Hiking up Mt. Marcy

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So Sachi plans another trip up Mt Marcy for the Labor Day weekend. At first, there were enough people to warrant reserving 2 campsites. Then, people started dropping off, Olan had to work, Glenn had to go to Manila for work, Gene had visitors... So it ended up with Sachi, Enad, Raquel and me driving up on Friday night and camping, and then Allan and Jimmy meeting up with us early Saturday morning to start the hike up 5,344 ft Mt Marcy, the highest peak in New York.

At least that was the plan. There were a few kinks: Sachi had a toothache on Friday, saw his dentist who wanted the tooth to be extracted the same day, but convinced the dentist that he had a trip and so just asked for antibiotics and some heavyweight pain relievers... So it's Enad and me who will be doing the driving. Of course, Raquel also volunteered but we politely declined, hehe... We leave before 5pm, all on schedule and all is well until about 4 hours into the drive, Allan calls and can't figure out why we haven't seen a toll booth yet if we're already at exit 28 on Rt 87 and how we could have possibly gotten there so fast. It turned out that we were already on Rt 90 and going in the wrong direction for the last 30 minutes or so. So we lose about an hour and with the slight traffic got to our campsite at about 12am. Good thing the slight drizzle had stopped so we were able to set up our tents in our little campsite. That night, it's still unclear if Sachi can climb up the next day, he's in pain for most of the drive up but is waiting for the antibiotics to kick in. The next morning, he wakes up, one cheek swollen (looking like a scary Mickey Mouse), the pain has subsided but he still won't be able to join this major hike. I tell him that I'll stay with him but he eventually convinces me to go up anyway. We quickly get a heavy breakfast of cold rice and hotdogs, pack a tapa lunch in ziplock bags and meet up with Allan and Jimmy who've been waiting for a bit at Adirondack Loj, our starting point.

So off we go... Starting at 8:30 am, we face 7.4 miles and 3000+ vertical feet before we "bag" Mt Marcy. We start off on a 2 mile lope to Marcy Dam. It's a good way to warm up and we take a few pics on arrival.



We hike steadily upward till we stop for a nice lunch at around 11:30 at Indian Falls. We eat beside the stream that eventually becomes a small waterfall overlooking a really nice view of the Adirondacks.




Now things start getting serious. We've already gone about halfway but we haven't even hit the 3000ft altitude yet, I'm already dreading what looks like a pretty steep climb near the end. Allan and Jimmy are usually in the lead, they're pretty fast. Nakakainggit nga, parang relax na relax lang sila, eh ako, hingal na hingal na :-). Enad stays at the back of our group, to make sure Raquel and I don't make our escape and start back down the mountain early, hehe. We keep going, stopping periodically for a short snack, sometimes sitting down, other times standing up, so we don't have a hard time getting back into the rhythm. It's a rocky path up, big rocks, small rocks, all of them hard, some of them slippery. Some parts are also pretty wet, the maintainers have put up planks and well positioned rocks and sticks so we don't have to wade through the swampy areas. At around the 6 mile mark, we see how high Mt Marcy is in the distance and get an idea of the 1.2 mile climb that's ahead of us.



The trail starts zig-zagging up the mountain, we see Allan and Jimmy waving at us higher up the mountain. And then comes the bare rock area near the peak. This is the scariest part for me. I slide my trekking poles behind my back and start using my hands to climb up. Everyone else was walking up. Me, I was hugging the mountain side, doing push-ups nga daw, sabi ni Enad. I'm scared of slipping down and the strong wind isn't helping. Luckily, there was lots of space on to climb on the rock so there weren't people coming up behind me to pressure me. I just took my time, told myself I could do it, rested every few minutes, tried not to think about having to come back down and finally made it to the top. Wow, the views were amazing!




(I have short 360 degree movies as well but have nowhere to post them.)

Unfortunately, I couldn't really appreciate it too much because the trek down was really weighing down on me. I'd become scared of slipping/falling down a mountainside ever since my skiing accident. We rested and ate a bit, took pictures and a couple of short videos and started the second half of our journey. It was 3:30 pm then and we figured that the sun would set around 7:30 so we had to do the 7.4 miles within 4 hours or else we'd be walking in the dark.

We start down, my poles really help steady me and whenever it was too steep, I'd slide down on my butt. Once we made it down the bare rock, I breathed a sigh of relief and finally enjoyed the fact that I'd made it up Mt Marcy. I felt that the rest was doable, not easy, but at least doable now. :-)

We take fewer and shorter rest stops since we didn't really have to catch our breath anymore. The hike down was pretty tough on our legs and joints though. We never do catch up with Allan and Jimmy, they must be flying down the mountain, or maybe it's just because we're slow, hehe. Enad and Raquel have run out of water so we're really looking forward to refilling at Indian Falls. We don't get there till about 6pm. So, it's about 1.5 hours of sunlight and 4+ miles to go. We know there's little chance of making it before dark but we hurry anyway so we could make as much ground as we could before we'd have to start walking in the dark.

We get to Marcy Dam at around 7:15 and barely stop there for a few minutes before we start moving on again. Luckily, as it's getting dark, we're already on the easier part of the trail. We start using headlamps and at the same time, the sky starts rumbling. At first, it was just a light shower but when it was really dark already, it started pouring. Picture this, 3 people, at least 2 of whom are dead tired and can only think of getting home, walking, sometimes almost running, sometimes slipping, dipping shoes into mud, focused on getting to the end of the trail and the car and friends waiting to take them their campsite and dinner... And start pouring rain on them... parang mga kawawang basang sisiw :-)

Well, at 8:30 pm, we finally make it. Wet, cold and exhausted, but also jubilant. Yehey!!! Finally...



Epilogue:

On the way to the campsite, Enad notices a Vacancy sign in one of the inns, and we start thinking of a warm hotel room, warm shower, warm beds... we get to the campsite and the first thing we say to Sachi, who through his fever and the rain has grilled some nice steaks for us: "Halika na! Sakay ka na sa kotse, alis na tayo". And all he thinks is: "Gusto niyo pang umalis?". And we tell him that we're spending the night in a hotel, we're way too tired and dirty to eat... So, we pack up the steaks, pile into the car and find a motel with one vacant room. Haay, what a great idea! After warm showers, we're finally able to appreciate the grilled steak and rice dinner that Sachi had made. And the warm beds were a perfect end to the day...

The next day, we wake up with sore muscles all over and I have to limp for awhile everytime after we sit down in one place. We play slow (kasi mabagal na maglakad at masasakit ang katawan) tourist around Lake Placid, make sure we buy some Mt Marcy souvenirs, hang out at the campsite, make a nice dinner of bangus, tocino and leftover eggs, tapa and hotdogs, play some tent-to-tent PSP and turn in early so we can drive down early the next day. That was definitely a great way of spending a long weekend... I'd do it all again in a heartbeat, except the 15 mile hike part, though, hehehe.

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