Pitchoff Mountain Winter Hike

To hike or not to hike.  That is the question on my mind after a bbm conversation that I had with my boyfriend Thursday night.  After our backpacking trip last September, I was not too keen on the idea of revisiting another mountain.  It was such a morale crusher to feel like you are letting everybody, including yourself down because your body is giving you all sorts of sign to not continue.

I slept and thought about it.  Did I really want to go?  Not at all.  All I wanted is to have a quiet weekend with my boyfriend.  I have no plans and I was not planning on being a third wheel on anyone's date this weekend, so, despite my internal struggles, I gave in and went on this trip.

And what a trip it was!  It was filled with laughter, hurdles, amazing scenery, and adventure that none of us expected.  We started our day at around 8am.  Everybody prepared themselves for this trip by packing their backpacks with food, water, and additional clothing for the unpredictable Adirondack weather.   By 8:30, we are on the road for an adventure.  We made a pit stop at Bean to Coffee at Saranac Lake for some caffeine boost.  This is where I have tasted the most amazing Chai Latte that I have ever had.

Adirondack Bean to Coffee

Another stop at a local Stewart's and we are on our way to Keene Valley to the Pitchoff mountain trail.

The trail started easy, very slight elevation with no snow on the ground whatsoever.  About 15 minutes of hiking, that's when the heavy breathing started, and it became somewhat of a struggle.  About 5-10 minutes later, we encountered our first puddle.  Little did we know, it was one of many.  The whole time we were all chit chatting and zig zagging our way on this trail.  The elevation started getting steeper as we reach the summit.  In no time at all, snow blanketed the grounds.  I don not even remember when all this started.  The place looked magical as we were surrounded by snow covered pines.

The hike got very tricky going from one summit to the next.  We climbed boulders, slipped and fall on ice that covered the rocks on our path, got a little lost, as the trail marks on the summit was covered in snow, but eventually found our way.  We climbed a total of five peaks on this trip.  And what an accomplishment it was going from one peak to the next.

Descending from this mountain was not a joke.  Every step that we made was very calculated as most of the snow turned into ice and our path became so slippery.  Part of the trail has a steep drop on one side and is definitely not for those who fear heights.  There's a few rock jumping and lots of tree hugging on this descend.

The descent from the fifth summit was not easy either.  I feel I like was going down an 85 degree angle drop just taking one step at a time on these clusters of rocks.  At some point, my knees were shaking to say the least.  After five miles of going up and down Pitchoff mountain, civilization is within our sights.  Not for long.  The two mile hike back to the car was the most tiring part of this hike.  Walking on hard pavement was not easy.  I have found a new found respect to distance runner.  How they do it, I could not even fathom.

This trip is definitely one for the books.  Amazing views and great company is what made this experience so memorable.  The irony of this is, all along, located directly across from Pitchoff mountain is the mountain that made me feel like giving up, Cascade Mountain, the last hike that we did last September.  As for now, mountain hiking is something I would definitely do over and over again :o)