McKenzie

McKenzie... Oh, McKenzie...

After hiking Ampersand two weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to be a Saranac Lake Sixer. I initially wanted to KO McKenzie Mountain next. It's the biggest of the Sixer's and I wanted to take it on... But, after some thought, I decided to put it on hold for a minute.

That was about to change...

I woke up on August 1 after climbing St. Regis Mountain and Scarface Mountain on consecutive days feeling fresh.The Sixer bug had gotten a hold of me and I was loving every minute it. As I went through my morning routine, I began to have an internal conversation and it went something like this:

That was it.

At 11:30 on a Tuesday morning, I decided I was going to knock out McKenzie. I once again reached out to Sean to see if he would join me on the trails for a third day in a row. He respectfully declined and I understood that. So, I then contacted my buddy Ryen who is a good guy to call on for crazy last minute ideas. He said "Sure."

It was ON.

I quickly packed my things and picked up Ryen and we headed for Lake Placid. It was a hot and beautiful day and we had a nice ride to the trailhead.

However, we hit the trail at 2:30pm which is an awfully late time to start the hike. That didn't matter. I had determination on my side.

The Jack Rabbit Trail can save you
a mile or two on your hike to the
summit of McKenzie.

There's two trails that can get you to the base of both McKenzie and Haystack Mountain. I opted for the slightly shorter entrance-way at the Whiteface Jack Rabbit Cross Country Trail.

The Jack Rabbit trail is about a two-mile walk to base and it is mostly flat (albeit rocky) and it borders quite a bit of private property. So, if you take this route, take caution and do not trespass.

Stay on the trail. Plain and simple.

In my opinion, the Jack Rabbit trail isn't very exciting. There isn't a lot to take in. However, if one is interested in bringing a tent and camping before climbing McKenzie (or McKenzie and Haystack) there is a lean-to where you can set up camp just over a mile and a half in.

Eventually, you hit the fork in the road. Left takes you to Haystack. Straight take you to... well.. I

Take a right at the fork in the road.
There isn't a silver fork in the road...

 don't know... Right takes you to McKenzie.

Obviously, we turned right.

Immediately, the mountain hits you. You begin ascending quickly on a rocky trail caked in mud.

McKenzie is a big girl and she doesn't joke around. It's all uphill from here. She hits and she hits hard. At 3861' feet, McKenzie is just shy of being a 46er. But also take note, thanks to modern surveying, she is actually bigger than at least one of the 46er's (Couchsachraga).

Ryen and I worked McKenzie at a fast pace.  We realized we were racing the sun. We took very little time on our breaks and kept pushing forward. There were few points of relief at the pace we were moving. We dealt with a lot of mud and a lot of physical climbing under the sun's hot rays. There were a few brief moments where we turned around and quickly enjoyed the peeks of views through the trees before trucking onward. I hardly touched my camera on the way up.

Finally, we met a moment of relief. We hit an area that evened off and offered some side trails with amazing views. It felt like the summit was within our reach...

You can't see it in this pic... But, the real
summit is over a half mile to the Right.

And... we were wrong... we were dead wrong...

The trail and ledge to our left gave us a great view of the Saranac Lake region... But, when we looked to the right from that spot we could see another peak.

"I think that's the Summit," said Ryen.

"No. No... That has to be another mountain," I replied.

I was wrong.

From that point, we had to cross three or four more False Summits which included a lot of climbing up-and-down over a half-mile until we reached the actual summit which we previously viewed from the ledge. En route, there were a number of side paths which gave us more great views of the Saranac Lake-Lake Placid regions.

Finally... exhausted...we reached the real tree-enclosed Summit of McKenzie. It was the biggest

feeling of relief and accomplishment that I had felt in years. From there, some side trails gave us more breathtaking views. But, time and the sun were working against us. We took everything in pretty quickly before deciding we needed to take on the arduous task of beating the sun down the mountain.

We took a few final pictures and quickly began our descent.

It took us just under an hour to reach the McKenzie-Haystack fork in the trail. It took an additional 20-30 minutes to get back to the car. I was beat as we walked along to the trailhead. At 7PM, we reached my car. I changed my shirt and socks, and threw on a light sweatshirt and we made our way back to a footbridge near the trailhead to relax for about 20 minutes.

I caught my breath and reflected upon the past three days as the mountain runoff played soundtrack to my thoughts. Every part of my body was tired. I ached. I was scraped up and bitten up...

Rock Men watched over Ryen & I as
we relaxed near the McKenzie trailhead.

 But, it felt great. I had KO'd McKenzie. I was looking forward to rest... But, I was also looking forward to the rest... of the Saranac Lake Sixer's!

Four were down.

Two more to go.





If you are out of shape or a small child... You probably shouldn't climb McKenzie. She's a big girl at 3861' and throws a lot of wrenches at you. The shortest route (Jack Rabbit) is well over 7 miles and there's quite a bit of physical climbing involved. Also, Don't start this mountain as late in the afternoon as we did (2:30PM). Start much earlier. Go at a relaxed pace (Unless you're Crossfit Jesus) and enjoy the hike.


McKenzie Mountain has two entrances. The first on Rt86 in Ray Brook and the one we took off Whiteface Inn Lodge Lane, a left off Rt86 on the Jack Rabbit Trail (which shaves off a mile-or-so).

Ryen Climbing McKenzie,