Algonquin / Wright
March 25, 2005
 
Date Hiked : March 25, 2005
Mountains Climbed : Algonquin
Wright
Weather : 20° - 25°f
Trail Length : 8.6 Miles
Participants : Ed
  Photo Journal
   
 
March 25th delivered mixed weather conditions. If you were on the summits before 10:00am, you were in high winds and less than 100 foot visibility. In the afternoon, you had clear skies and great weather. Since I am an early riser, I caught the worse weather.

Leaving the Adirondack Loj trail head at 6:45 am, I had a good start to accomplish my goal, Algonquin, Iroquois and Wright. The trail was well packed all the way to the 4000-foot level. There several sections of the trail were ice covered and the assistance of instep crampons became necessary. As I was reaching tree line, the winds were becoming apparent, and they were estimated around 30-40 mph sustained. Mixed in with the wind was a constant presence of ice crystals that blasted your exposed skin. Visibility was between 50 to 100 feet, just limited enough that you could not see from one cairn to the next. When I was about 200 feet from the summit, I looked back and could not see any signs of my route up.

I lingered long enough at the summit to look out in all directions before I retraced my disappearing steps. Since I could not see any trace of the route going over to Iroquois, I decided to go back. No sooner did I get back to tree line, that the weather patterns started to change and I could see between the coverage as much as a mile.

Heading over to Wright was much easier as I now had visibility up to two miles. Wind gusts still remain as well as an occasional cloud passing by which left you in a white out condition. I was back at camp by 12:30 and already the skies were clear and calm. Next time, I will wait for a later start.