NY-Mount Marcy

The three of us at the summit marker just below the actual summit.

Summit Date

August 12, 2017 (around 11:00 am)

Party

Ryan Cragun, Mark Woolley, Tom Triplett

Trip Report

In my big swing across the US that allowed me to complete most of the highpoints in the Northeast in 2013, I didn’t manage to fit in Mount Marcy. It’s a solid day hike, and I just didn’t have the time. I ended up arranging a trip to Lake Placid, NY specifically to hike Mount Marcy, with my two hiking buddies.

We all flew into Newark on Friday, August 11th, picked up a rental car, then headed to Lake Placid, stopping in Albany for dinner and food to take up on our hike the next day. We arrived kind of late (close to 11:00 pm) and planned an early start the next morning (on the mountain at 7:00) in order to hopefully avoid the impending rain storm that was forecast for the next day.

The trip reports we read about the hike varied quite a bit. Some suggested it was really challenging, with a lot of uphill and rugged terrain. Others suggested it wasn’t that challenging and was a pleasant hike. We also got variable times and distances for the hike. Some trip reports suggested it would take as short as 4 hours while others suggested as many as 15 (that’s a pretty big range). Mileage estimates were also varied, though with a smaller range, hovering between 12 and 17 miles. Because of all the varied estimates, we planned for a 10 to 12 hour, 17-mile hike, just to be safe. As it turns out, using my GPS enabled watch, I now have much more accurate information on the hike.

We stayed at a B&B in Lake Placid, got up at 6:00 am, and drove straight to the Adirondack Loj. There is a parking fee there ($5.00), and by the time we arrived just before 7:00 am, the lot was getting pretty full. This is obviously a popular destination for hikers. We got our boots and gear on, did some stretching (a requirement once you hit 40), signed the register, and hit the trail.

We made good time for the first three miles or so, covering them in about an hour. The first three miles of the trail are fairly level and it is mostly a well-maintained dirt trail, with a few roots, rocks, and other small objects in the way. But around the 3-mile mark, there was a noticeable shift in the trail and terrain. Not only was there substantially more uphill terrain, but it became rocky to the point that at times you are literally boulder hopping.

Me on a nice patch of the more rugged terrain.

I’ve climbed a lot of mountains and was impressed with how rugged this trail got. This is not a trail you’d want to attempt in light tennis shoes (unless you’re an experienced trail runner); sturdy boots are a very good idea for this hike, ideally with good ankle support. We didn’t make as good of time on the remaining 4 miles to the summit but still did fairly well.

We arrived at the summit at just under 4 hours. When we arrived, the summit was completely enshrouded with clouds. We had no view whatsoever. We spent about 40 minutes on the summit, eating a little food and chatting with the forest ranger on the top who was reminding people to avoid the vegetation, which they are trying to get to grow back.

Alas, about 20 minutes after we dropped off the summit, the clouds broke and we finally had some nice views. It was at this point I took a photosphere:

We got better photos at this point, but we were still worried about the impending rain storm. The top of the mountain is largely exposed rock that wouldn’t be all that fun to ascend or descend in the rain. As a result, we opted not to return to the summit and instead to continue our descent. We stopped a few times on the way down to take advantage of some of the toilets that are along the trail and took a quick detour to the waterfall that is also fairly close to the trail. With our detours and stops, we returned to the parking lot in just under 8 hours. The distance on my watch indicated exactly 15 miles. So, there you have it – it is a 15-mile hike. Our average moving pace was 26 minutes per mile. If you know how quickly you can move on fairly rugged terrain, you should be able to estimate how long the hike will take you. We were passed by a couple who were clearly trail runners. They were the only ones moving more quickly than we were and they probably did the entire hike in 6 1/2 hours. I can see how this hike would easily take 12 hours if you’re not an avid hiker and in good shape. It is genuinely rugged terrain, particularly after the 3-mile mark, and you should be prepared for it.

Obviously, if you can, try to go on a nice day. The views from the top are supposed to be quite nice. But even hiking in cloudy conditions, the terrain was pretty. We passed through multiple types of forest – pine and maple – and really enjoyed ourselves.

Panorama

Directions

7/7/20171/20/2018

Switzerland – remaining adventures

I was attending my conference July 4th through the 6th, but skipped out on the last day of the conference (July 7th) to go see CERN (the location of the large hadron collider). Debi, Toren, and Rosemary, meanwhile, had a number of adventures. They took the chocolate train through various parts of Switzerland, visiting the Gruyere cheese factory, the Gruyere castle, and the Maison Cailler chocolate factory.

Here’s a video Debi shot of the chocolate extruding and packaging process at Maison Cailler:

Amazingly, they took a picture in front of the Giger Museum, but didn’t know what it was and didn’t go in (I’ve got to go back just for that).

They also took a boat ride from Montreux to Lausanne one day while I was at my conference:

I did sneak in a visit to the Chillon Castle before my conference started one day:

Debi, Rosemary, and Toren at Chillon Castle.

I didn’t get to see the whole castle as I had to make it to my conference in time for the first session that day, but I got to see some of the castle. Again, I’ll have to go back.

The one day I did skip of the conference was so we could go to CERN. Getting tickets was a bit of a nightmare as they have to be reserved in advance, go on sale at 8:00 am Swiss time, and are usually gone in a matter of minutes. Debi and I spent a few days getting up just before 2:00 am so we could get the tickets and eventually got 4 for the last day of my conference.

You obviously don’t get to go down into the actual collider, which is about 90 meters below ground, but they do give you a tour of a control center and showed us some old colliders, like this one where Toren was pushing the self-destruct button:

Toren pushing the "self-destruct" button on an old collider. It was a red button with no label, so I told him it was the self-destruct button and he immediately proceeded to push it. — Toren pushing the “self-destruct” button on an old collider. It was a red button with no label, so I told him it was the self-destruct button and he immediately proceeded to push it.

The tour starts at the welcome center, where they have a nice museum, and then works its way around the campus. We went into a control center, watched a video about particle accelerators, and then got to go into where the original collider is at CERN (from the 1950s; very cool presentation there). There is another museum across the street from the main welcome center, as well as numerous monuments. Here’s a photo in front of one of those monuments:

Rosemary, Toren, and Debi by a monument at CERN.

We also found a little time to stop by the Reformation Wall in Geneva, which is a monument to the Protestant Reformation. We didn’t stay long as we had to get to CERN on time and this happened to be kind of on the way. Here’s a photosphere of the Wall:

I also had Toren pose as though he was each of the individuals remembered by the monument. Here’s one of those photos:

Toren posing as figures in the Reformation Wall.

While Toren played at the park near the Reformation Wall and Rosemary watched him, Debi and I jogged up to a nearby church where Martin Luther used to preach, where she got a picture of me trying to gain entry:

No one answered. I guess no one is home?!? ;)

Before heading back for our last night in Switzerland, we stopped for a brief walk around downtown Geneva and got to see the Jet d’Eau and try out some more Swiss chocolate.

Toren and Rosemary at the Jet d'Eau in Geneva. — Toren and Rosemary at the Jet d’Eau in Geneva.

We then caught a train back to Lausanne to pack up for our flight home the next day.

7/3/20171/20/2018

Switzerland – Matterhorn and Zermatt

Our trip to Iceland occurred because I was presenting some research at a conference in Lausanne, Switzerland. We spent a week in Iceland before heading to Switzerland. We flew into Geneva then took a train to Lausanne, where we stayed in a nice apartment (AirBnB) with an amazing view of Lake Geneva.

I really only got to spend two days doing touristy stuff in Switzerland – the day before the conference and the last day of the conference (which I skipped to go to CERN, ’cause it’s CERN). The day before the conference, we decided to head into the Swiss Alps to see the Matterhorn.

From Lausanne, it was a couple of hours on trains to get to Zermatt, which is the small town at the base of the Matterhorn. No cars are allowed in Zermatt, which is kind of nice. We walked from the train station through the town, snapping photos along the way:

Toren with the Matterhorn as backdrop in Zermatt.

We walked to one of the ski resorts (Zermatt ZBAG) and then bought tickets to the very top, Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. Matterhorn Glacier Paradise is a peak that has been tunneled into. Inside, they have built a restaurant, some rooms for museums and watching videos, and an entrance into the glacier that covers the mountain. Here are a few photos from inside the glacier:

Toren and Debi by an ice sculpture inside the glacier.

Debi and Toren (with Rosemary in the background) inside the glacier.

There is also a viewing spot on the top of the peak where you can actually look down on the Matterhorn. Here’s the view from there:

The Matterhorn from Matterhorn Glacier Paradise viewing platform.

And a photo of us on the viewing platform:

The three of us on the viewing platform on top of Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. — The three of us on the viewing platform on top of Matterhorn Glacier Paradise (Italy in the background).

We then got to walk out onto the glacier where we snapped a few photos:

Rosemary, Toren, and Debi on the glacier with the Matterhorn in the background.

On the way back down, we stopped to take a few more photos along the way.

Toren, Rosemary, and Debi in front of the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise.

The three of us in front of the Matterhorn.

We got a later start than we hoped and ended up not having a lot of time on the mountain, otherwise, we would have done some hiking. Even so, it was a great initial exposure to the Swiss Alps.

After we took the lift back to Zermatt, we walked through the town looking for a place for dinner. Along the way, we were treated to this fun encounter with a bunch of goats.

We eventually found a fondue place. Toren, Rosemary, and I had cheese fondue (dipped bread and potatoes), while Debi went off in search of a chicken sandwich.

Toren and Rosemary enjoying Swiss fondue in Zermatt.

We found a creperie along the main walkway in Zermatt as well and decided we had to have crepes for dessert:

The train ride itself was quite scenic and took us through the southwestern portion of Switzerland. We ended up getting home quite late, but it was well worth the trip.

7/2/20171/20/2018

Iceland – final post – drone footage

I took my drone to Iceland with us. I knew that there were lots of places where I could fly the drone and it seemed like the ideal opportunity to take advantage of the drone to get shots we couldn’t otherwise get. Here’s my Iceland drone compilation:

7/1/20171/20/2018

Iceland – Day 7 – The Golden Circle: Gulffoss, Geysir, Strokkur, and Þingvellir National Park

Debi, Toren, and Ryan at Þingvellir National Park

We saved some of the most visited sites for our last day in Iceland. Lots of buses take tourists to visit three sights in a single day: Gullfoss, Geysir, and Þingvellir National Park. This is often referred to as The Golden Circle as you can include Seljalandfoss and actually make it into a circle. Since we had already visited Seljalandfoss, we headed straight to Gullfoss.

Gullfoss is a very powerful waterfall with two levels.

To get a good view of how tall the lower falls are, you need to hike up a bit so you can see down into the trench it has carved.

Just down the road from Gulfoss are two geysers, Geysir and Strokkur. Geysir was the first geyser to be documented by modern Europeans and is the source of the English word “geyser.” Geysir no longer regularly erupts, but Strokkur does every few minutes.

We walked around the geysers for a bit and watched several eruptions, then jumped back in the car and headed to our final destination for the day, Þingvellir National Park. Þingvellir is cool for a lot of reasons. First, it was the original seat of Iceland’s Parliament and an important meeting place for the various tribes of Iceland for a long time. Second, it is the location where two continental plates are separating by about 2 centimeters per year, and you can literally see the result as the area is being pulled apart. There is a large canyon you can walk down that is the result of tectonic plates moving. You can see the canyon in this photosphere:

Here’s another photosphere from the Parliament rock, where the laws used to be read:

We spent a couple of hours here walking around the lake, streams, the church, and the canyon.

Ryan, Debi, and Rosemary at Þingvellir National Park

Here’s a short clip of a waterfall that drops right into the canyon:

And a photo of us in front of the waterfall:

We actually had big plans for this evening – it was time to try Icelandic cuisine. We made a reservation for a nice restaurant in Reykjavik, Þrír frakkar, where they serve traditional Icelandic fare. We ordered three appetizers and two entrees to split between the four of us. First up, fermented shark:

Everyone but Debi was able to get their piece of frozen, fermented shark down. Debi gagged on hers. Imagine the most fishy tasting fish you’ve ever had, then leave it to spoil for, let’s say, a week. Then freeze it. That’s what fermented shark tastes like. Not a winner.

Next up was, sadly, puffin breast:

We asked on our whale and puffin viewing trip if puffins were endangered and they said no, so I didn’t feel bad ordering this. It’s basically thin strips of puffin breast, perhaps lightly cooked, served with a mustard sauce. It tasted kind of like chicken, but more oily and stringy. Everyone tried it, but I ended up eating most of it.

We also ordered fish stew as an appetizer, which wasn’t particularly exotic, and most everyone liked it. For the entrees, it was a lamb steak (split between Debi and Rosemary) and a horse steak (split between Toren and me). The steaks were all good; horse tastes a lot like cow.

Dinner was crazy-expensive, but we got to sample the local cuisine.

After dinner, we headed back to our B&B to pack up and get ready for our early flight the next day. We did stop briefly at the park near our B&B to let Toren run around a bit, but otherwise that pretty much wraps up our trip to Iceland. Though, see my next post where I highlight one other thing we did while we were there…