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Newbie possibly hiking Algonquin - need a lot of advice!!

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  • #31
    Glad you went for it! Now you know where you stand with the Adks, and you will have an easier time estimating for your future trips. A trip like that also lets you know where you stand, and what you have to do for conditioning to keep up with the older folks. Ha!

    Good luck in your future endeavors, and please feel free to ask away for more advice here or on VFTT. I'm sure everyone across these two boards will be happy to tell you their opinions.

    -percious
    http://www.percious.com

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    • #32
      Glad you made it up and out safely! I'm sure you learned quite a bit over the course of your adventure, especially the need for proper preparation (physically, mentally, and equipment-wise). But I wouldn't worry too much about comparing yourself with others hiking around you ... as it's said on the AT journal website, "hike you own hike" ... some of those folks who go zipping by you may be missing a bit of the experience (just my opinion). When my wife and I were hiking Mt Adams a guy went flying by us (near the summit), spent maybe 10 minutes at the top, and then took off ... seemed kinda strange to us 'cause it was beautiful at the summit, and we were reluctant to leave!
      My first high peak was 6 yrs ago, hiking Mt Colden with my oldest son (he was 20 at the time) ... and he was about 1/2 way through his 46 at the time ... so he was in pretty good shape ... plus he has a stride that's close to double mine ... it was fun, tough, and I slept like a log that night (he lived in LP at the time). We also did Seward, etc, later that summer (that was an overnight trip) and I was dragging at the end of that endeavor! I climbed Algonquin on Sept 11th, it was pretty wet and took me about 2 3/4 hours to summit. I lounged on the summit for a while, went over to Iroquois and had lunch over there ... then back to Algonquin, soaked up the scenery a bit more, then down the mtn, which took longer than climbing up (due to the slippery rocks).
      For your next adventure(s), you may want to climb Noonmark, Round Mtn, or Roostercomb, all in Keene Valley, all have great views. Or try Mt Adams (from Upper Works), 2.5 miles, a good workout, and awesome views from the partially restored fire tower.
      If you'd like to try something that doesn't involve climbing a mountain, but you'd still like a great experience, try and hike a portion or two of the Northville-Lake Placid trail.
      No matter what you do, be safe and have fun.
      sigpic

      Once a year, go some where you've never been before.

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      • #33
        Glad you went for it! Now you know where you stand with the Adks, and you will have an easier time estimating for your future trips. A trip like that also lets you know where you stand, and what you have to do for conditioning to keep up with the older folks. Ha!

        Good luck in your future endeavors, and please feel free to ask away for more advice here or on VFTT. I'm sure everyone across these two boards will be happy to tell you their opinions.


        Percious makes good points. You've learned something about your food needs, what clothing to wear and not to wear, your hiking style, the value of poles, how dark it is in the woods, and that you can't depend upon a cell phone. Probably lots more, too, and you will adjust and modify these things to suit your needs and desires as you gain experience. Don't get too hung up on the age thing, or who gets to the summit first, unless you're into competition (which is fine). And yes, ask questions, and read. It's how we learn.

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        • #34
          For you 46ers: what would you rank the difficulty of the round-trip trail from the LOJ to Algonquin compared to the other 46 peaks? I am wondering if this is generally considered one of the easiest or one of the toughest peaks. The distance seems a lot shorter than many hikes, but if there are steeper trails than what we experienced, I may be too much of a wuss to ever do all 46

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          • #35
            The steep climbs are the best part of the hike.
            From what I've done(28), that trail ranks in the middle(maybe a bit higher) of the peaks when it comes to steepness. But going out on the trails is what's going to put you in better hiking shape. Early this summer, I climb three weekends in one month, although already in good shape, my climb were getting easier and easier as the summer went on. Take Kevin for example, I sure he wasn't in the same climbing shape when he started, compared to now. He has climbed whole lot.
            Who needs a Psych when you have the outdoors.

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            • #36
              Etutt, you will find no universal agreement on hardest/easiest. Yes, probably there is a consensus that says Algonquin is not among the harder of the 46. There was a discussion about this (on this board?) a short time ago, and Cascade and Phelps were discussed as being among the contenders for easiest. I think most people usually respond by saying Cascade is easier, but that's not true for everyone. How much elevation gain there is over the length of the hike is one indicator of difficulty. Giant's ascent (from Rt. 73) is 3375 ft. and does that in 3 miles. Algonquin's is 2936 ft. (from the Loj) and does that in 4.3 miles. But this doesn't tell the whole story. You also have to take the terrain into account --muddy, rocky, ledges, blowdown, windy, wet, etc. Cliff Mt.'s current herdpath is only a little over a mile, but no one who has done it will tell you that makes it easy! You'll find that if you camp, you can do several in a trip, thus "shortening" the hike. It's been quite some time since I first climbed Marcy and I do remember it being hard (as you no doubt felt about Algonquin). Having climbed it several times since then, it is, for me, one of my "easier" ones. As Martin said, you will get better as you do more and regular hiking.

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              • #37
                I think Algonquin is one of the easier peaks. Its very accessable, not too too steep, and the trail is pretty we travelled. Thats not to say you can't handle all 46. You work up to it. You learn your limits as you go. Just remember, the mountains are going to be there later, so if you have to turn back, no big deal. Oh, and about cell phones. Please for all of us refrain from a summit call. It is bad taste. We go into the wilderness to get away from all that technology stuff... Some of us do anyway.

                -percious
                http://www.percious.com

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                • #38
                  Algonqin alone..... Yeah, I'd say pretty easy. All trails are different of course, but stacked against the rest, I'd say Algonquin is pretty vanilla. Some steep slabs up high, but it's pretty short.

                  If I can be honest (and I mean no offense), but I think your major issue would be time more than difficulty. Outsde of about 10-12 other peaks, your talking significantly longer distances. Based on the times you gave, you'll have to plan on quite a few overnights to complete them.

                  That's not a problem, just acount for it. Get a good handle on your hiking speed and style so that you can be properly prepared for those longer hikes. As others have said, "hike you own hike", just understand and what that is.

                  Glad you had fun
                  "I can feel your anger. It gives you focus. It makes you stronger. " Supreme Chancellor

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                  • #39
                    Originally posted by Mavs00
                    Algonqin alone..... Yeah, I'd say pretty easy. All trails are different of course, but stacked against the rest, I'd say Algonquin is pretty vanilla. Some steep slabs up high, but it's pretty short.

                    If I can be honest (and I mean no offense), but I think your major issue would be time more than difficulty. Outsde of about 10-12 other peaks, your talking significantly longer distances. Based on the times you gave, you'll have to plan on quite a few overnights to complete them.

                    That's not a problem, just acount for it. Get a good handle on your hiking speed and style so that you can be properly prepared for those longer hikes. As others have said, "hike you own hike", just understand and what that is.

                    Glad you had fun
                    Yes, I am hoping that as I get more in shape, I will be able to hike further. In fact, I doubt I could have done Algonquin at all in the shape I was before breaking my ankle. My buddy and I were joking that we were probably the most out of shape climbers to ever summit Algonquin. We were certainly the "biggest" hikers on the trail Not that we are big fat guys either.. just average couch potatos with little beer guts. Most other hikers we saw had some muscular legs and not much fat on em.

                    One another note, I had seen much of the 'dacks by car before this hike and always love looking at people's pictures on the net so I was suprised at how I had a very hard time picking out which peaks were which. On the ride to the Loj and around 73, I had no idea which peak was Algonquin. It's easy to say the 2nd highest one, but the region is large and it is even sometimes hard to tell which is the largest in a range. The topographical map we had helped us identify some, but it might be nice to tag along with another group of slow hikers who are familiar with the area next time. It would have been great to know wtf we were looking at!

                    Anybody on here have experience in the presidential range? How difficult is the hike up Mt Washington.. maybe something I should plan for next Summer or is that a large step up?

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                    • #40
                      One more post: here are the pictures from the trip..

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                      • #41
                        Originally posted by Martin
                        Take Kevin for example, I sure he wasn't in the same climbing shape when he started, compared to now. He has climbed whole lot.
                        Very true, although I did some preparation last year by doing night hikes here and there, Blue Mountain, etc... all part of getting me physically and MENTALLY prepared to hike more often, and specifically mountains. I've been defeated on many hikes halfway through, but found myself standing on the summit smiling with plenty more energy left for the hike out. It's sometimes as mental as it is physical.

                        As Dick explained, you have to take into account the overall trail when assigning difficulty. Giant is a moderate to steep hike from the beginning, and spreads those 3,000+ feet of ascent well over the 3 miles. Algonquin starts you off gradually and then turns up the juice for the last mile. I rank Algonquin as moderately difficult because of the total climb. Giant would also be moderately difficult because it's a similar grade climb but spread out better. Take Basin for example, a steep climb but not too awefully tough, but it takes you a while just to get there. Saddleback ends up being the same thing, because once you're on Basin it doesn't seem that far or hard to do, then you go over and face (literally) one of the steeper and more technically challenging of all the 46.

                        I had the exact same questions and fears as I started hiking. In time I discovered more about me and what fears I could overcome. F alse E vidence A ppearing R eal. There isn't a mountain in the Adirondacks you can't climb if you can climb Algonquin, you just need to believe it .

                        Percious -- I hiked with a guy in March and he called his wife from on top of Marcy, then sent a live picture-phone shot to her... talk about technologically addicted

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                        • #42
                          Originally posted by Kevin
                          I rank Algonquin as moderately difficult because of the total climb. Giant would also be moderately difficult because it's a similar grade climb but spread out better. Take Basin for example, a steep climb but not too awefully tough, but it takes you a while just to get there. Saddleback ends up being the same thing, because once you're on Basin it doesn't seem that far or hard to do, then you go over and face (literally) one of the steeper and more technically challenging of all the 46.
                          This is a perfect example of "why you should talk to lots of people" and get different views. People have widely different scales/benchmarks and what mountains are hard and easy.

                          For example, for my money, Basin and Saddleback do not even compare with Algonquin, I think they are MUCH more difficult, owning mostly to the fact that it 7.5 miles at least to get there. Plus the trail is MUCH more rugged. So right there, me and Kevin might not agree, one or two more people might chime in a throw other wrinkles into the mix.

                          If I may, might I suggest posing these questions a different way. Instead of asking "Is mountain X hard.", you might want to ask, "What can I expect on this route up mountain X". That way you can take that info and compare it to what YOU think makes a mountain hard.

                          For example, If you post a How hard is Giant, you'll get, HARD, VERY HARD, NOT BAD, STEEP, EASY, etc (depending on who you ask). But if you ask the what can I expect, you pretty much get (from most) a "Get out of your car, and start walking steeply uphill and it won't let up til you reach the summit 3 miles later. If your the type that likes a little flat walking to warm-up before walking uphill, you'll know for YOU, this one might be tough.

                          Once I started doing it this way, I started being able to better judge if I needed to allot more, or less time to a particular hike. This is just a suggestion, someone once told me about this and I found it helpful.
                          "I can feel your anger. It gives you focus. It makes you stronger. " Supreme Chancellor

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                          • #43
                            Originally posted by Mavs00
                            For example, for my money, Basin and Saddleback do not even compare with Algonquin, I think they are MUCH more difficult, owning mostly to the fact that it 7.5 miles at least to get there. Plus the trail is MUCH more rugged. So right there, me and Kevin might not agree, one or two more people might chime in a throw other wrinkles into the mix.
                            I guess my post wasn't clear, we're in more agreement than I indicated. Basin/Saddleback is one of the tougher climbs of the 46, maybe the toughest pair. Add in Haystack to the hike (as I did) and you may have the second toughest dayhike of the High Peaks.

                            [FYI -- doing the Seward range in a day was a bit tougher because of overall mileage and total ascent]
                            Last edited by Kevin; 09-23-2004, 09:11 AM.

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                            • #44
                              Congrats on setting a difficult goal for yourself and accomplishing it, etutt!

                              I have to agree with the consensus that Algonquin is not too difficult as far as "the 46" go. Personally I find long distances to be much more daunting than nearly any degree of steepness (I'm not particularly looking forward to hiking Allen next year, for example). Algonquin can certainly be rough in bad weather though...I had to abort a planned hike to Iroquois once due to zero visibility at the summit and 60 MPH winds coming (most inconveniently) right out of the SW. Lichens are pretty, but they don't really provide the best of possible shelters.
                              "Gentlemen! There's no fighting in here, this is the War Room!"

                              - from the movie Dr. Strangelove

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                              • #45
                                How about Sawteeth via the scenic trail and Colden from L. Colden for lactic acid lovers. Gothics via Pyramid's another. (I can't believe we hauled full packs from this route over Gothics to Saddle and Basin and then camped at Slant Rock on day 1 of a three day hike).
                                The best, the most successful adventurer, is the one having the most fun.

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