Writing this two years after the fact, this was my first time ever climbing a serious mountain. Previously, my only experience hiking had been around Pennsylvania. Unsurprisingly, I was not expecting the difficulty and rigor commonly found in the Adirondacks!

I set out in my 2002 Subaru Outback with three nearly bald tires for Lake Placid, NY. My plan for the week was to hit up the daks, meander over to New Hampshire, and finish by climbing Mount Washington… Eating only Cliff Bars.

I parked at the Connery Pond Landing trail head, and arrived shortly at the northeast shore of Lake Placid. From there, the trail got progressively more technical and steep. The trail runs up a creek bed at one point, which had me lost for the first time in my life. Luckily, OsmAnd gave me my orientation pretty quickly. Two or so hours later, I made it to the top! At the time, it was the most breathtaking view I had even seen!

I made it back down the mountain and drove to a nearby lot to sleep the night. The next day, I had planned to climb Gothics via Lower Ausable Lake. Unfortunately, this would be the way I learned a hard lesson about proper nutrition and rest; I simply could not make it. I summited Indian Head and made it to Rainbow Falls, but had to call it a day there. I was too wiped even to continue to New Hampshire. I went home.

Despite the disappointing end, I had an absolute blast and learned a lot from this trip. It fueled my love for hiking and paved the way for me to conquer more challenging mountains in the future!