David Knauer from UNITED STATES writes:
On November 18th, 2015, I completed a solo summit from the ADK Loj. The hike was beautiful and a relative walk in the woods until the last mile and a half or so before the summit of Wright Peak. Even at this point, the trail had become coated in ice but micro spikes served as sufficient traction. During the last 0.4 miles of ascent, the trail became a scramble up an absolutely ice encrusted terrain, during which I regretted not bringing crampons and an ice ax. I had noticed the wind picking up during this time. Upon emerging from the treeline, I was struck by the force of wind. Traveling from the treeline to the summit, approximately 300 yards by my rough estimate, took a full hour. During this time, I scrambled and still fell during outstanding gusts. I am an experienced backpacker with over 150 nights of camping, a frequent rock climber, and a collegiate rugby player, but the power of this wind was incredible. This was only my 3rd time peak bagging, but that's probably obvious since I had not checked the weather at the peak. This peak, as I learned later, has a reputation as one of the windiest 46ers. Enjoy the ride.
2016-02-10 |