Hola: Fall Camping and Hiking in the Adirondack Mountains!!

Just returned from 3 days of camping and hiking in the Adirondack Mountains in eastern New York State. Let me tell you. . .it was so BEAUTIFUL! The colors in the leaves were very bright -- showing yellows, oranges, reds, greens, and shades in between. The hills and mountains were EVERYWHERE. We (as in myself and three other friends plus another friend for the day) explored the Lake Placid, New York portion of the Adirondacks. . .which is where most of the High Peaks are located.

I've learned lots of things during this trip. The first being: ALWAYS CARRY A MAP OF THE HIKING TRAIL FOR THE DAY. The first full day we were there (after arriving around 1:30 am on Saturday morning), we ended up going about an hour hiking out of our way because the trail was unmarked and we didn't have a map. We were trying to find the trail to reach the summit of Whiteface Mountain, which is the fifth highest mountain in New York. We were hiking that trail because if we were to take a car to the summit, we would've had to pay over $40 total just for that portion, since it cost about $11 for the driver and car, and $8 for each additional passenger. Crazy pricing!

So yes, needless to say, we were pretty upset. We had hiked for an hour and had to start over again. We ended up going on the right path this time though. . . and came across a climb that was extremely steep. I thought the hike up Devil's Lake in Baraboo Wisconsin was intense, but that was before I saw this trail. It was completely rocky, and it was like climbing steep stairs FOREVER. The hikers we came across told us that was the most intense part of the climb, and that it was about a mile long. HOLY CRAP! We climbed up those rocks though, but it was starting to get late and we were exhausted after hiking over an hour out of our way and using our energy to start over again. It was an amazing view at the top of that steep climb though. It was BEAUTIFUL.

We decided to end that hike after that. We were hungry for food, and just wanted to relax by the campfire after the intensity of that. It was my favorite part of the day, besides the amazing view. We made rice with veggies, and it was OH. SO. GOOD. Smores were also part of the meal, and that was thoroughly enjoyed by mostly everyone.

The next morning, we got up early to get a head start on the day. We were out of our campsite around 9 am, and made it to the parking lot of Adirondack Loj, which is where there were a bunch of different trails, most importantly the one leading up to Mount Marcy. After talking with the office staff, we learned that we were starting pretty late. For future planning: MAKE SURE TO START THE HIKE TO MOUNT MARCY SOMETIME BETWEEN 6 AM AND 8 AM. It is definitely an all day hike, with a round trip hike total of about 15 miles, which means that it should take most people between 5 and 8 hours to reach the summit of Mount Marcy.

Our goal then (after learning we started too late), was to reach Indian Falls, which was a little more than halfway towards the summit of Mount Marcy. The trail was really nice. . .it wasn't too steep, and was flat in a few areas. We passed Marcy Dam, which was about 2.5 miles into the hike. Also for future planning: IF YOU WANT TO CLIMB TO THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT MARCY, IT IS A GOOD IDEA TO CAMP NEAR MARCY DAM THE NIGHT BEFORE. That way, you can get a head start at a reasonable time and reach your campsite before dark.

The view from Indian Falls was gorgeous. We could see Mount Marcy in the distance, and there were a few other mountains in view. We ate lunch there (it was a bit chilly, but such a nice lunch stop), and then decided to climb to the top of Tabletop Mountain.

A bunch of hikers told us (as we were climbing up and they were climbing down) that they had gone to Tabletop Mountain, so we figured since we had climbed that far already, might as well climb to the top of that mountain. Just so everyone knows, that trail is not clearly marked AT ALL. Anyone climbing the "trail" is just following the brook and rocks towards the top of the mountain. It felt like we were bushwacking, only there were no bushes to wack. There were lots of roots, and lots of mud. LOTS of mud. We made it though! There was a sign on top of the mountain that said TABLETOP MOUNTAIN, and even though the view wasn't as nice as we expected, it felt amazing to have reached the top of that mountain. We made it to the top of that mountain at our turn around time, which was 3:30pm, and I am SO happy we were able to do that.

We made it to the parking lot by dark (we were pretty tired from walking though), and enjoyed a pb&j sandwich right outside the car. It was great.

That night, we ate pasta, and baked potatoes using the fire. It was so great to enjoy the last night of camping, before we needed to head out of the Adirondacks and back to the real world. I would definitely love to do it again (HOPEFULLY NEXT YEAR!) and I'd be much more knowledgable of what to expect in doing these two hikes again. I really want to try for these two again next year. I am determined to make it to the top.

I have left some photos to share from the trip. I highly recommend anyone interested in hiking the Adirondack Mountains to go out and do it. You'll be pleasantly surprised!

This is us at Lake Placid, New York. This is the Saturday morning we had gotten to the campsite super early. We were in town to grab extra supplies we had forgotten, and to wait for Abdul, who was joining us for the day. From left to right is Brittany, myself, Andrea, and Abbie.

This is a photo from the top of the steep hike on the trail to Whiteface Mountain. It was a great view and I'm so glad we made it through the mile of intense climbing/hiking. As you can see, we were super excited to reach that point.

Panoramic View

Group photo op on Sunday morning, on our drive to Adirondack Loj, which would be where one of the trails to Mount Marcy begins.

This is what the trail to the summit of Mount Marcy generally looked like. The leaves were very colorful and this was the most prettiest trail we had hiked on all weekend.

Brittany and I at Marcy Dam. Such a precious moment.

The view near Marcy Dam was fantastic. There is a campsite (actually a couple of them) very close to here. I wouldn't mind waking up to this view in the morning.