Highpointing New York: Mount Marcy

Why Mount Marcy

I decided on a whim to head up to the Adirondack Mountains for the Fourth of July weekend to hike, without a plan to necessarily hike the highest point in the state. This was before I realized there was such a thing called “highpointing.” Before hiking Mount Marcy, I had hiked other highpoints in New England but for no reason other than wanting to hike the most challenging mountain whenever I am hiking somewhere.

It’s a 4.5-hour drive from Boston up to Keene, NY, not too bad a trip. I stopped for lunch in Lake George, NY. A great place for people watching, especially over the fourth of July weekend.

Arriving at the hotel, there was plenty of daylight left, so I dropped my things and headed to scout the trailhead for Mount Marcy. I am so glad I did because the views as you approach the high peaks region are beautiful.

Scouting The Trailhead

When I am hiking in unfamiliar areas, I tend to scout the trailhead in advance if possible. I tend to start for these types of hikes before the sun is up in the morning. When driving to a trailhead, I am focusing my mind on the hike, and the last thing I need is to get lost or turned around looking for the trailhead or parking.

I already had a plan to use the Van Hoevenberg Trail, and the parking for it is at an ADK campground with a big parking lot for hikers. The fee for parking all day was $15.

While scouting the trailhead, I learned that the lot fills up early in the morning, and after it does, parking is scarce at the base of the ridge as they don’t allow parking along the sides of the dirt road leading to the campground.

The weekend I was up there in the Adirondacks, everyone talked about the pending thunderstorms, which was something on my mind, especially after the folks at the ADK lodge drilled it even further into my head.

Hiking Day

I set out for the trail just before 6 am and enjoyed the first rays of sun hitting the Adirondacks’ mighty peaks as I made my way back to the trailhead. I got to the lot and was surprised to see there were many cars there already.

The Van Hoevenberg trailhead is on the other end of a long narrow parking lot opposite the ADK building. There were 3 groups of people walking around me, and I was not pleased.

One of the main reasons I hike is to escape into the woods and experience nature in my own ways, without the chatter of groups of people around me. So I hustled to the logbook, noted my information, and off I went. I got out ahead of the groups and passed by another group pretty quickly and finally was alone.

The trail starts in a typical meandering fashion not too dissimilar to many of the mountain hikes in New Hampshire. But at about the 3 or 4th mile, the uphill work began, and I found myself hiking a boulder field nearly the majority of the way up.

I Make A Friend

About 2 hours into the hike, I came upon a man aggressively pursuing the boulder and exposed root systems which the trail mainly consisted of at this point. He was moving so swiftly and with grace up this super steep section of the trail wearing Chuck Taylor low tops, leggings, long-sleeved shirt under a mesh tank top, with a windbreaker tied around his waist. I admired his tenacity and no-bullshit approach. I found it hard to get by him because we moved at about the same rate.

We reached a point where the trail ahead was especially technical, so both stood there planning our route. At this point, I broke the silence and introduced myself, and complimented him on his hiking skills. He returned pleasantries, informed me his name is Tony, and insisted I lead for a while. Off we went.

It was nice having a hiking buddy who was out there for the same reasons as I was, which was to hit the trail hard and test our physical limits. Neither of us spoke, just kept a comfortable presence for one another. This went on for about an hour.

False Peak And Fog

After about 3 hours, we reached a false peak, my hiking buddy still with me. An ADK trail steward was waiting there, happy to chat us up. We did chat while I shifted my layers for the new environment at this altitude. I watched as Tony kept going on without me.

Just short of this false peak, we nearly reached the tree line at this point, which came with a thick fog cover. The steward warned of the pending thunderstorm and that once above the tree line, there won’t be any cover. I acknowledged the warning but confirmed I was determined to reach the summit, and I wished her a good day as I continued.

Final Push To The Summit

The trail opens up above the treeline, and with the thick fog, I needed to increase my focus to stay on the trail. The system of cairns was well-established, so it wasn’t hard to follow. There was no catching quick Tony so I just moved along at my normal pace figuring I’d meet up with him at the top.

As you approach Mount Marcy’s summit, the last half mile is pretty challenging and reminded me of Mount Washington. You need to do some scrambling through the rocks using both hands in places. At this point of the hike, my legs were pretty shot, and I recall needing to keep my mental focus on getting to the top and not stopping for a bunch of breaks.

Another Peak Bagged

I reached the top in about 4 hours which is what I was expecting. Unfortunately the top was completely fogged out and there was zero view. In fact, I could see maybe 20 feet in front of me as I ate my lunch. Tony found me and we sat together for a while and chatted. Turns out he too decided to hike Mount Marcy on a whim. He drove through the night from Syracuse and actually slept in his car upon arriving in the ADK region and then up and hiked the mountain the next day!

Tony was an inspiration to me to just be myself in life. The guy was truly an original, and I am so thankful to have met him that day. His lunch consisted of a bag of cooked brown rice-like porridge which he drank from a zip-locked baggy. Love it!