Cascade and Porter

That really IS the ledge...and yes, Cate yelled at me and told me not to go any farther.
The final hike up to the summit of Cascade! FUN!!!!
Yeah....that's me after falling into a mud pit.
View from Porter Mountain, that's Cascade Mountain, the first peak we were on.

Cascade Mountain: 4098 feet

Porter Mountain: 4068 feet

Time: 7 hours

Accomplished: 2 of the 46 high peaks

Saturday morning got off to a great start. Cate got here at 7, and we were on the road by 7:30. We went to the Circle diner for some breakfast then had to make a stop at Hannaford's to get some Smart Water and snacks. Then we hit the north way en route to exit 31, Elizabethville. The ride was gorgeous, the weather was beautiful, and this time I was really annoying with radio channel scanning and wouldn't leave one thing on for more then 5 seconds. (Cate, sorry about that) We tried to prevent dehydration by drinking a butt load of water on the way, leaving us needing to stop off at every single rest stop on the way.

Finally, we reached the "High Peaks Area". I've been to Lake Placid before, but only for vacation, never to hike. I've seen these peaks before, but never did I really SEE them in this light, with this respect. The first brilliant thing out of my mouth was, "Whoa! They don't call these the high peaks for nothin'?!"

I guess the only thing that was going through my mind was, "OMG I'M GONNA WALK UP THAT?????" Like you mean, I'm gonna leave my car at the bottom, and walk up it??

We drove through Keene Valley and found tons of trail heads, which is awesome because now we are prepared for the next few hikes. We found the trail head to Cascade Mountain, and so did tons of other people. Cars were lined up all down the road. As we walked up to the trail head there was an ambulance waiting there. We signed in the register and began the ascend. About 15 minutes in we heard a chopper and I knew it had to be a rescue one because it was circling for a long time. After we heard it leave a few paramedics came down. Cate asked them what happened and they told us that someone had a heart attack. That was really sad and scary because every second counts in that situation and who knows how long it took before help got there.

Anyway....the hike up was AWESOME. We had to make a few stops, but we really are learning how to pace ourselves. It was during this hike, that I finally realized that I would probably benefit if I brought my inhaler. See, I try to make pretend that I don't have asthma. However in doing that, it still doesn't make you stop wheezing. LOL See, I perceived my being 'out of breathe', as being out of shape and being fat. Cate however snapped me into reality and told me HELLO YOU'RE FAR FROM OUT OF SHAPE AND YOU'RE NOT FAT. hahah Apparently she can hear me wheezing and said that it's a huge difference between that and being out of breathe. So yeah, albuterol for the next hike. Way to go Cate!

About two and a half hours later, we reached the summit. It was AMAZING with a 360 view, total bald rock on top. There was also a ton of people up there. To reach the top there was lots of rock climbing, which was pretty challenging and fun at the same time. The view was breathtaking, there was nothing like it. I was hooked right from the first moment, it's incomparable. I've never seen so many peaks in my life. There were people from the University of Vermont up there doing a survey that Cate so graciously agreed to taking a half hour of her time and filled out. I'm glad they were up there though because they knew which peak was which and also took our pics for us. We stayed at the summit for about an hour or so, then decided that since we were so close to hiking up Porter Mountain that we might as well get the two out of the way.

It was a nice hike between the two, but rather muddy. All of you who know me well know that that's one of the things I've yet to get used to, the mud. I hate mud. I hate being dirty. I will go well out of my way to avoid getting my boots in mud. Well, what a better way to get used to it, then dive in nearly face first. Yup..totally slipped on a wet tree branch that I was trying to walk on to avoid the mud...and in doing so fell IN the mud. I was covered!! Praise God I wasn't hurt. I actually couldn't stop laughing. My arm and hands were covered. We walked a little ways and then realized we had to use the remainder of my water to clean off my arm and hands. And a nice couple came by and gave up wet naps. (which are now on our ever growing list of things we need) So as we were just getting done washing off my arm, I turned around, not realizing my backpack was open...and my camera came flying out and smashed all the way down a rock face. We both just stood there with "OMG" looks on our faces. Believe it or not, after putting it all back together, it started right up and everything was on there. Again, that was a God thing!! All of this could have deterred us from getting to the summit of Porter...but we were so close we were NOT giving up.

Finally, summit of Porter Mountain. We were the only people up there, it was amazing. We looked over and saw where we were just sitting, on Cascade Mountain. Again, another 360 view but just not as high.

Around 5 pm, we started the hike back over to Cascade, to go back down. The hike down was characterized by me saying "OUCH MY FEET, MY TOES, OUCH, OMG THIS KILLS".....yeah, finally after all these hikes, I realized in the worst way EVER that my boots are the wrong size. Thankfully LL Bean's return policy rocks, because these babies are going back covered in mud and all. I obviously wasn't fitted properly. In the course of the way down, I hurt my knee, twisted my ankle, got blisters on my toes, and walked into a tree head first.

We reached the car by 7 pm. The MINI was the last one left on the road that was once littered with vehicles. The ride home took FOREVER, it was an inexcusable long time. See, we tried to follow route 9 down in hopes to find some back road diner or somewhere to eat that we could go in smelling and looking homeless, and me covered in dirt. No such luck though. Even the most remote places looked too dressy. We finally got back on 87 and stopped at the High Peaks rest area. Here I decided it was necessary to get my face wash and scrub my face in the sink in the bathrooms. A woman walked in with her children. I believe she was frightened at this sight because she did the, "Come here kids there's a crazy homeless woman in the rest stop area washing herself" kind of thing and like herded the kids over to her. This is why I came up with my shower idea. I think there needs to be a shower area right in Keene Valley. $20 for a shower. It will be nice, heated, very clean. Cate thinks it's a flop. I think it has potential. I HATE that feeling at the end when you've been sweating for the past 7 hours, you're sticky, smelly, and just nasty. I don't want to get in my car like that and drive for 3 hours. I wanna stop and take a shower.

Anyway, so Cate drove most the way home and we decided to go to Bob's diner, right across from my apartment. By the time we got there, I was so overtired and in so much pain from my knee, ankle, and head, that I was delirious. It was like 10:30 and it was all drunk college kids in there being obnoxious. I finally, walked in my door at 11 pm, took my shower that I was craving, called Angela (sorry Ang, I do not even remember that conversation, but I do know I think I just randomly said OK BYE hahah) then I passed out.

I missed church because I could not get up. And I couldn't walk. My ribs and back are bruised too. I don't get it? No idea how that happened. My mom asked if any of this stuff happens to Cate. Of course NO, just me. And best part is.....it's SOOOOO WORTH IT!!!!! I'd go back today, pain, bruises and all.

I told Cate I was a moron, she insisted no way, I'm a trooper!!

So there you have it my friends.

Two of the 46 high peaks down!!! We can now officially join the Adirondack 46r's!

Can I classify myself as rugged yet? Or do I have a ways to go?

I still did wear my diamonds........sigh...........