31st Anniversary as 46er #3232

 

On July 31st I made a pilgrimage up Whiteface Mt. in celebration of my completing the 46 High Peaks there in 1993. I arrived at the gate of the road at 8:42 am and awaited the opening at 8:45. I was the first in line, the only one in line, because it was heavily overcast at the summit. The attendant pointed out that there would be no view but I replied that there wasn't any view the day I finished either so it was appropriate.  I took my time driving up, stopping at three turnouts to take photos.

When I arrived at the Lake Placid turn (one of the hairpin curves near the top) I was in the clouds.

I had considered parking by the last curve where the hiking trail abuts the road and climbing the last bit but the point would have been for the views and there were no views so I drove on to the parking area by the 'castle'. The elevator is out of order again but I planned to climb the stairs and ridge anyway. 

I was alone on the summit (except for the summit building attendant) for 20-30 minutes and shot several photos.

Above is the viewing deck with a panoramic photo showing what you would see if you weren't in the clouds and naming the various summits.

When I started back down a few people were trickling up and when I was driving down the road there were cyclists peddling their way up. Personally, I can't imagine biking up Whiteface but people do it. The only worse uphill I know about in the ADKs is the road up from Keene to the crest above Cascade Lakes.

Cyclists riding up the Veterans Memorial Highway with Mount Esther in the background.

On the way up the road, I noticed a waterfall in the trees on the other side of the road and I stopped on the way down to photograph it.

There were actually three waterfalls, the two coming over the retaining wall on the left and a very small one coming out of the woods straight ahead in the photo above. I shot a number of photos there but had a mishap at the base of the nearer cascade in which I lost my grip on the tripod. The camera smashed against a rock and the lens broke off. A rather unsettling end to an otherwise pleasant morning. I went to the Wilmington A&W for lunch and then came home to arrange for repair of my camera. 

If you are interested in buying a print of any of these photos on the blog you can email me, jim.bullard@gmail.com