Heading for the Adirondack Mountains – May 27th, 2013
My goal for this trip was to reach the peak of Mount Marcy in the High Peaks Region of the Adirondack Mountains. I had tried to do that twice before on snowshoes in the middle of winter and had been unsuccessful both times. This time my plan was different. By going on the Monday of the US Memorial Day weekend, I figured that everything would be open, there would be space in the campground and the snow would be gone and the bugs would be moderate at worst.
Once again, I found myself heading over the bridge at Ogdensburg and into the Amish country which is directly south from there. I should have heeded the warning of the US Customs gent who put on a big smile when I told him that I was planning on tenting in the Adirondacks for a couple of days and planned to climb Mt. Marcy. When he then told me that the Adirondacks had had two feet of snow fall over the weekend, I thought that he might be joking with me! Turns out his knowledge of the weather was fresher than what I had heard.
Most times that I drive that way I see an Amish buggy heading in the opposite direction and occasionally I have to slow in order to safely pass one of their buggies going in the same direction as I am traveling. To watch them make their progress along the highway is an interesting occupation when I have the time. They may not be traveling at anywhere near the speed of the modern car but there progress is steady and they do eventually get to their destination.
I, too, got to my destination after passing through Saranac and then getting a closer look at snow on the peaks as I turned off of the highway and headed along the road to Adirondack LOJ.
I have stayed in the LOJ on occasion and stayed in the campground on occasion. This time around I expected reasonable temperatures and dry weather so opted to stay in the campground.  As mentioned above, the US Customs agent was correct about the weather. T3wo days earlier it had snowed all day and there were certainly a number of disgruntled hikers and campers who had battled the elements trying to reach their favorite peak. Some spoke of the mud on the Cascades Mountain route, others discussed how they turned back trying to reach the peak of Cobden due to the deep newly fallen snow. With respect to Mount Marcy, the story was the same, plenty of snow and slush on the trail but, according to the ranger and the trail maintenance crew, I should be able to make it to the top if I didn’t mind getting really wet!
So with that bit of reassurance, I set up my tent and spent the evening exploring the area around the LOJ.
 
 
