Mt. Marcy

Today we conquered Mt. Marcy. Mt. Marcy is at EL 5344' and is the highest peak in the state of New York. We approached on the Van Hoevenberg trail from Adirondak Loj. That trail is 7.4 miles to the summit with an elevation gain of about 3300'. A pretty fair day hike. As is typical for most summit trails, the first third is flat, the second third is moderately steep and the final third is the steepest. While it is a long hike, almost 15 miles round trip, it's still not as steep and tough as is Mt. Katahdin up the AT from Katahdin Stream access. The weather was not great, but it could have been worse. The temperature was mild, in the mid-50s at the summit (with +40 mph winds!), but it was overcast and spitting a little drizzle all day. Unfortunately the views from the summit were obscured by fog and clouds. For a while we thought we would be the only ones on the mountain this day, but shortly after leaving the summit, we met two young soldiers, who apparently had trotted up the hill. Show offs! At the trailhead was a pile of rocks with a sign asking hikers to carry a rock to the summit, for use in cairns and trail markers. Dorcas and I, being noble and dedicated to the cause of wilderness preservation, each carried a rock to the summit. I bet the soldiers didn't carry a rock!

After the hike, we were bushed. We headed for town and had pizza and beer at Mr. Mike's Pizza.