Wright Peak

Trip Report: Undercast and Just Too Much Fun  

Dates:            January 27, 2001 
Location:       Adirondack High Peaks 
Team:           Mike Bowen, Joe Mynio, and Alan Bianchi 
Destination:  Wright Peak (4,580') & Algonquin Peak (5,114') if time allows 
Approach:     ADK Loj parking lot 
Author:          Mike Bowen

Summary:

After a quick 4-hour drive from Rochester on Friday night, we checked into the Woodlake Motor Lodge on Saranac Avenue in Lake Placid. Our intended excursion was to hike the summits of Wright (4,580') and Algonquin (5,114') Peaks. Thanks to an early start and favorable weather, we successfully hiked Wright and returned to the Loj by 1:00pm. What happened to Algonquin you ask? Perhaps we had way too much fun sledding down the top of Wright on our snowshoes? Perhaps Alan heard a beer pub calling out from Lake Placid? Perhaps we’re just plain out of shape because we work office jobs? All we can say is that after reaching the Wright Peak summit and hiking back to the trail junction, we decided against hiking Algonquin.

Details:

My spirited hiking partner, Teena, sat this trip out due to her pregnancy - she's due in July. She spent the day introducing Lake Placid to her friend Rhonda. As is well known to Rhonda, we're hoping that she will join us in future hiking excursions. So, this hike was an all-guy affair as Joe, Alan, & I attacked the hike with our usual vigor…

It was a cold morning start as we arrived at the Loj trail head around 7:30am. There weren't many cars in the lot. We decided that the snow on the trail looked sturdy enough that snow shoes wouldn't be required yet, and we quickly passed a party of snow shoe clad hiker brethren. It was a beautiful day, even if the sun was hiding. Cold? Yes. But at least there was no wind!

As we continued our hike up the mountain, we saw no one. The existing snow packed trails allowed us to hike at a moderate pace since we didn't need our snow shoes. Finally, at just over 2 miles, we reached the point where the snow conditions and the pitch of the climb made the use of snowshoes necessary. How did we arrive at this conclusion? Maybe it was the fact that while posing by a frozen waterfall, Mike fell into snow up to his chest? Somewhere amidst the laughter, signs of future post-holing, an increased pitch, and poor footing, Joe suggested we start with the snow shoes. There were no arguments.

At the trail junction to Wright Peak, we decided to hike Wright first instead of Algonquin. Why? The answer is simple… According to Alan, it was the quickest ascent route to the pub! So, with all haste, we scampered up the steep ascent up Wright Peak. On exiting the tree line, we finally met another intrepid explorer… We soon learned to envy the man because non of us came equipped with cramp-ons. Joe left his at home. Alan & Mike just don't have any. To climb the icy rocks of the Wright Peak summit, we kept our snow shoes on, and used their crampons. This made some of the climbing tricky… Ever try to climb over & through rocks with boards tied to your feet? Not to mention the fact that Mike's brand-new orange Atlas 1033 snowshoes are now stainless steel scratched silver…

At the summit, we were greeted by three wonderful events. First. The wind was very minor except for the occasional gust. Secondly, the clouds were undercast! There's no cooler feeling when hiking mountains that looking down on the clouds, and having blue skies above. We even had moments of sun. Then it happened… Suddenly, for a brief moment, the upper cone of Algonquin emerged from the clouds in a brilliant display of sunshine! It seemed to float on a bed of clouds. The moment disappeared as quickly as it arrived, but we were there to witness. We took a little time to eat our lunches before the winds picked up and the snow started to fall.

The trip down was made memorable for two reasons: sledding down to the Wright Peak junction on our snowshoes, and passing many hiking parties who were on their way up. We seemed to have picked a good time to hike! Our hike back to the Loj went quickly as we learned how to "ski" our snow shoes on the deeper descents… In doing so, we figured out ways of sliding our snow shoes in a controlled way, thereby doubling our speed (or more) at times. It didn't hurt that Mike set a breakneck pace on the way down. Rumor has it, he didn't have his "coffee fix" for the day yet.

We went back to Lake Placid where we showered up and reconnected with Teena & Rhonda. We had dinner at Camerons, Beer at Lake Placid Brew Pub, ice cream at Ben & Jerry's and toured the snow sculptures at Mirror Lake beach. On Sunday, we went to breakfast at Aroma Round and departed to Rochester around noon.

A quick note on driving… We discovered that we had a much shorter drive from Rochester via 104 and 81 north (only 4 hours). Just don’t stop at the Oswego Friendly’s (1.5 hours between salads and burger service). We also discovered that it's a MUCH LONGER drive home taking 87 (the Northway) to 90… 6+ hours. Guess which way we go from now on. J

What will we remember from this trip? The undercast skies atop of Wright Peak. The snow shoe sledding down Wright Peak. The snow sculptures. We had a lot of fun on this trip!

Pictures:

The final ascent of Wright Peak begins!  Nope!  Joe quickly curses at the false summit!!!

 Joe and Mike (right) hang out at the summit.  Notice that Mike's new snowshoes are all scraped up...

We learned a "new" word today - "undercast" - and it's a pretty cool thing to see in person!

Mighty Algonquin from the Summit of Wright.

The gang gets together for a nice dinner at Camerons.  From left:  Joe, Mike, Teena, Rhonda, Allen.

Wright - Detailed

Trip Report: Hike to Wright Peak - A Would-Be Cramp on Hike

...Here's a rare treat!  In my zaniness, I decided to bring my laptop with me so that I can type up the day's events before I even head home.  It's really not that bad since I did my typing while everyone else slept.  These are really the "detailed notes" from the trip that allow me to write a better story later.   I have no idea if I'll keep up with this practice...

Summary Info:

Date:  Saturday, January 27, 2001

Round Trip:  7 miles

Elevation:  4,580'

Hiking Party:  Mike, Joe, Allen (Teena & Rhonda stayed in Lake Placid & shopped)

Departure point:  ADK Loj

Start time:  7:15am

Summit time:  10:15am

Lunch:  10:30-10:50am

Return:  10:50am - 1:00pm.

Weather:  Generally overcast, light snow, no wind!!! The temperature was in the single digits at departure, but warmed up to the low 20's by the time we arrived back at the ADK Loj parking lot. The cloud ceiling was below 4,000', perhaps as low as 3,800'.

Summit:  Brief break - sun shone, undercast (we were ABOVE the clouds - Algonquin cone was above clouds!) Way cool… Looked mystical. Did I mention that there was no wind?

Driving:  5.5 hours from Rochester, NY to Lake Placid, NY., mileage ~248 miles. Drove Route 104W to Route 81N (~80 miles), 81N to Watertown (~40 miles), Route 3E from Watertown to Route 86 in Saranac Lake (~120 miles), Route 86 in Saranac Lake to Lake Placid (~8 miles). We stopped for a "quick" dinner at Friendly's in Oswego that turned into a 1.5 hour whine-as-you-wait sessions. So, total driving time was ~4 hours. Not bad!

Lodging: Once again, we stayed at the tried and true Woodlake Motor Lodge on Saranac Avenue in Lake Placid. It's not the Ritz, but as usual, the price is right, and the beds are clean!

Description:
Getting Started:

It was an early start after a late night before. Teena, her friend Rhonda, and I arrived in Lake Placid around 11:30pm on Friday the 26th. After about an hour of unpacking, getting things ready, and settling in, the lights went out and then so were we. Since the hiking party was departing the motor lodge at 6:30am, and my alarm clock was broken, I played with my cellular phone in the hopes of receiving a wake-up call at 6:00am.
The wake up phone call never came (out of cellular range? Analog? Who knows?), but that didn't matter as we apparently had Godzilla & King Kong in the room above us. At 5:30 am, there was a massive amount of wrestling around and noise in the room above us as the temporary tenants packed up their things wand went out to ski at Whiteface Mountain. I didn't have the heart to tell them that Whiteface was only 10 miles down the road, and that they were REALLY early, even by my standards.
Needless to say, I was up, lethargic and fatigued as I was, and getting ready for the hiking adventure ahead. I pulled out my breakfast - Hostess cupcakes, an apple pie (that I still don't remember eating), and a Snapple Lemon Iced Tea. I donned my nylon, Gore-Tex jacket, Polypropylene & polyester innerwear, my black vest, and my cool black gators (still muddy from my last adventure with Teena!).  I was ready.

The Hike:

Being one of the first to arrive provided us the wonderful opportunity of traveling through the newly fallen snow - about 2 - 4 inches fell the night before. The hike started out like most hikes do when the merry team gets started at 7:15am. S-L-O-W… But it didn't take too long for us to get moving. …And moving we did! Within no time at all, we started making the customary stops to remove layers of clothing - except for "minimalist Mike" (that's me) who decided to experiment by wearing 1 less layer at the outset.  It turned out to be a good strategy since I was feeling pretty good through most of the hike, never really getting overheated.
After ~1.5 hours, we had traveled about 2 miles. The snow was becoming a burden to the hike with the increasing slope of the terrain. At this point we donned our snowshoes to make use of the cramp-ons for better gripping power. The flotation of the snowshoes was not required since we were hiking on a packed trail surface. Cramp-ons were much better suited for this task. However, the snowshoes did the trick, providing the gripping power we needed. It wasn't long before we felt the awesome pangs of muscular exertion within our calves. We hiked for most of the next hour on the balls of our feet, using the cramp-ons to grip into the packed snow.
We pushed above tree line after ~ 1 hour of hiking in our snowshoes. Things were getting interesting as the exposed summit was icy with packets of loosely packed snow. Since we didn't have cramp-ons, we needed to keep our snow shoes on in order to traverse the technically tricky terrain. Needless to say, the "weekend warriors of daring do" made it to the summit in no time. Or that's what we thought until we heard 'Ol Mountain Joe exclaim "Shit! Shit Shit Shit Shit Shit!" False summit. After another 10 minutes, we made it to the real summit. There we took pictures, ate lunch, and admired the views.
There's no cooler feeling when hiking mountains that looking down on the clouds, and having blue skies above. We even had moments of sun. Then it happened… Suddenly, for a brief moment, the upper cone of Algonquin emerged from the clouds in a brilliant display of sunshine! It seemed to float on a bed of clouds. The moment disappeared as quickly as it arrived, but we were there to witness. We took a little time to eat our lunches before the winds picked up and the snow started to fall.
The descent was quick and fun! After a very tricky technical descent over steep & icy rock back to the tree line, we raised some eyebrows by "sledding" down the hill to the trail junction point on the heels of our snowshoes. There, we greeted a party of eight who found much humor in our hooting and hollering and all around good fun. After a brief chat, it was on to the trek and sledding. We also learned how to "ski" on our snow shoes. This technique is probably better described as sliding on the heels in a controlled descent. We had way too much fun doing this! Throughout the trip back to the Loj, we passed many hiking parties, including a group of telemark skiers. We passed them quickly as I was in the lead and, unknowingly, set a break-neck speed. I was having fun.
Once at the Loj, we spent some time at the High Peaks Information Center where I made my "obligatory" purchase (I always want to buy something so I can feel like I'm supporting the entire operation). I bought an Adirondack Mountain Club baseball cap. We fueled up on coffee, and headed back to Lake Placid.