After my adventure climbing Saddleback Mountain I still had over a week left in my camping trip in the Adirondacks. My experience on Saddleback had really shaken my confidence in my ability to do this type of hiking. Being in the High Peaks of the Adirondacks was a bit more intimidating than it had been previously.

Originally I had planned three big hikes during my first week of a two week long trip. Each of these big hikes would include summiting at least one High Peak mountain. I wanted two of the trips to include summitting more than one of the High Peaks in a single effort. After my failure at Saddleback I no longer had the confidence in my ability to do that.

The original plan for Saddleback was to go out and back over three different mountains. After being stopped in my tracks at Saddleback I didn’t know what to do. My plan for my second big hike was to take on a loop route that would still take me over multiple High Peaks mountains. That meant I had to climb up one side and then climb down the other side of the mountain.

Descending Saddleback was where I froze up last time. I needed to find a route that would allow me to climb up multiple High Peaks without having to go up and over one side of the mountain and descend a different route. This way as long as I could make the climb up I should be able to make the descent back down the way I came. There would be no surprises.

Making new plans

Fortunately my guidebook included a route to climb Algonquin Peak. The route up to Algonquin included a branch that branches off and lead to Wright Peak as well. Wright is another of the Highs Peaks mountains. This route would serve my purposes perfectly. I should be able to climb two of the High Peaks mountains in one go using this route. As an added bonus the trailhead for this route starts at the Adirondack Loj, which is the trail head for other mountains as well, so if I completed that trip and had enough energy I could take on another mountain as well.

Algonquin Peak is the second tallest mountain of the Adirondack High Peaks. The summit is 5114 feet. Then after making that summit I would be summitting the 16th tallest mountain, wright Peak at 4580feet.

I was hoping to learn from my mistakes on my adventure to to Saddleback Mountain. My pace was a problem last time. I started off at a moderate pace, instead of just taking my time at a leisurely pace as I had previously. I also used my trekking poles the entire hike, instead of stubbornly carrying them all the way to the summit just to finally take them out during my descent. A couple of hikers asked me how I liked using the Trekking poles and I told them that they were game changers. I wished I had trekking poles on all my previous visits to the Adirondacks.

This would be a challenging and time consuming hike so I wanted to make sure I got an early start. I set out on the trail at 7 AM. This was a good and challenging hike. The terrain only got steeper and more challenging as the route climbed higher.

As a runner who has run up to 100 miles at one time and has run races with 6,000 ft. of elevation gain it can be easy to fool oneself regarding how well I will be able to cope with the terrain on a hike. No race I have done takes me straight up the side of a mountain with nearly 4,00 ft. of gain in around 4 miles with very little climbing. Most races I run alternate between climbing and descending with some flat running in between. But her on this hike it was all up all the time. Round trip the hike was 8.57 miles with 3,747 ft. of elevation gain according to my Strava.

Climbing Algonquin

On my way up to the summit of Algonquin I was happy to get tot he point n the trail that is the intersection of the trail that branches off to Wright Peak. That meant that I was starting to get close. Keep pushing up that mountain.

It is always cool to break through the tree line and start the section of the hike that is on mostly exposed rock surfaces. That is the kind of experience that I can’t really get in my local hiking where I live. It is one of the biggest reasons I enjoy venturing out to the Adirondacks.

During this hike I stayed focused on the journey. Keeping my legs moving as much as I could. I carried my camera, but I did not stop for any photographs until I reached the summit. I knew this was going to be a challenge so keeping my focus on the hiking was critical. Get the largest portion of the climbing done. Arrive at the summit, then enjoy the views and create some photographs.

It was still morning when I arrived on the summit. The day had not had time to warm up. Plus I was now at an elevation of over 5,000 ft. It was a bit cool up there. But the views were spectacular. The summit is actually pretty flat and provides a 360 degree view of the surrounding environment.

It was an interesting mix of sun and clouds. The sky was mostly cloudy. But the sun was trying to break through. The brilliant light form the sun was illuminating the clouds from behind. This was creating a dramatic backlight effect in the sky.

The interplay with the sun and clouds in the sky was not ideal for photography. It wasn’t giving me the kind of light I would love. And there wasn’t any beautiful blue skies that are always nice in a photograph that is going to feature sky and clouds. But it was still a stunning scene to be sure.

But, it was a bit cold on the summit and now that I wasn’t moving I was cooling off. I created a series of photos from various points on the summit. Then I started to slowly make my way back down, creating a few more images along the way.

There was still a lot of adventure to go. I still needed to get to Wright Peak.

Going down a mountain is always an entirely different type of adventure. It seems like it would be easy, but there are sections that are pretty steep and can take time to navigate. It is almost as challenging to hike down a mountain as it is to climb up.

Getting to Wright Peak

I was happy when I had descended enough to arrive at the junction of the trail that leads back up to Wright Peak. I was getting tired. Now was the perfect time for a break. I stopped to rest for a minute and get something to eat.

After a rest and a bite to eat I began the trail up to Wright Peak. Even though Wright Peak is more than 500 feet lower in elevation than Algonquin I think the climb up to Wright from that point may have been more challenging or at least more intimidating than reaching the summit of Algonquin from that point. There were some really steep section of climbing. Looking up towards the summit was nearly enough to stop me in my tracks. After my previous bought with my fear of heights this was creating a bit of anxiety in me.

But I was able to take my time and collect myself. Keeping moving at a consistent pace and not looking up too often helps. But it is so tempting to look up at what lies ahead. Head down. Keep moving.

Eventually I reached the summit of Wright Peak. I sat down and relaxed on the exposed stone summit. Trying to take a few moments to just relax and enjoy the view.

The summit of Wright Peak isn’t as expansive of a piece of land as Algonquin, but it still offers many beautiful views of the surrounding area. It is really a sight to see. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to climb both of these mountains.

After taking some photographs I was ready to start making my way back down the mountains. The plan was to get back to the trail head and then reevaluate how I was feeling. If I was feeling up for it I might even take on another mountain hike.

Ending the day

When I arrived back at my car I was feeling pretty good but I was definitely tired. I wasn’t sure I had it in me for another mountain hike. But I wasn’t quite ready to leave yet. Instead of leaving I opted for a nice casual hike around Heart Lake.

I was really satisfied with this hike. Having overcome the anxiety induced by my fear of heights on Saddleback and finding a way to continue my mountain adventures felt good.

I had wanted to also climb Whiteface Mountain while I was here in the Adirondacks. But in researching the route I saw some photos that made me afraid that it would trigger my fear of heights again. And with how frazzled I was after my last experience I didn’t really want to have that feeling again. I bailed on hiking Whiteface. And I didn’t have it in me to look into climbing any other High Peaks while I was here that were not already in my plans.

The hike that ended at Saddleback was supposed to take me to summiting Mt. Haystack. If my hiking adventures had gone to plan, by the end of this trip I would have summited 4 of the 5 tallest Mountains in the Adirondacks. I had summited Mt. Marcy, the tallest mountain, on a previous trip.

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