The View From Mount Marcy
The View From Mount Marcy, originally uploaded by A. Drauglis Furnituremaker.
I decided that after three years of going to the High Peaks that I should try and bag Mt. Marcy, the highest peak in New York. Not simply for the sake of doing it, but for the challenge, and because I find the sub-alpine and alpine ecology fascinating.
I left at 7am. It was partly sunny, though rain was a strong possibility. (I found out later that a revised forecast put the chance of storms at 90%).
By 1030 the occasional spitting had turned into a steady drizzle. I had 6/10 of a mile to go.
Then the thunder started.
There were only two rumbles, so I pressed on only to find that the ranger and summit steward had ordered everyone down to the treeline. The ranger said that he had just been electrocuted and that anybody wishing to press on should wait 20-30 minutes after the last thunder.
I resisted the urge to point out that if he had been electrocuted he would be dead; what he should have said was “shocked”, not “electrocuted”.
I was in the Krummholtz where tree growth is stunted and contorted. Not wanting to go lower, I moved about fifty yards up to a rock face about ten or twelve feet high with a slight overhang.
I heeded his advice and crouched there for twenty minutes.
This is the first time that I actually kept track of time while hiking; normally I rely on an internal sense of time combined with the position of the sun to know when it is. Experience has taught me that this system does not work very well in the Adirondacks and I wanted to make sure that i had ample time to make it back before sundown.
After waiting, I pressed onward; others did the same.
At the top all anyone could see was clouds. It was eerie and, if not for the others up there with me, would have been more than a bit discomforting.
For three guys summiting literally meant “It’s Miller Time!”. Another group was celebrating; one woman in a party of eight or nine had just become a 46er - someone who has climbed all 46 peaks in the Adirondacks higher than 4000′.
Even without a view, I wanted more time to look around, but the thunder had returned. I headed down the other side carefully but with great purpose. The rain grew more and more steady and rarely let up for the next five hours.
Mud and muck. Trails turned into streams.
After I turned downhill I took a few moments here and there to pause and look around. I really wanted to see more than a few glimpses of Lake Tear of the Clouds, but the rain was unrelenting and I was already well-soaked. I missed the cutoff to Lake Arnold, something which added a mile to the trip. If I had continued the hike would have been a a very tough 3 1/2 miles longer.
The trail to Lake Arnold kept disappearing into a swamp (or was it a bog?) and I kept thinking of all of the fun things Carly was missing. I also kept thinking that I wanted something warm to drink. Hot coffee would be great. Hot chocolate would be even better.Since we did not have and cocoa, the coffee seemed a more realistic hope. I found out later that Carly almost went to the little natural foods store on the road to Lake Placid to get some cocoa, but decided the coffee would do if i wanted something hot.
I guess i should have thought about the hot chocolate a little harder……
I could see one state from the top!