Adirondack Peeks Summer 2023

MG: Every night we were exhausted. A typical day was highs in the 20s and lows in the single digits or teens, which was what I hoped for, so things weren’t melting or unbearably cold. We did get a couple of days above freezing, which was nice. During one section, we had a forty-eight-hour period that didn't get above 5 degrees. We had a couple of nights that were -10, and another close to -20. I was warm in my sleeping bag, but everything else is so hard to do when it's that cold. It was mostly, get to camp right at dusk, set up your gear, eat your food, get in your sleeping bag, and stay in it for about 12 hours. There was no hanging around, no drinking whiskey by the fire. SR: What were your meals like? MG: Mostly dehydrated dinners just so we didn't have to do dishes. I didn't really care what it was as long as it was hot, and I could eat it. Hot chocolate was nice to have and a cup of coffee in the morning, something warm to get me started. You know other trail staples no matter the time of year, chocolate, cheese, salami, summer sausage, something that will provide protein, salt, and makes you happy. A big favorite of mine is a Stewart's apple fritter. SR: Is there any concern with bears or protecting your food? MG: There are no bear can requirements in the wintertime. However, that doesn't mean they still might not wander through. A more prominent concern in the winter is the mini-bears, or the squirrels and chipmunks, that might like to nibble on your food and contaminate it. You still want to protect it somehow; I used a bear can or an Ursack. Last winter, hiking through the West Canada Lake section around West Lake and across the bridge to South Lake, we spotted very fresh bear tracks crisscrossing the trail. It was dusk, with snow gently falling, and the tracks hadn't been filled in yet. Bears are not true hibernators. They're winter sleepers, so they will wake up and wander around looking for a little snack on a warm winter day. The risk is significantly lower, but it's still there. I definitely slept with one eye open that night thinking of my food. SR: What wildlife sightings did you have and were there any differences between summer and winter? MG: We saw tons of moose scat and tracks around Moose Pond heading towards Duck Hole Lean-to. Between Shattuck Clearing and Long Lake there was more moose scat and all kinds of critter tracks. It looked like a city sidewalk covered in various imprints in the snow; however, none of these were human tracks. The trail was a critter highway. Sometimes, for miles at a time, I would follow bobcat tracks right down the middle of the trail. They'd cross the bridges and follow the trail just like us. They know the path of least resistance. I love seeing that! We saw huge piles of yellow snow, which I imagine was the moose, and we saw where a moose had bedded down for the night, but we didn't see a moose. They're out there though! In the summer, you see less evidence of animals unless you actually

that I could have seriously cut my foot and should have planned better. That water was cold! MG: We decided sneakers were better than barefoot because you could slam your foot on the rocks and your feet could go numb. The sneakers gave us a little extra grip too. We figured it was too deep to wear trash bags and too wide. The bags would rip by the time we made it across. SR: Is there anything else you want to comment on regarding other sections that were extremely challenging and took more planning? MG: The crossing at Ouluska Brook, right by the lean-to, where the trail crosses, was a mixture of snow, ice, and high water. It was pretty serious, but we were able to go upstream and find a spot to cross with trash bags over our boots. Also, when it was my turn to cross the ice bridge over Jessup River, the bridge collapsed, and I flooded one of my boots. Luckily, we were close to camp, and I was able to get a dry sock on and a plastic bag over my foot and get my boot back on. Another challenge was near Spruce Lake in the West Canada Lakes Wilderness; we swam through hip-deep snow. I was breaking trail on that section. And I’d pop up on an icy crust of snow and then take a step and sink in, up to my hips. It was like swimming while getting blasted by thirty-mile-an-hour winds off the lake. That was a miserable, rough period. SR: Did you sleep good on those nights? What was the average temperature?

SUMMER 2023 | 9