Mount Wright: Attack of the Summit Stewards

So ... I'm climbing mountains.

My partner, Amy (more on her in a minute), and I climbed the last 500 feet or so, pictured on the right. It didn't require ropes - it wasn't your traditional mountain climbing - but the vertical ascent was pretty steep. Amy had a headache from what turned out to be a virus. My knees were crying in pain.

At the very top ... there is a perky, 18-year-old Summit Stewards named Gloria.

Gloria: "Welcome to Mt. Wright? Did you come from Algoquin?"

Amy: *muggah muggah* (translation: "Are you kidding? We barely made it up THIS mountain!")

Gloria: "There are some endangered species up here, and we ask that you step only on the rocks and not any plants or soil."

Craig: *muggah muggah* ("I can't walk, so no problem there.")

Gloria: "Would you like me to take your picture? I can get Mt. Marcy in the background."

Amy: *muggah muggah* ("I'm not getting up. The hard rocks will be our background.")

Craig: *muggah muggah* ("Don't bother, Gloria. After we push you off Mt Wright, they'll be taking our mug shots for free anyway.")

How Did I Get Up Here?

Fair question. It starts with Amy.

Amy and I started hanging around together about a month ago. She's a hiker, camper, canoer, kayaker, and just all-around outdoorsy type. Me ... well, I gave up that life a long time ago when I left Boy Scouts. I'd been to the Adirondack Mountains in New York a total of four times ... one of which I camped and hiked, three of which I partied in the Syracuse University retreat cabin, which pretty much doesn't count as outdoorsmanship. (They don't have a Bartending Merit Badge yet, do they?)

Like Green Acres when Oliver pulls Lisa across the split screen ... Amy pulled me into the outdoors. Here's the weird thing: I like it there. A lot!!

I climbed my first Adirondack High Peak with Amy two weeks ago. It was Giant, and it had a short path with a huge vertical ascent. How I made it it up is anyone's guess ... I'll tell the story in a future blog post. But from the top of that first peak, I felt the molecules in my body shift. It was my first drink of scotch, my first snort of cocaine. The view from an Adirondack peak approaches something of a psychadelic experience. You don't really believe what you're seeing. There is no sound except wind. The trees are like toothpicks beneath you. "It's like you're on the moon" is how Amy describes it.

Mt. Wright

So there are 46 peaks over 4,000 feet in the Adirondacks, affectionately called The 46. Wright is the third I've climbed, after Giant and Cascade. (Amy was there for all of them, and has done an additional one herself). All the peaks have a certain character.

The Wright trail is short, about 3.5 miles, and it's pretty gradual for most of that distance. A couple of waterfalls make nice stopping places. There's not much of a view the whole way - you're enveloped in a canopy of trees, so you better have a good conversationalist handy. (Amy definitely fits the bill for me.)

The last 0.4 miles, where the trail splits off to Algonquin, is a killer. The vertical ascent is pretty steep, and the Alpine Zone prevents you from stepping onto soil or plants. And it's friggin' cold! At the beginning of July, the temperature was in the 50's. If you didn't pack your jacket and you are more than 20 years old (yeah, there were a few), you couldn't spend more than a few minutes there.

Wright isn't very popular because Algonquin sits right next to it, and it's bigger. It's like hanging out with somebody's little brother. But here's the thing. The little brother has a better view of the west, which is the best side of the range. Because from Algonquin ... that damn little brother is in the way. And you can't make it move. It's a mountain. Duh!

After a lunch of peanut butter sandwiches - and there's nothing on Earth better tasting than peanut butter sandwiches at the top of a mountain - Amy and I headed back down. Her headache gone, we made pretty good time on the way. 3 hours later, we were back at the lake, dunked our tootsies in the water and made the lake steam up.

Equipment that worked: Walking sticks, or as the Eastern Mountain hoity-toity people call them, traction poles. We got Leki's, and they work like a charm. Keeps your balance, and gives you a boost up the rocks when you need it. Both Amy and I use just one, although most serious hikers do two. (We like to be just a little off-center).

Food: It's very important to get good sustenance before and after a hike, and Amy and I take this very seriously. Before the hike we did The Tip-A-Canoe Restuarant in Keene, and I had mussels from the shell for the first time evah. Nice! Afterwards, we did The Great Range in Keene Valley, which is now as close to a tradition as we have. An appetizer of Scallops with ground pea and arugla sauce was heavenly. She had Duck Comfit, and I had the Lavender and Thyme Chicken. It was pretty nice - not as good as the pheasant sausage I had there two weeks ago - but nice.

Next Up: We're thinking Algonquin next. Hopefully no viruses will invade this trip!