Our annual trip to the Adirondacks is now behind us - and what a great trip it was! We left the Church parking lot at 2:15 on Friday, and around 6pm we were checking into our campsites at Heart Lake Campground. We got our campsite set up and started into cooking a supper of beef burgers, veggie burgers, and boiled potatoes. Before sending them to their tents at around 9:30 we had the Scouts prepare their day packs for the next day, so we'd be ready to go quickly. Typical for a Friday evening at camp, the Scouts were in high spirits and had a difficult time getting to sleep due to their excitement for what was ahead.
Saturday
Saturday we had tight timelines since the trip to the peak of Algonquin and back would be 8 to 10 hours, depending upon our group's abilities. So we woke the Scouts at 6:30 and fed them a breakfast of oatmeal since it was quick and a great choice for fueling such a day. At 8:15 we were at the trailhead ready to go.
We asked the Scouts to divide themselves into 2 groups - "fast" and "slow". And they would all prove to have chosen wisely. The fast group set out along the trail while the slow group waited in line to sign us in. Trail rules state that large groups have to split up into smaller groups and leave 10 or 15 minutes between themselves. Before long the slow group was on their way as well.
Slow Group Report
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| Park of the slow approach to the mountain |
Since I was with the slow group, that is the one I am reporting on. Spirits were high as we were making our way along the shallow approach to the mountain. The first hour was a relatively easy hike that was not even as difficult as our practice hike in the Gatineaus, but gradually the terrain became steeper, and there were more-and-more boulders in our path. At about the 90 minute mark two of our new Scouts started to show some signs of trouble, so we stopped for a break and had them strip off a layer of clothing since they were still dressed for the chilly morning. We got underway again and everyone quickly got their second wind, which lasted for most of the rest of the day. It was not until we were in the home stretch of the last 45 minutes or so on the way out that some Scouts started to lose steam again.
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| Some of the easier parts were engineered staircases |
It was a long, slow, steady climb up the mountain, with plenty of challenges along the way. At times the trail was relatively easy, but mostly there were steep inclines and technical "scrambles" of boulders to traverse. There were very few complaints and mostly exciting talk of what we were doing.
We made our way up the mountain, taking lots of short 2 or 3 minute breaks to catch our breath and refuel with either food or water. When we got to the branch point where we had to decide between Wright and Algonquin - which was about 80% of the way up - we met up with the fast group and had some discussions on what to do next. The fast group headed out after a few minutes and we decided to take a nice long break and discuss which peak we'd challenge.
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| Stopping for a Rest |
Two of our six Scouts wanted to go to Wright - the easier of the two - and the rest wanted to head for Algonquin which is where the fast group went. We let the Scouts discuss the matter for about 10 minutes, and the 4 who wanted to tackle Algonquin managed to convince the other 2 that this was the right choice for the group. And there were certain no regrets at the end of the day!
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| The official peak marker |
After a good 30 minute break we set out for Algonquin. We agreed that we'd take it slow-and-steady, with lots of little breaks. And that is exactly what we did. As we were finally cresting the peak almost an hour later, we met the fast group who had just started to head back. They halted their retreat and we all hung out on the peak together for 10 minutes or so.
It was a gorgeous sunny day with hardly a cloud in the sky, and the view was absolutely spectacular. We ate a high-energy lunch to fuel our descent, and after about a half hour we started to make our way back down.
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| Ready to head back down the mountain |
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| Refueling our water at a beautiful waterfall |
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| Making our Way - yes that is as steep as it looks |
The descent went more quickly, although the last hour was a bit of drudgery for a few of the Scouts who had finally lost their steam after a very long day of hiking. We made it back to our campsite at about 5pm for a total hike of about 9 hours. An hour later that fast group arrived at which point we started to cook supper.
Our supper was a fantastic meal of various Indian curries, cous cous, and boiled potatoes. Everyone was stuffed!
As dusk set in we hauled out the hot chocolate for a well-earned treat.
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| Wright Peak was where we'd go if the group was not feeling up to Algonquin |
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| The official peak marker |
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| Group photo at the official peak marker |
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| Yes, this scramble is as steep as it looks |
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| You can see Heart Lake to the bottom left of center. That is our campsite where we started. |
Sunday
After such a long day on Saturday we decided to let the Scouts sleep in on Sunday. We also made a point to have a nice hot, cooked breakfast since we only had time on Saturday for instant oatmeal. We cooked bacon, pancakes, and spring rolls for our vegetarian.
We then had to pack up all of our gear before heading out on our hike. We were a bit later than expected and it was not until about 11:45 or 12:00 that we were finally heading out to Rocky Falls. Compared to Saturday this was a leisurely hike on relatively level terrain with next to no vertical. It took us about an hour to hike in. We stayed for about an hour and had a good swim, ate our lunch, and then headed back to our vehicles to hit the road for Ottawa.
A couple of the Scouts presented the idea of having supper in Cornwall instead of Saranac Lake, so we put the idea to the group and this is what we decided to do.
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