My first thought was “wait…we aren’t camping?”. Roger, my friend from college (SUNY Buffalo – Horns Up!) messaged me and asked in early June if I wanted to go up to the Adirondacks with him and his buddy from kickball. Always itching to get up there every moment possible, I obviously said yes. I’d find out we were to perfect the art of super glamping (glamorous camping. Pretty much no actual camping done here) …something I hadn’t really been exposed too and man was it awesome (don’t worry, I still do enjoy being smelly in a tent and keeping it real with nature – but I could get used to appreciating a nice glamp every once in a while). We had a room in the Northwoods Hotel on the main strip in Lake Placid with plans to drive up Friday, June 15th and hike Esther and Whiteface on June 16th. We arrived on Friday night and ate a spectacular dinner on mirror lake, walked down the strip, and prepared our packs for the next day’s hike(s) (we would end up doing TWO separate hikes – Whiteface and Esther and then a sunset hike of Big Crow. You’re going to want to see the sunset photos from Big Crow with the sun setting over the Great Range. They are EPIC.).
Waking up from a FULL night of rest on a comfy hotel bed, we sprung to action early. We drove up Rt 86 to Whiteface Memorial Highway, where we veered off to the loop parking area at the base. The drive from Lake Placid to this trail head was about 40 minutes. We were on the trail in the 6 AM hour and had most of the trail to ourselves with only a few others out and about at that time. I was stoked, Roger was amped and Tyler was super pumped to be awake, alive and hiking.
After gearing up as the second vehicle in the parking area around 6 AM, we were off! Roger up ahead and Tyler to the right.
Just under a mile in from where we parked, we emerged at the lookout from Marble Mountain. This was exciting, as we had blue skies, great weather, and awesome views already. The photo below is from a clearing off the left of the trail to Whiteface and Esther.
View from the Marble Mountain Lookout
After stopping to soak in the mountains for a few minutes, we strapped our bags back on and trekked onward and upward. Along the way, there were a few nice openings where we were exposed to some views of the distant mountains.
Continuing up the trail we came across some sweet spots with views.
Roughly 2 miles from the trailhead, we came to the junction for Esther Mountain. We wanted to save Whiteface for last (you should too), so we grabbed a quick snack and began our journey up the unmarked trail to Esther (Whiteface is marked). The wooded trail wasn’t too bad at all and only gains about 200 feet in elevation over 1 mile.
Around 2 miles into the hike, we came to the junction to Esther Mountain.
The wooded nature of the trail to Esther was so cool!
The path to Esther is wooded, but you can certainly peek through the trees to make out the shape of Esther as we approached.
A couple of minutes before we reached the summit of Esther, we came to an opening that gave us this incredible peek at Whiteface to the right and the High Peaks Wilderness in the distance to the left. This was my favorite shot from Esther.
Just before Esther’s Summit, great views of the High Peaks Wilderness in addition to Whiteface to the right.
We trekked on for another 10 or 20 minutes and reached the summit of Esther Mountain where we were greeted by a dedication plaque commemorating Esther Mc Comb for being the first to summit the mountain in 1839. It’s so CRAZY that she was 15 years old and from Troy, NY (approximately 2.5 hour CAR RIDE from the mountain). This plaque is not actually the original but rather a replica placed after the original was taken to the Adirondack Museum.
Plaque on top of Esther Mountain.
If you stand on your tippy toes, you can get a decent view of Whiteface, but the peak is mainly wooded. Shout out to Osprey for making dope backpacks! Totally loving mine after the first couple of uses. Also shout out to Patagonia for being awesome. I guess I can get pretty photogenic on the mountain sometimes…
Summit views from Esther.
After a little time on Esther Mountain (it was some time around 9 AM if I am remembering correctly), we began down the same unmarked trail that we climbed up to get back to the junction. After reaching the junction, we veered right and began the rest of our journey up Whiteface.
On the trail to Whiteface before we crossed the ski runs.
As you near the exposed section of the top of Whiteface, you cross over a few ski runs. I am pretty self aware that winter is my season and walking across the ski runs got the winter adrenaline pumping for a split-second.
First ski run crossing.
Going into the woods again, we hiked for a short distance before coming out at the top of one of Whiteface Ski Resort’s lifts. We totally had to check it out! The photo below shows Roger and I walking up to explore with Tyler taking the photograph.
Second ski trail crossing at the top of one of the lifts. Obviously we had to explore. Pictured: myself and Roger. Photo credit: Tyler
Below is the view from the top of the chairlift! SO SICK.
Views atop the chairlift.
We continued and were like little kids on Christmas. The views kept getting better and better as the trees got smaller and we neared the exposed part of the hike.
Kinda miss the white stuff.
Eventually, we came to the road – Whiteface Memorial Highway. This is a pretty cool mountain because people can drive up to a parking area and then hike up a short section to the peak. This is awesome for older people or people who can’t complete the entire hike up because they still have access to the amazing views!
At this point we reached the road!
The trail never crosses the road. Seeing where the trail was to take us had my head over heels in excitement. I freaking love scrambling and climbing over large rocks!!!! One of my favorite parts of hiking.
This whole part was my absolute favorite! I love, love, love rock scrambling and the entire way up was just that with killer views!
The entire rest of the way to the peak was exposed and we sure did take in every view and every angle that we could.
As we climbed, the views kept getting better.
Below is an amazing view looking east that shows the ridge line that we hiked up from where the trail meets the highway. In the far distance, you can see Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains of Vermont.
Up and up the ridge we went!
We arrived at the peak and had to get the required photo in front of the Whiteface sign…it’s obligatory!
The Summit of Whiteface!
At this point, it was still before noon! We crushed it like orange crush. SO MUCH TIME FOR LUNCH AND TO CLIMB AROUND ON ROCKS AND BOULDERS!!! We scoped out a lunch spot and made our way towards it.
Lunch spot sighted from a distance.
We ate and took in what was before us. Below is a photo of our lunch spot views and the rocks that we climbed on.
Couldn’t get enough of the views.
I have never seen Lake Placid from this vantage point. It was really sweet to see how big Lake Placid is (the actual lake itself…not the town). This is definitely up there as one of my favorite views that I’ve experienced in the Adirondacks.
Humbled and Tiny
As we prepared to leave, a family with a young girl walked by. She asked her dad “where are they going?”. Her father exclaimed that we were going to hike back down the mountain. She looked at us like we were nuts that we didn’t drive up. Who knows…maybe the views at the top will eventually convert the little girl to a hiker as she grows up! We aren’t too crazy!
We hiked back down and arrived at the car around 2 PM. 8 hours for 2 peaks with time spent at both – not bad at all! Travelling back into Lake Placid, we hung out and then ate an amazing meal outside at Smoke Signals BBQ along the strip. Totally recommend this place. We discussed the possibility of a sunset hike and decided to do one. We google searched and came across the 0.7 mile Big Crow hike as a possibility. We decided to do it and made our way 15 miles east on Rt 73 of Lake Placid to Keene to access the trailhead. 200 yards past the intersection with Rt 9N, we turned left on Hurricane Road. Around 2 miles off of Rt 73, we veered left onto O’Toole Lane for 1.2 miles. O’Toole Lane is a dirt road. Once we reached the parking area, we basically sprinted up the mountain because dusk was already upon us. Man oh man did we make the right sunset hike choice. If you’re looking for quick hikes that give a sweet vantage point for a sunset, I recommend Big Crow. It only took us 15 or 20 minutes to get up.
The sun begins to set – view from Big Crow.
Casting shadows
Mr. Moon says Goodbye to Mr. Sun.
The sun set on yet another incredible weekend. Every weekend is amazing in the mountains! Whether rain or shine, snow or heat – each one is a privilege. I absolutely loved sharing this one with my friends Roger and Tyler and look forward to getting up here again some time with them. Climbing Whiteface and Esther mountains brought by Adirondack 46er total up to 30! Next up for me is a Sunday hike of Street and Nye (likely solo) followed by a trip through the Dix range with my dad. Looking forward to more awesome adventures!
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I also would love to hear more about your own adventure stories! If you’d like to share your story on social media with To Summit Up, just tag @ToSummitUp on Facebook or @tosummitupblog on Instagram or Twitter. Additionally, I have just unveiled contributor posting on To Summit Up’s website! Just go up to the “Share Your Story” tab and fill out the form with your post and photos. If you would like photos to be embedded within the post itself, just let me know where by saying “insert photo of me looking super candid on the rock at the top of the mountain here” or something like that within the actual post itself :). I have a couple of contributor posts in the works from two very near and dear people and can’t wait to expand the information and adventures that To Summit Up shares. This is my first time trying out this method for guest posting, so if any issues arise or if you have any comments/suggestions, feel free to give me an email at tosummitupblog@gmail.com. Looking forward to it!
Peace out.
-Ryan
