July 1981

Jeff, in the lead, stepped onto the summit of Haystack, stabbed his fist in the mist, and shouted "Give me a 4".

Jen, Jean, and I, a little ways back, chorused "4".

"Give me a 6"
"6"
"Give me an e"
"e"
"Give me an r"
"r"
"Give me an s"
"s"
"What does it spell?"
"46ers"
"Louder"
"4 6 E R S"

"LOUDER"
"F 0 R T Y - S I X - E R S"

And thus we became, by deed, if not yet by ink, Adirondak 46ers, on an on-again, off-again misty afternoon July 2, 1981. While we were on the summit the mist lifted to show us the spectacular Haystack vista - quite a change from two days earlier on the summit of Nye. Then as we departed Haystack via Little Haystack the mist again swallowed peak number 46.

We had hoped to complete the 46 last summer, but Jean got bad heel blisters and the doctor grounded (untrailed?) her, and hence us all, for the season. Six peaks were left: Marshall, Cliff, Street, Nye, Colden, and Haystack. So this summer we drove from Tulsa, arriving in Lake Placid on June 28, for the final assault. We planned long days on the trail, and this time of year is when the days are (almost) the longest.

Monday, June 29, saw us on the trail at 6:30am. Destination: Marshall, then Cliff, then back out for a hot shower after a hard day. It was a pretty day, and the trail past Marcy Dam, to Avalanche Lake, across hitch-up-Matilda, to the mouth of Herbert Brook was easy. The hike up the slides of Herbert Brook was neat walking. By noon we had 41 and counting. Four hours later saw us on the summit of Cliff and number 42. On the way out, via Lake Arnold, we missed our deadline for climbing Colden too, by one hour. Still, 2 mountains, 22 miles, and 14 hours on the trail was quite a day. That shower felt good.

The next day it was Street and Nye. After following the old Nye ski trail to Indian Pass River, we used map and compass to navigate westward. Shortly we hit the brook, and the walk up the brook was one of the nicest trailless ones we've had. Near the top of the brook a side trail took us to the summit of Street. Despite the myriad herd-paths on the top of Street and Nye, wandering everywhere and nowhere, we made it over to Nye without too much trauma. The magic of Nye is that it inspires those naughty phrases one reads in the canister book (we left one too). It just isn't right that there isn't a nice view after one has struggled through the knee-poking, pack-grabbing, face-slapping thicket. And then how does one get down, back to that nice trail by the stream? We resorted to the compass again, and just made our way in the right direction. Sure enough, we were soon padding along that lovely stream.

Forty-four and resting. We decided to take Wednesday off and soak up some sun by the pool. And plan the longest day yet - the grand finale on July 2. Both Colden and Haystack in one day, from and to the lodge, about 23 miles and what turned out to be 14 and a half hours.

And thus on Thursday, in the on-again, off-again mist, we started at 6am for Marcy Dam, Lake Arnold, and Mount Colden. Completely fogged in, we almost took the false summit for the true summit. Thanks to Jeff we got it right, and on the top of Colden the mist lifted enough for us to see the lakes far below and a train of climbers working their way up the steep west face. Then it was back to Lake Arnold, the cut-off to Indian Falls, the highway to the shoulder of Marcy, and then on to Haystack via Little Haystack. So what more can one say about those two beautiful mountains, Colden and Haystack?

"Give me a 4"
"4"
"Give me a 6"
"6"
. . .

Jerry Wagener