Logistically, doing what I love on the weekends is always a challenge that I enjoy planning and executing. I don’t just dream of being outside and getting to the mountains when I have “open weekends” – I try to make it happen. Even if it involves driving nearly twice the time it takes to complete a hike, sleeping in my car, and completing this all within a 24 hour period. This is exactly what I did the weekend of June 7th and 8th. I crave the mountains.
June 7th was a day of celebration. It was one of my longtime friend’s birthday weekend and we were celebrating at another friend’s cottage on Port Bay in New York. Saturday started with a little smack talk with the soon to be boat driver. I pretty much taunted him saying that he couldn’t toss me off of the tube. He begged to differ. Commence the tube rides of my life – super intense – filled with sideways tubes, hovering above the water, and saucering into the water after I was finally defeated! The rest of the day was filled with water skiing, burgers, and cake. And then it was early evening and everybody was headed home. This is where my mountain craving took over. It was roughly 5:30 PM and I was about to drive 5.5 hours up to the Adirondacks to hike Street and Nye Mountains out of the Adirondack Loj. Crazy? Nah…Passionate. I left the cottage with excitement bubbling knowing that I get another day in the mountains.
Arriving at Loj Road off of Route 73 in the Adirondacks after 11:30 PM, I was in search of a spot – any spot – where I could park my car and crash (not my car…) for the night. I found just the spot in a parking pull-off before one of the bridges before the Loj. I pulled off and reclined my seat and gazed up at the stars. It is absolutely amazing how much you can see on a night without the heavy light pollution of a city. I gazed for about 37 seconds and then I was out. I woke up shivering a few times during the night realizing that I forgot a blanket. Covering myself in a towel and clothes from the previous day, I made due and got my sleep.
Right at the crack of dawn, as the sun began to shine through my windows, I was up and ready for action. I drove the short remainder of Adirondack Loj Road to the Loj parking area ($10 parking fee), parked, and hit the trail ready for the 8.8 mile day. Right off the bat, Heart Lake got my excitement brewing and my enthusiasm for the day going!
Morning Fog over Heart Lake
Eventually, as you walk along the trail (past the Mt. Jo turnoffs), there is a junction for the Old Nye Ski Trail. This is the one to take. I turned right and was off.
Make sure to take the “Old Nye Ski Trail” at the beginning!
Also, the trail is unmarked beyond this point, but you are able to stay on and locate the trail with relative ease.
The trail up is unmarked, but relatively easy to keep track of
The trickiest point is the stream crossing (about 1.2 miles in), where I rock-hopped across. I bet this gets tough during periods of high flow. The levels were pretty low when I crossed, as this summer hasn’t been filled with much rain. I did have some trouble locating the trail on the other side on the way back from both mountains. When I was standing in the river unable to locate where the trail picked up, I kept my cool, got out my compass and map, and figured out what direction Heart Lake was from me. After a bit of exploring the river, I found it. You should always have a map and compass!!
Stream Crossing
Being on my own and with this being a shorter hike (took me 6 hours with about 45 minutes at the peaks), I took the time to slow down and appreciate the eco-systems around. Taking in as many parts of the trail and environment around gives me a greater appreciation for where I am and is super important! The journey is just as beautiful as the peaks.
Amazing and diverse eco-systems along the way!
More exploring of a sweet hollowed out log!
Hollowed Out Tree
After I began to gain in elevation, I came across the first rock outcrop that provided me with some stellar views. What a day!!!
First peek at the peaks
I did Nye first (to the right from the junction). The junction to get to both mountains is pretty close to the summits. Both summits are within a mile of the junction and getting to the peaks doesn’t take a whole lot of time.
Made it to the Summit of Nye! Elevation 3,888 feet. Number 31 of 46 Adirondack High Peaks for me.
Nye was a pretty cool summit, but definitely does not provide much of a view.
Summit Views from Nye…
After a couple of battles with flies, I made my way over to Street Mountain. At this point, it was sometime around 8:30 or 9 AM. I was crushing it. The trails throughout this hike had awesome mossy rocks, streams, and trees as shown in the photo below.
Mossy Rock
After getting back to the junction, I sailed up the trail to Street Mountain. This was the 32nd high peak that I have completed!
Summit of Street! Elevation 4,150 feet. My 32nd Adirondack High Peak!
The peak itself is wooded and does not provide any views, but after some exploration, I found a rock outcrop off the backside that gave an incredible view of Wright, Algonquin, and Iroquois. I ate my peak snacks, cracked open a 10AM mountain peak beer, and enjoyed the views. After a bit of enjoyment, the flies started to find me. You can even see a black blur (a fly) in the photo below. They love to irritate me by flying to my ears!
Just over the Street Summit, an opening provided this view of Wright, Algonquin, and Iroquois left to right).
At this point, it was time to turn around and head back down, as I still had a 5.5 hour drive ahead. Along the trail on the way back, I came across some rusted out cans (three groups of them). I am not sure what they are from, but it looks like they have been there a while. Keep the environment in mind peeps!
Old Rusty Canisters along the trail
More Rusty Things…
I made it back to the car at noon, left, and got back home around 5:30 PM. To Summit Up, I drove up to the Adirondacks, slept, hiked, and drove back all within a 24 hour period. The things I do for the mountains! I am fully hooked and love every bit of being up there. The freedom, the physical workout, the feeling of accomplishment, the views…I could go on and on! Dirtbagging it and sleeping in the car is one way to make due pretty cheaply up there. I am guessing this definitely won’t be the last time that happens. Another successful weekend in the books.
Thank you for reading! You are awesome and I appreciate you! To Summit Up has some big things coming up including the unveiling of the To Summit Up Podcast and apparel, which will be hopefully out within the next month or two (podcast much sooner). If you haven’t already, give To Summit Up a follow on Facebook, Instagram, and twitter!
Signing off,
Ryan
