With UTMB just 4 weeks away, 'Bent and I headed to the Adirondacks for a mountain training weekend, as recommended by several friends. We loaded all our UTMB mandatory gear into our packs (it takes up a lot of space!) and brought clothing and shoes that may make the final cut.
Spaff had suggested a loop that he and Sneaker had enjoyed: Adirondack Loj, Marcy Dam, Feldspar Shelter, Mt. Skylight, Mt. Marcy, Adirondack Loj. We planned this for our first day and were happy to be joined by Ang (training for the TransAlpine Run) and Matt.
We were at Marcy Dam in that photo, just before we went orienteering inadvertently. Dee had been kind enough to photograph this section of her map since we wouldn't be able to buy a map until we arrived. I decided to take that printout rather than carrying the full map. Oops, turns out there have been some changes - maybe the result of Hurricane Irene, which wreaked havoc in this area. My map showed a trail around Marcy Lake that no longer exists but there are some old paths that fooled us for awhile, as the GPS track shows.
We spotted a sign and thought we'd found the trail but it was something else entirely. There was bear bait under this sign.
We finally bushwhacked across to the trail we needed after wasting half an hour exploring faint trails and scratching our heads. My compass stayed out for the rest of the day but I never needed it again, even though the trails aren't always well marked.
The scenery was terrific!
A lot of the trails here are not very runnable at the best of times, and conditions were extra wet and muddy today so it may not be accurate to call this a trail run - but we ran when we could, and I'm sure UTMB will involve a lot of speed hiking too so it was great training. This kind of terrain is much easier on my body than continuous running on rolling terrain. I guess it's because so many different muscles and movements are involved.
Even so, it's sad to see the min/km on this outing. But here's why...
Ang and 'Bent must have phoned each other to plan to wear their Hokas and matching shirts today.
We saw the sign for the turn-off for Mt. Skylight but it was confusing because we accidentally started going up a rocky creek instead of a trail. We backtracked to the saddle to see where the sign was really pointing. Oh... that creek *was* our trail. No wonder there weren't any switchbacks!
Sometimes we were lucky, and the rock jumble was replaced by big rock slabs - easier to climb up, as long as they weren't too slippery.
We'd been in the forest all day so it was great to get above the treeline on Mt. Skylight and see the views. We'd been warned repeatedly by descending hikers to be very careful of the wind and to put on all our layers. It was cold but I didn't end up putting anything on. Maybe they were from Florida.
We returned to the saddle, and this time we weren't fazed when we saw that the trail to Mt. Marcy seemed to be a creek - for the first while.
There's the peak of Mt. Marcy with hikers ascending steep, narrow trail through stunted conifers.
We loved the section of Mt. Marcy above treeline. In hindsight (i.e. now that I'm at our hotel, all warm and well-fed, and there is no chance of this happening), it would have been great to do a few repeats of just this part since it was excellent training for the Alps.
Can you find Ang and 'Bent?
I assumed the peak in that photo was a false summit since the peaks you can see from a long way below are *always* false summits. So it was pretty exciting to scramble up there and unexpectedly find myself on top of Mt. Marcy, the highest point in New York state! It was really windy.
There were staff members there to make sure the tourist riff raff behaved and didn't trample the alpine arctic vegetation. This is a very popular hike, although most people come up by a more gradual route.
The trip down had some steep rocky sections a few meters high. It was wet enough to make it a little challenging at times. At one point, Ang demonstrated how to fall down a cliff onto rocks below. :( Other than a painful thigh bruise, she was OK.
Eventually, we got to trail that we could run again - at least part of the time. It felt good! Best of all, I didn't turn my ankle, which was taped but not braced. If it can handle today, it should be able to handle anything if I can stay alert. Given that I'm targeting a 43-44 hr finishing time at UTMB, being alert is *not* a given.
Great day on the trails with excellent company! Ang, Matt, 'Bent and I went to Lisa G's for a huge meal afterward. That's why we run. :)
(Time/distance/elevation adjusted using Ang's GPS track of the route since I accidentally turned mine off for half an hour. Includes lots of stops!
http://ar.attackpoint.org/sessiondata.jsp?sessioni... )