How It All Began: Blue Mountain

It all started with an innocent camping trip at the end of July 2008. We shared a large site on Lewey Lake in the Adirondacks with Adam & Jacqui. We’d been camping plenty before, but not yet in the Adirondacks, which would bring a whole new aspect to camping for us. First of all, they have Black Bears there, which means you must keep your food in your car when you’re not cooking or eating, and definitely overnight. This includes pots and pans, and anything else that has touched food. We followed the rules and saw no bears. That’s ok with me. We also rented canoes and got a closer view of some of the wildlife.

On the second day, Adam & Jacqui had suggested a hike, so we drove to the trailhead. Jacqui had done the hike before, and said it was about 2 miles each way. We regularly walk 3-6 miles at a time, and thought this would be a breeze! Two miles is nothing; it’s a half-hour on flat ground, so maybe it would take an hour each way. As we got out of the car and prepared to start, Jacqui asked us if we were bringing water or snacks. What a silly question – we’ll be back in a couple of hours! Of course we’re not bringing food or water. So we began our hike, armed only with a camera, unhindered by any such extra baggage!

Well, it was Blue Mountain we were about to take on, and little did we know! It started off pretty gently, with a nicely worn path on a gradual incline.

Things changed quickly. A good portion of the climb was at a 45 degree incline, and there were some spots that seemed to be almost vertical. We picked our way carefully, wondering if we were getting close to the top yet. We were not! We kept asking people who were on their way down how far we had to go, and most of the responses were vague and even approaching optimistic… just enough encouragement to keep us moving.

We joked along the way how ironic it was that Adam and Jacqui – who are 4th Degree and 3rd Degree Karate Blackbelts, respectively – had the help of their two dogs pulling them up the mountainside. Both dogs are highly energetic breeds, one being an American Eskimo; the other is a Siberian Husky, well-known for their pulling ability! We kept suggesting that they should let us, the non-blackbelts, borrow the help of the pulling dogs, but we were not obliged. At least they didn’t offer us the dogs on the way down!

Along the way, we crossed streams, and much of the trail itself is what appears to be a dried-up creek bed. We later found out (first-hand) that this now functions as a storm wash.

The scenery was beautiful, as the sunlight filtered down through the forest. It felt good to be out enjoying nature and the meeting the challenge of this longer-than-intended climb. Finally making it to the top was especially gratifying, despite the increasingly hazy conditions. We made it, and we were proud! Even though the view was not ideal, it was spectacular. The fire tower rose about 100 feet off the ground, offering an even greater opportunity for taking pictures. A girl was stationed there; she was doing an internship if I remember correctly, going to school for Environmental Conservation or something related. I think she was to stay there for a week or two, in a small building also on the summit, within eyesight of the tower. Probably a pretty cool job!

Not long after beginning our descent, it began to sprinkle a few rain drops. This led to an absolute downpour, which continued most of the way down. We thought maybe we could go down a bit quicker than we went up, but the footing proved even trickier than before. The wet conditions added to the treachery, forcing us to literally think about every single step we took with regards to the placement of our feet. Before long we were soaked, and the fronts of our shins just below the knee cap were getting sorer by the minute. We slipped and slid our way down the mountain, listening to the thunder the whole while. When we finally got to the bottom, it had taken us the same amount of time to come down as it did climbing up, 2 hours each direction, 4 ½ hours total, with resting time at the fire tower. We piled into the Jeep, all of us drenched including the dogs. Boy, were we hungry! And thirsty! Why didn’t anyone tell us to bring food or water?!

There was one person in particular who stood out from the rest of the hikers we encountered. She was a little Asian lady, around 40-ish in age we guessed, maybe all of 5 feet tall, and very slender. She was smiling and friendly, and moving very fast. She was hiking alone, probably because no one could keep up with her! We were actually on our way down when she passed us, and it seemed to be no time before she passed us again on her way down, still smiling and quick. It had already started to rain the first time we saw her, but she was undaunted. We were awestruck and inspired. We named her Robo-Hiker in honor of her outstanding athletic ability. She probably made the whole trip in just over an hour. We knew she had done this before. We also knew we would do this again. What an awesome experience, and what an addictively satisfying feeling of success! We ate well that night, and it wouldn’t be long before we were planning our next hike.

Notes:
Distance 2 miles (4 mi. round trip)
Elevation change 1,750 ft.

If you'd like to see all the pictures from this trip, you can view them here.