Adirondacks '12: Day 2

"Setting up Camp, Hiking to Rocky Falls and Mount Jo"

Trip report in diary format. Brother Eric's account of the day is here, here, and here.

7:27am
We're up and getting ready. I slept well. The original plan was that we'd all go to Walmart, but John and Phil were up early, and figured they could go get the things we need. That's fine with me. When they get back, we'll re-load the van, then get a quick breakfast and hit the road.

8:56am
The boys are back from Walmart with groceries and now we're packing the van. I have no idea how we're going to get even more in the van than we had yesterday.... Oh, Phil got me a $3.50 pair of sunglasses. I like them as sunglasses, and I *love* that they cost $3.50!

9:27am
We did it, everything is loaded - I don't know how. We're hitting the McDonald's drive-through for Egg (or Sausage) McMuffins and coffee. It's a bright sunny day, and already quite warm, and we're looking forward to getting to the campground.

12:05pm
We're unloading the van and settling into our two campsites at the Wilderness Campground at Heart Lake. Eric and I will be in site #9, and my tent is already up. The rest of the guys will be in site #10, and that's where we're setting up the "kitchen" and Phil's pavilion (dubbed the "party tent"), where we can take cover if it rains. The sites are shady and secluded, and there are no sites here that I’d rather have. The day is quite hot and somewhat humid, but there’s a breeze, and it doesn’t feel bad. I'm very happy to have arrived.

1:46pm

Phil, John, Ted, Dave below Rocky Falls

We finished setting up camp, had a quick lunch, changed into hiking clothes, and are ready to hit the trail. We stopped in at the High Peaks Information Center, but there were no rangers to talk to, so we’ve decided on a short hike - we’ll hike to Rocky Falls, a bit over two miles away, then come back via the summit of Mount Jo - which is a short climb, though steep in places, leading to a fantastic view of Heart Lake and the surrounding high peaks.

2:47pm
We’re at Rocky Falls. It was a very pleasant hike to get here. We ran into a ranger on the trail, who was pleasant, but our conversation with him was frustrating. He was a young guy, and John asked him a few different times to recommend a good hike besides for Mt. Marcy (which we *are* doing.) He said a lot of words, but never answered that simple question.

The trail hit a rocky stream, and we could hear the waterfall a short distance away. When we walked toward it, a dog started barking, and alerted two sunbathing ladies to our presence. We chatted a bit and explored the waterfall. It was very pretty, a 6-8 foot chute coming through the rocks, then over, and had a lovely-looking swimming hole at its base. We were all ready to jump in, but we didn’t have towels, or any other way to dry our feet - and hiking in wet feet the day before attempting Marcy wouldn’t be wise. So we passed up the swimming hole, regretfully - though there was talk of returning another day.

4:19pm

Heart Lake from the summit of Mt. Jo

Ted and I are at the summit of Mount Jo. When we got to the connector trail, Phil and Eric decided to head back to camp and start preparing dinner. We needed ice and firewood, and the camp store closes at 5:00 - so we didn’t think we could do Jo and get back in time. John started with Ted and me, but then decided to join the guys at camp. I had forgotten just how steep Mt. Jo is in spots. But the view from the top is fantastic - you're high above Heart Lake (and it feels like you're looking straight down at the lake), and a number of the high peaks are spread out around you. We’ll sit on the rocky summit, sip a Gatorade, and enjoy the view.

8:28pm
It's a perfect evening - warm and beautiful. There are many empty campsites, though I imagine they’ll all fill up tomorrow for the weekend. We’ve finished dinner, which was a feast: marinated chicken breasts, baked potatoes, green beans, and salad. There was some disagreement as to how the potatoes should be cooked, and the result was potatoes charred beyond recognition - completely black and possibly useful as hockey pucks. Much fun was had with our carbon lumps.

Cell phone service is spotty to non-existent. I thought there'd be service if we walked up to the lodge, but there isn't. The lodge does have Wifi, but it might be the slowest I've ever used. We're basically disconnected - and that's fine.

9:49pm

We've been sitting around the campfire talking and having a beer. There's talk and some prep for tomorrow's Mt. Marcy hike. I’ve also gotten my guitar out, and it’s a whole lot of fun to have it here. Today is one of the longest days of the year, and it’s not completely dark out. I’m happy (and a little surprised) that it's still warm - I'm in shorts and a t-shirt. Four years ago we were here at the same time of year and we were bundled in fleece and huddled around the fire to keep warm. Everyone's tired, and we'll be hitting the sack soon. We want to get an early start on Marcy.

10:15pm
Nite nite.