An Impulse Adventure on Whiteface Mt.

 

Yesterday afternoon at 2:38 pm I decided to drive up the Memorial Highway on Whiteface Mountain. I had thought I would wait until today or tomorrow (Indigenous Peoples Day) but the forecast for both days in that area was for rain and the Highway closes for the season after tomorrow. The gate closes at 4:45 so I took the shortest route through Bloomindale and Franklin Falls. There was a line to go through the gate and I got to the gate at 4:40, one of the last allowed up. 

I was also one of the last to come back down because I stopped to photograph the sunset at the Lake Placid turn. The temperature at the summit was 36° F with a fairly stiff wind. I should have had a better coat and gloves but I didn't stay long enough to get chilled. The lines to ride the elevator were ridiculous so I hiked both ways from the parking lot to the summit.

I shot this phone photo on the way down. The rest were shot with my Olympus OM-D E-M5 III and 14-150mm lens, the same kit that I broke on my last trip up Whiteface. It survived unscathed this time (see the July 19 post).

All these photos were made at the Lake Placid turn, the next-to-last hairpin turn going up. The ones above and below were made on the way up.

This is one of only 3 shots on the summit. The cold was bitter and there were mobs of people so I abandoned the summit after a few minutes.

On the way back down I pulled over before the LP turn because there were already several cars parked along the turn and people watching the sunset. Across from where I parked the light from the setting sun highlighted the grass in contrast with the rock.

Lake Plaid in shadow as the sun sets (below).

I shot this with some trepidation. I thought that shooting straight into the sun might create massive flares but the camera handled it and even defined the sun's disk. I did have to do quite a bit of post-shoot editing in Lightroom. I shoot everything in RAW so I had enough dynamic range to pull out the level of detail I wanted.

This one also required post-shoot editing to create the separation of the receding mountains and to cut the digital noise in the foreground.

The last photo (above) required the most editing using both Lightroom and Photoshop. It is my favorite from this mini-adventure. I think I need to get out early or late more. Between getting older and Covid I have been photographing mostly in mid-day for several years now. 

I hope you enjoy the photos of my adventure. I do sell prints (hint, hint). If you are interested contact me. I encourage sharing of the URL to my blog and also of my Zenfolio site, jimbullard.zenfolio.com, but ask that you respect my copyright and do not repost any of my work without permission.

30th Anniversary as a 46er

 On July 17th of 1993, I completed climbing all 46 Adirondack High Peaks with an ascent of Whiteface Mt. in Wilmington, NY. I was the 3232nd person to be recorded as a 46er. In the 3o years since then, the total has risen to over 13,000. On the 15th anniversary of completing the quest, I drove up the Veterans Memorial Highway, and while on the summit I decided that I should commemorate the day every 5 years. On both the 20th and 25th anniversaries two 46er hiking friends joined me in climbing. This year only one, Dave Allen, was able to join me. These photos of this year's hike were shot on a GoPro with the exception of two which my sister-in-law shot on her phone as Dave and I reached the summit.

The trail from the Weather station HQ dips through a small valley and then goes up, straight up, where the Marbl Mt, T-Bar lift once was. Marble Mt is a sub-peak of Whiteface as are Lookout and Esther.

And more up. Imagine going up this for almost a mile and that is the start of the hike. That is what you do here. This is the toughest part of the ascent because it is steep and unmaintained with loose rocks and roots with no switchbacks. Just straight up.

After almost a mile the trail levels off onto the summit of Marble Mt and joins the trail from the Wilmington reservoir. That trail comes in from the left in this photo. We hiked that route on the 25th anniversary, It isn't as steep but starts much lower on the side of the mountain and is farther to walk.

We wandered over to the left a short distance to see the view. The smoke from wildfires in Canada was blowing over the area severely reducing the visibility and we could smell the smoke.

Turning right at the junction the trail heads along a ridge that connects Marble Mt. to Whiteface Mt.

The ridge goes up and down over rocks and roots through a stunted forest. It's a hard life for trees up here.

There's more up than down and this goes on for nearly 2 miles before you get to steep climbing again.

Along the way, there is an old shed where ski patrols stored rescue toboggans. 

When we did this hike 5 years ago they were finishing up work on this ski lift for the Whiteface ski area, It is right next to the trail and the "Lookout Loop" ski run crosses the trail in two places.

The lift was running and I mused that maybe next time we could ride up to this point, jump off, hike the rest of the way to the summit thus skipping all that we had hiked to that point, and then reverse it to get back down that way. Dave liked that idea.

The trail goes up more seriously from there until you reach "the wall" which is a retaining wall for one of the hairpin curves on the Veterans Memorial Highway.

The trail turns left along the base of the wall and heads up toward the Highway.

Where the wall ends you have to scramble up the rocks on the left and continue.

The trail parallels the Highway for a while with views of the road and the mountains behind you.

It wasn't quite so smoky on this side and we could see Esther Mt. (right over the deadwood) and the hump on the right edge is Lookout Mt. where there was a lodge/snack bar for skiers back when the ski area was on this side of Whiteface.

A short distance farther on you get a view of the summit.

Dave and a couple who were heading back down (they had passed us going up) looked off toward the other side of the ridge where there was considerably more smoke.

Looking down through the smoke at the ski area.

It is pretty open the rest of the way up.

Dave and I arrive at the summit. Photo by Kathleen Bullard with her phone...

She and my brother Pete drove up the highway to give us a ride back down. Thanks, guys. This makes around 8 times I have climbed Whiteface and going back down is always the hard part. You are tired after the ascent and gravity is not your friend going down. I have only fallen and injured myself (minor scrapes) twice while climbing, both times while descending. Dave and I are both in our 70s and we are already 46ers so we get to ride down but if you are doing it for the record to be a 46er you must hike both ways for it to count.

The summit photo by Kathleen.

It was an awesome day in spite of the smoke.