I never wrote about that 13-hour hike due to laziness, but here it is...
Last time we went hiking in the Adirondacks, we went for the loop of Saddleback and Basin which should've taken us 11 hours. It was very steep, but considered as the most beautiful and challenging trails in the region...and I completely agree. That hike ended up taking us 13-14 hours...
I brought my cousin, who is young, fit and loves climbing, Christina, who is fit as well, and Johnny who isn't so fit and did not sleep the night before. He couldn't follow us at a good pace so Christina stayed with him because she didn't want to leave him alone. Me and my cousin waited for them at every intersection because we didn't want them to get lost. At every intersection, we waited 20-30 minutes, which you might think isn't a lot, but that added up to two hours of waiting time.
Around 7PM, we arrived at an intersection with a stream, so we stopped to get water and to wait for them. It was getting dark and there were thunderstorms and light rain. We waited for a good half an hour before they arrived, and we started getting cold. At that point, there was still a little more than 11 km left. Me and my cousin thought it doesn't make sense to wait for them at the next intersection under the rain and in the dark, so we told them where to go and asked them to meet us at the car.
If you've ever been on a long hike, you'll know how demoralizing it is to hike with someone who is much slower or much faster than you, which is why we separated into 2 smaller groups. Shortly after we separated, the sky turned completely dark and the rain got heavier...which is quite scary because I've never hiked in such darkness before. We finally reached the car a little bit more than 2 hours later. I decided to drive to town to get some food while my cousin stayed there to wait for them.
When I started driving away on that small road, a police car stopped me. I was like...uh oh. He said that someone from Montreal called because he didn't get a safety call that he was supposed to get. I wondered who could that be, and it turned out that it was Christina's husband. I explained the situation to the police, and talked to the husband on the phone. The police was really helpful and suggested that I contact the rangers if I don't see them after an hour, which is time that should take them to come back. He also showed me the way to the closest place to get food. At that point, I started worrying for them because I forgot to ask them if they had a headlamp!
After buying food. I drove back to the mountain and luckily, Christina and Johnny, came back safe! Thank god.
I was really tired that day, and had to drive 2 hours to go back to Montreal. I remember how pissed I was at Johnny, climbing those steep rocks on the upper mountain, ascending Basin in the rain, running short of water, getting my slave-cousin to go get water in the stream, how scary it was during the last few seconds of sunlight, panicking but trying to remain calm, the smoke blurring our sights a little, coming across nocturnal animals, being scared of bears coming for us...but now looking back at it, it was so much fun and so many good memories!
It was definitely one of my most memorable hikes!
If you've ever been on a long hike, you'll know how demoralizing it is to hike with someone who is much slower or much faster than you, which is why we separated into 2 smaller groups. Shortly after we separated, the sky turned completely dark and the rain got heavier...which is quite scary because I've never hiked in such darkness before. We finally reached the car a little bit more than 2 hours later. I decided to drive to town to get some food while my cousin stayed there to wait for them.
When I started driving away on that small road, a police car stopped me. I was like...uh oh. He said that someone from Montreal called because he didn't get a safety call that he was supposed to get. I wondered who could that be, and it turned out that it was Christina's husband. I explained the situation to the police, and talked to the husband on the phone. The police was really helpful and suggested that I contact the rangers if I don't see them after an hour, which is time that should take them to come back. He also showed me the way to the closest place to get food. At that point, I started worrying for them because I forgot to ask them if they had a headlamp!
After buying food. I drove back to the mountain and luckily, Christina and Johnny, came back safe! Thank god.
I was really tired that day, and had to drive 2 hours to go back to Montreal. I remember how pissed I was at Johnny, climbing those steep rocks on the upper mountain, ascending Basin in the rain, running short of water, getting my slave-cousin to go get water in the stream, how scary it was during the last few seconds of sunlight, panicking but trying to remain calm, the smoke blurring our sights a little, coming across nocturnal animals, being scared of bears coming for us...but now looking back at it, it was so much fun and so many good memories!
It was definitely one of my most memorable hikes!
