Katie- 2014! Buck Mountain

OMG we did a non-high peak. Why you ask? Because we are only mildly crazy! Current conditions on Big Slide (which we did last year) 4-5 FEET of snow. Legally you are required to wear snowshoes in that much snow. Although we do have snow shoes, they are difficult and more tiring. I am also afraid of rock climbing sections with ice on them. Little did I know we were still winter hiking this weekend.
     This was a trip weeks in the making in order to get a shared day off without a little munchkin. We thought we might be deterred again when our friend who lives in the Adirondacks mentioned that the road to the mountain was closed due to mudslides! However there is a second entrance and trail that is actually better (longer). I almost made us switch to a mountain with less of a climb but I stuck it out. I layered up well - rain coat(windproof layer), sweatshirt, long sleeve wicking shirt. We finally got to use our new water backpacks. And I broke in my new boots with real waterproofing!
   Driving into town we realized there was more snow in the area then by our house. So we get to the parking lot and it was busy. As soon as we register we can see snow along the trail. Walking along flat, packed snow is no problem. Walking on ice up a hill is a bigger problem, hiking up a river bed with snow breaking apart is even worse. Rocky sections were actually appreciated as they have traction. We were being followed by some girls- one in shorts and sneakers! When we reached a deep stream I expected them to turn back. They actually caught up to us at the top. Overall, it was a pretty average hike. Flatter sections of slush and then climbing sections where you slip back so much it feels like twice the effort! Our GPS watch was so so so wrong. You pass a 2.1 miles to the top sign and after a mile Ben said wow only 1 mile left! However it was woefully undercounting our miles. At the top it said we went 4.6 miles. After fewer than usual, but still too many, false peak sightings we were there. Kind of. Technically we didn't go all the way to the top oops. Some guys coming back down in shorts said that they were up to their knees. We got to bald summit and took photos and relaxed.
The way down was different and um interesting in the beginning. I think I got about 5 steps without falling. I would love to say I fell gracefully but no. Once on the ground I just slid a little bit further. Of course this happened about 20 more times in the next 20 minutes. Thankfully I have appropriate waterproof pants! I only hit my hip bone once and hurt my arm once. I did avoid falling on to rocks or sliding off the mountain so I will say I did okay! Ben did fall at least twice! Amazingly, after we got further down I stopped falling. I will guess it is because it got less deep. After the falling down section it was actually very easy to get down. Each step isn't as far because the incline has been evened out by snow. Snow has more give than rocks so it absorbs more. 2 hours later we were back down. It felt really slow considering the distance wasn't that long. But as the first hike of the year, I will say we did good!

Back in the saddle - Buck Mountain

Katie and I have been anxiously awaiting Spring so we can finally get hiking.  We have been using the gym and working out as often as we can (Katie much more than me) to stay/get in hiking shape.  Since the temperature has been hovering in the high 40s low 50s for about two weeks now and we haven't seen any new snow in a little longer, we thought we could get moving.

Of course, we jumped the gun a little bit.  The high peaks, where we really want to hike, still has up to 3 feet of snow according to the snow pack chart I checked out online.  They are experiencing mid-winter conditions.  So really, we've got at least another month, maybe more, before we can head up that way.  So we decided to get some practice in our own backyard.  

Lake George is about 40 minutes from our house and the mountains here are part of the Southern Adirondacks.  A friend of mine lives right down the road from this mountain and told me earlier in the week that the rear access road was closed off due to a mudslide, so we took an alternate route to a hiking path that was listed as a 6.7 mile hike with a little less than 2000' feet of climbing.  We weren't sure what the weather was going to be like so we prepared for everything.

Here's a picture of Katie right as we got started.  Isn't she cute all bundled up for winter conditions?

Of course, it was around or a little over 50 degrees out and we were moving pretty fast so that didn't last long.  Here is a picture of Katie shortly thereafter.

No hat, no jacket, sweaty forehead.  Anyway, look at all the snow!  The first picture is right at the starting area and there isn't much but the higher we get, the more there is.  Near the peak there was 1-2 feet in most places.  The trail we took was pretty stamped down but sometimes I'd go a little off trail and my foot would sink in up to my knee.  It was also very slushy and very slippery.  This made for fairly tough climbing and after a whole winter off, we really didn't make great time.

I also was wearing a GPS watch that Katie gave me last year to measure the distance so we could know when we were getting close to the summit and, while it recorded the data very accurately, it misreported as we were going along.  On a 6.7 mile hike I expect to be at the summit at 3.35 miles, but we didn't get there until around 5 miles.  We were quite sure we had been misled about the mileage, but after I uploaded the data to my computer, 6.7 seems to be right.  But it was also disappointing to believe we were so close when my watch said 3.3 miles and to be so far away.

The summit area was very sunny and very warm.  Here's how Katie celebrated!

That's right.  Sweater off!  I, too, was rocking just a polo most of the day as I had worn only a very light windbreaker style jacket and was too hot to continue wearing it about 10 minutes into the hike.  We lingered up on the summit taking in the view and the warmth for 20+ minutes before heading back down.  I was surprised that Lake George was still 100% frozen, but on the way back home we drove by it and the shoreline is starting to melt up quite a bit, you just can't tell from 2800' feet up.

The downhill portion of the hike was slippery and treacherous and Katie had a few falls, but I mostly stayed up.  There were also quite a few stream crossings and we were both very happy to have bought waterproof boots.  Bottom line: it feels great to be hiking again, even if we are hiking in the snow.  I wish we had spikes for our boots, but we haven't bought those yet.  I really can't wait to hit the High Peaks again, but we've definitely got some waiting to do.  Bear with us, we'll have more to come!