Our Quest for 46

This weekend we began our Quest to become 46ers. We left town on Friday right after work. We had planned on arriving at my aunt Shirleys around 10:00 however after a tree fell on our neighbors power line and blew her transformer we decided to stick around until she was able to get ahold of PPL before we left. Her hubby was gone and we wanted to make sure nothing was going to catch fire. We ran into a bit of traffic up near Binghampton. Around 9:00 we called Shirley letting her know our plans had changed and we wouldn't be arriving until 1:00am. We arrived at the Schroon Lake Service Station around 1:00am, used the restroom, let Kenzie stretch and then went to sleep. We woke up around 6:00am. It was so beautiful. The sun was rising over the mountains, the weather was cool and the fog was starting to lift. Ahh, I LOVE THE ADIRONDACKS!

We drove to the trailhead and started our ascent around 7:15 - 7:30 am. We had to hike 2.8 miles to the first summit with a total elevation of 1920 to gain. Needless to say this was a very steep and rocky trail. I had read this was the easiest of the 46 trails however I found it quite difficult. So, I pushed along, stopping every few hundred feet for a breather. Kenzie was helping pull me up some of the boulders. (My little legs had a tough time climbing them). A little over 1/2 way up the trail I was getting kind of tired and wore out. Someone had left this little note on a rock and it really encouraged me to keep going.

When we reached the first clearing I just kind of stood there in awe. It's really hard to describe what you see when you hike. The pictures do not show you the beauty of the surroundings. Jason, of course, had to take a photo of me. Marcy was in the background and the clouds were just beginning to clear away from her peak.We had a little over 200 feet left to go before we reached our first EVER summit. When I reached the rocky top I have to say I was a bit worried about making it to the top. I have never scrambled before. Jason and Kenzie headed up first and I followed slowly behind. When we reached the top I felt something I had never felt before. I had reached my first summit. I now know how all the other hikers/backpackers/and peak baggers feel and why they do it. We looked around for the USGS survey marker and snagged a photo of it. You can check out the rest of the photos from the top.
Cascade Mountain 4098 ft.

After sitting, eating lunch, and taking in the scenery it was time to start our hike to the second summit of Porter Mountain. We had a little over 1 mile from summit to summit. Once we arrived at Porter we searched around for the second USGS summit marker. Either this one was not marked or someone took it. Porter is our second summit at 4059ft.



The rest of the trip we spent with my aunt and uncle. Robert was celebrating his birthday so Jason and I was able to celebrate with him. We're already talking about a second trip. Maybe in October to hit a few other peaks.

For tonight Jason and I need to sit down a fill out our trip report so we can mail it to the Historic Society. That will officially begin our 46er journey with 2 already complete. Then we'll sit down and watch Blades of Glory. Then I'll be packing my bags for the rest of the night getting ready to head to Dallas tomorrow.