November 27, 2010 - Wright Peak

In an attempt to re-start a family tradition, a large group of us set out for an extended family hike on Thanksgiving weekend with the goal of topping Algonquin Peak. Jack had to head back home for the first day of his first job, but Rich, Craig, Kate, Rob, Cindy, Noah and Cal packed up the gear and headed to the hills. Snow on the roads made us get a slightly later start from the Adirondack Loj than we wanted, and the heavy snows really slowed us down in the early going (although it was a beautiful walk).

By the time we reached the first of the steep climbs, we were slogging through six (6) inches of snow on the previous day's ice, and even the micro-spikes couldn't prevent a number of slips and falls. We set a 1:00 PM turn around time to make sure we weren't hiking in the dark, and by 12:30 we had just reached the branch to Wright Peak (still 0.9 miles from Algonquin's summit). Kate suggested a nice picnic lunch and a return to the car, but Noah wanted to press on to one of the peaks. We decided to try and see if we could make decent time towards the summit of Wright. Less than a quarter mile up the trail, everyone had difficulty making headway on the ice, and we decided it was best to turn around.

Disappointed that we were so close, Rob convinced Rich to take a shot at reaching the top. The ice cover got consistently thicker as we ascended, and we received the added benefit of severe winds once we cleared the tree line. It was probably a good decision for the rest of the group to turn back, but we both think Cal would have made it (even though he probably wouldn't have enjoyed the severe conditions). Nevertheless, we made it to the top without incident, but nearly got blown off the summit by the strong winds. We stayed on the top just long enough to take a couple pictures and race back down through the wind to the tree line and then hustle to catch up to the rest of the group.

It wasn't much further past the juncture to the Algonquin summit that we started to hear a group in front of us talking about steam showers, and we knew it was our pack. It was an easy hike back to the car, but a slow drive through the snowy roads to the cabin. No new peaks this trip, but hopefully we've successfully re-started the Thanksgiving hiking tradition.