Friday 11/14 I drove up to the Adirondacks with the
intention of hiking Dial and Nippletop on Saturday. I checked in at the
Roostercomb Inn and headed to Lake Placid for dinner. After a delicious meal
and an Ubu or two I headed back to the inn. Some other hikers were hanging out
around the fire and we talked for a little while before heading to bed around
10ish. They were headed to Tabletop and Phelps in the morning.
Throughout the night I kept waking up and in the morning
when my alarm went off I wasn’t feeling 100%. But I got dressed and packed my
last few items in my pack and headed to the parking lot at the Ausable Club. I
decided I wanted to at least attempt my hike and see how it went.
I signed in at the gate at 7am and started down the road.
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| Giant in the morning |
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| Some deer checking me out |
My
plan was to do the route clockwise since I’d rather go down than up steep
sections and in case I didn’t finish until after dark, the road walk would be
easy with a headlamp. I made it to the turn off for the Henry Goddard Leach
trail by 7:15. I stopped to take off my softshell jacket and then headed up the
trail. The trail was covered with leaves and only had a slight dusting of snow
in areas.
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| Start of the trail from Lake Road |
At the spot where the trail turns a sharp right away from
the creek, I guess I must not have been paying attention because I missed the
turn and kept going straight along the creek. A minute or 2 went by before I
realized I was no longer on the trail and I backtracked to pick it back up
again. I was moving quite slowly and I saw there was a group of 5 a bit behind
me on the trail. They soon caught up and I let them pass. I would pass them
again before the shoulder of Noonmark where they had stopped to look at some
views a little ways off the trail. I encountered some ice up here but as it was
mostly flat, it wasn’t worth it to stop and put on my trail crampons.
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| Nice trail through the conifers with only a dusting of snow |
At about 9am I reached the shoulder of Noonmark. I stopped
to put my jacket back on and walked out onto the bare rock to soak in the views
and take some pictures.
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| Dix, Dial, and Bear Den |
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| The Great Range from the shoulder of Noonmark |
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| Me and the Great Range |
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| Marcy sticking her head out |
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| The sun still making its way up into the sky |
It was pretty cold and the wind didn’t help. After my
fingers started to go numb, I made my way back to the trail. At this point, I
still wasn’t feeling my best so I stood there trying to decide if I should push
on or not. My knees were already starting to bother me and I wasn’t looking
forward to hiking out in the dark which looked to be inevitable at the pace I
was going. After arguing with myself for a few minutes, I decided it would be
best to quit while I was ahead and hike back out.
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| Noonmark through the trees |
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| Just in case you thought it was a hand trail |
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| Going down |
On the way down I encountered 2 groups of people headed up
to Dial and Nippletop. They were impressed thinking I had already summited Nippletop
and Dial coming from the opposite direction until I informed them otherwise. After
hiking back down the road, I took a quick detour behind the guard’s cabin to
take a look at the Ausable River.
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| Bridge over the Ausable River |
After walking by the golf course and admiring
Giant’s looming presence, I walked across the street to quickly hike to the
base of Roaring Brook Falls.
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| Giant keeping watch over the golf course |
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| Zoom view of Giant's summit and slides |
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| Panorama of Giant and the golf course |
The falls were icy and gorgeous. I also took a
trip across the brook to check out the campsites there.
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| Icy falls |
After hiking back to my car in the Ausable Club lot and
chatting with a father and son (I assume) heading out for an afternoon hike of
Round Mountain, I drove back to the inn for a shower and a nap. After I woke
back up, I headed back into Lake Placid for dinner before calling it an early
night and going back to sleep.
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| The infamous barn |
In the morning I woke up feeling better and
packed up to head home. After a stop for breakfast in Lake Placid, I started
the drive home a different way than I normally go. I stopped at a fishing
access point on Upper Saranac Lake, part of the canoe carry from Stoney Creek
Ponds to Upper Saranac Lake. I walked across the little bridge there and
checked out one of the campsites on the lake.
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| Checking out the campsite on Upper Saranac Lake |
I then drove down Corey’s Road a
bit just to see what it was like.
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| Corey's Road |
After stopping for a few quick photos at
Tupper Lake, I drove by the sign pointing to Buttermilk Falls and immediately
turned back around to go check the falls out.
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| Buttermilk Falls |
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| Me and the falls |
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| Canoe carry |
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| Cool trees, "I'll never let you go!" |
I spent some time wandering
around there admiring the falls and exploring the canoe carry. I finally got
back on the road for good to complete my drive back to Rochester.
So, it wasn’t exactly the trip I had planned but I still
enjoyed my few days in the Adirondacks away from home. I got to see some great
views from the shoulder of Noonmark and had a chance to check out a few places
I hadn’t been before. Dial and Nippletop will be waiting for me another day,
hopefully one with longer daylight hours.
