PEAK 1, BIG SLIDE

8.7 miles | Rugged

When I first moved to New York, I learned that there’s a mountain range in eastern New York called the Adirondacks. I had never heard of it, and I didn’t even know there were really any mountains in New York. Then again, I’ve never been farther north than Maryland and parts of Pennsylvania, and that area isn’t mountainous. I knew, of course — everybody knows — about the Great Smoky Mountains, the Appalachian Mountains, and the Rocky Mountains, and I know there are more mountains up in Maine with Acadia National Park, but I really didn’t know about the Adirondacks. I’ve traveled more on the west side of the United States than the east.

It rained for most of my drive up to the Adirondacks, and since I was going to be camping, I was hoping the rain would let up while I set up camp. It finally stopped — just spitting a little bit. I arrived about 30 minutes before sunset — definitely later than I wanted to, but I still had time to set up my tent. I knew there was going to be a parking fee, but I didn’t realize it was cash only. That was kind of stupid on my part. I didn’t have any cash, so I rushed to the nearest open place I could find. I packed light and didn’t bring my debit card, so I went into a restaurant and asked a worker if she would mind if I Venmo’d her $15 in exchange for $10 in cash. She was super nice and said yes. Luckily, the restaurant was only five minutes from the trailhead, so I drove back, paid for my permit, and went to find a campsite in the woods.

In the Adirondacks, you can camp 150 feet away from the road, or trail, unless posted otherwise. I looked around for a few minutes to find a flat spot that also wouldn’t flood — it had rained all day and was going to continue to rain, so I wanted to stay as dry as possible. Once I pulled out my tent and realized there were no stakes! The last time I went camping was in Big Sur in March, and we must have left them there since we left before dawn to photograph Keyhole Arch. So, I made makeshift stakes out of sticks. Not the start I was hoping for on my first Adirondacks trip.

Once everything was set up, I crawled into my tent. I wasn’t calm — I was in the middle of nowhere, by myself, in bear country, and I had never camped alone before. It was windy, and you could hear the trees creak, groan, and bellow. Some of the sounds I couldn’t even tell if they were trees bending or animals. Let’s just say I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep. When I woke up around six, I lingered in my sleeping bag with my eyes closed for another half hour or so, hoping to drift back to sleep, but it didn’t happen. Outside, the tent was soaked from the rain, but inside I was still completely dry.

I started to pack up and checked my makeshift tent stakes — they all held up, so kudos to me! I packed everything into my car, grabbed my camera bag, and started my hike up Big Slide. The trail started out really nice, and it wasn’t very steep at first. The woods were beautiful, the trail mostly dry, and the sun broke through the tree canopy. That didn’t last long. The trail quickly became extremely steep, muddy, and wet, and most of it was rock scrambling up a mountain creek. The higher I got, the more intense the scramble and the muddier it became.

I stopped often to take photos, film, and rest. The first big break I took was at the First Brother, where there’s an amazing view of Upper and Lower Wolfjaw and the whole range. I should mention — my pack was way too heavy. I brought so much gear: my camera with a lens attached, two other lenses, a gimbal, a GoPro, a tripod, a first aid kit, extra batteries, a lens cleaning kit, extra GoPro batteries, an extra layer, sunglasses, a hat, keys, wallet, and phone. My pack weighed about 35 pounds. Let’s just say future hikes will be lighter. But hey, what a workout!

It rained on and off the whole way up, mostly light but occasionally heavier. It even sleeted a few times after 3,000 feet. When I arrived at the summit, it was too cloudy to see anything — thick fog everywhere. After a few minutes, it cleared enough for me to get some shots. Around then, a group of Russian Canadians showed up, also talking about the fog. When it cleared, I said to them in Russian, “Finally, we can see the mountains.” They looked surprised, and we ended up having a great conversation on the summit. It was one of their birthdays, and they invited me to take a shot with them at the top of the mountain. Definitely a core memory from my first day in the Adirondacks.

I finished my snacks (which should’ve been more than just protein bars and jerky) and started heading back down. I left a few minutes after the Russian Canadians, and on the way down, I didn’t see another person. I knew I was the last one on the mountain, so I was extra careful on the wet rock and muddy scrambles. Honestly, going down was harder than going up!

Going up had taken longer than expected, and I lingered too long at viewpoints trying to get footage, so the second half of the hike back I really had to pick up the pace. I stopped taking photos and just focused on moving. About a mile and a half from the end, the sun was getting low, and I didn’t want to get caught in the dark. I jogged whenever I could, constantly checking my AllTrails map to see how close I was. I made it back to the parking lot about 20 minutes before sunset — so relieved.

I immediately made one of my dehydrated meals, a two-serving mushroom risotto, in the car and ate the entire thing. I was starving! I was also dead tired — the most worn out I’d been in a long time. I was so tired that on the way home I pulled over to nap, finally getting home at 4:30 in the morning.

Totally worth it. Great time. Completely exhausted.