Behind the Scenes: Adirondack High Peaks Backpacking Adventure

On Friday May 19th, Dane and I hopped into the car after work and traveled northeast towards Keene Valley, NY to hike a few famed Adirondack high peaks. The first evening we camped at Sharp Bridge Campground about 15-20 minutes south of The Mountaineer, our first stop in the morning to grab last minute supplies before living in the wilderness for 3 days. We stayed at site 30 that evening, and had the pleasant surprise of fully stocked firewood and hot showers in the morning!

The following morning we made our way to The Mountaineer, a one stop shop for anything you could imagine needing in the great outdoors. We started out from the Roostercomb Trailhead and hiked up to Valley View ledge and Roostercomb peak in the first few miles, dropping our heavy packs whenever possible. We continued onward, traveling approximately 5 miles on the day, chowed down on some much needed food, coffee, and experienced a gorgeous sunset that evening.

Eventually we figured out the right way to pack the annoying but required bear canister into our packs. Only took us about 4-5 different tries!

The weather was incredible that day, with nice warm sunshine all day long

On Sunday we woke up early with some fresh legs and got warm breakfast and oatmeal into our belly’s. We slung the packs over our backs and trekked on to see the view at the summit of Lower Wolf Jaw. We were able to drop our packs at the intersection for the Johns Brook Lodge, and loaded up a light day pack so we could essentially rock climb our way up to the summit of Upper Wolf Jaw and it was worth all the effort it took. We then carried onto Armstrong mountain a mile away and scaled a rickety ladder and some offer cliffs and we were up to the summit with the best view of the trip. With snow capped Marcy and Algonquin in our sights we munched on our Clif bars and caught our breath for a half hour. We then headed back to our packs and hiked along a nice creek where we were able to filter some much needed cold mountain water. We found a beautiful campsite down the trail a ways and even went for a quick dip in the cold river, it was unbelievably cold, but refreshing!

It was so steep, that on the way down the easiest thing to do was slide!

Some rugged trails!!!

Mid-trail portraits

Much needed coffee after long day on the trails!

Playing in the stream!

 The final day out, Monday, started with a steady rain that continued on and off throughout the morning. It really made the forest come alive with all the colors and rushing water. We must’ve traversed 10-20 different tributaries of John’s Brook by the time we made it back out to the town. The trip ended with some pizza and beer on the way home, I’d say a proper ending to any great trip!

John’s Brook Lodge, quick rest and some more Clif bars before the final 3 mile push out of the woods.