumble he took but ENS’s ankle seemed to be holding up okay. When we reached Marcy Dam, we snapped some pictures of the peaks and filtered water for the day. Water sources would not be an issue after the rain we had been having!

We cruised up and over Whales Tale, a mess of rocks, logs and mud! Once again, we would be hiking with wet feet. Funny thing about the Daks, there are quite a few predictable things: rock scrambles, steep climbs and descents, roots and mud. The trails were very eroded in parts because of the heavy foot traffic. Once over Whales Tale, we regrouped at the trail junction to Wright Peak. Lumberzac, GreenMonkee, Sherpaman and ENS wanted to hit Algonquin, Iroquois and Avalanche Pass. Phantom Soul decided he would like to go as well. Backslacker’s knee wasn’t up for the challenge at that point, he just wanted to get to Wright Peak. I decided I would hike up and back down with Backslacker.

The majority of the climb to Wright Peak was on a creek bed, hopping from one stone to the next. The change in weather brought people out in droves. Thankfully, our early start ensured that we would not see most of them until we descended back to camp. About halfway up Wright was a beautiful waterfall which made a nice rest stop. I grabbed a bite to eat and waited for Backslacker while the others forged ahead. We continued on up and eventually I saw Phantom Soul, as we came to the rock slabs…an indication the summit was getting closer. We made our way up past the “Alpine Vegetation” sign and above treeline. The clear blue skies made an amazing backdrop for the giant rock summit before us. I traversed back and forth, making my own switchbacks…so much easier than straight up climbing. Funny how when you get that close to the summit, you don’t remember that you are tired or that your feet hurt…you are focused on getting to the “top”! (Where are you headed? The top. Which one? I don’t know…the top!”)

As I climbed up the summit, I finally saw Lumberzac, Sherpaman, GreenMonkeen and ENS relaxing in the summer sun. Boots were off and they were kicked back enjoying the 360* view of the High Peaks. Phantom Soul was right behind me and about 10 minutes later, Backslacker made his way up. We heard him hooting and hollering when he broke treeline.

We finally got a group picture on the summit of Wright Peak…all blue skies and all smiles. That view alone made the entire weekend worthwhile. We could see the peaks of our Friday trek in the distance. We could see Mt. Marcy looming in the distance. And Algonquin? It was IN OUR FACE just beckoning to be climbed. Soon enough, LZ, GM, Sherpaman and ENS headed out at warp speed. They were hitting 2 more peaks, as well as Avalanche Pass. Phantom Soul decided to head back out with BS and I to camp. The three of us hung out on the summit for about an hour just taking it all in.

We headed back around noontime and backtracked to camp. We took our time down the mountain, passing many a dayhiker in the process. We passed one group of young girls headed up Wright. Not one of them had a pack, food or water. That was a little nerve wracking. We reached Marcy Dam where we tossed our packs down again and sat in the sun, reflecting on the weekend. Phantom Soul filtered some water before we hit the last 2.8 mile fire road. Our feet were tired and aching…they had been wet for three days and were sore. I wondered how the others were making out on their trek.

By 4:30pm, BS, PS and I were in BS’s Explorer and heading into Lake Placid. We filled up on gas and grabbed subs at Subway. I think I confused the Subway clerk when I asked for 4 BMT’s, all identical. Too much info, maybe? Once back at camp, we ate our subs while we waited for the others. They emerged around 6:45pm, sunburned and exhausted but I’m quite certain they were fulfilled. As each of us removed boots, white pruned and blistered feet were revealed. I handed out the subs and sodas as they lay in the dirt just glad to be back at camp. Even Towi was whooped…though she did make her rounds asking for subs.

ENS and I left around 7:30pm…a long drive ahead. We stopped briefly to grab some drinks and to snap some pictures of Cascade before heading on down the road.

What a great weekend. I’m kicking myself for not going to Algonquin, Iroquois and Avalanche Pass but it’s not going anywhere…and I look forward to getting back to the Daks for more punishment. The guys on TT are a great bunch…if you can keep up with them long enough to get to know them.

What I learned…

~ When TT’ers say “buttkicker”, they mean it.

~ Gothics is not a peak to be reckoned with. It now has DNA samples from all those that attended.

~ 1/10 of a mile means at least 3/10 (and at least 100’ gain!)

~ Bear canisters prevent people from getting to their food as well

~ Never bring just a sleeping bag liner to the Daks.

~ A lean-to is a Godsend sometimes.

~ Beer is a suitable replacement for a fire in the evening.

~ A wooden box with a lid in the middle of the woods is a privy.

~ ENS really does like to fall off of mountains.

~ Handfuls of small spruce trees for support work just as well as tree trunks

~ Wet gear + closed up car + 85* weather = ASS

~ “Don’t step on the green!”

~ Don’t leave dirty gear in your car overnight. Ever. No matter how tired you are.

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