Porter and Cascade 10/22/2017

Porter.

We were looking at a great forecast heading into the weekend and Kailee was feeling ambitious. She suggested we climb  Whiteface... That wasn't going to happen. I countered with Porter and Cascade.

Porter and Cascade are two of the smaller Adirondack High Peaks coming in at 4084' (#38) and 4097' (#36), respectively. They are also arguably the two most popular peaks in the park.

The draw and allure of Cascade alone is the stuff of tourist legend. It's a mountain that draws everyone out, tourists, aspiring 46ers, trail runners, fit people, out of shape people, and day hikers like ourselves. We've driven by the Cascade trailhead a number of times this year and there were hundreds of cars parked along the trailhead on Route 73.

Sunday would be no different.

I'm not a big fan of the concept of crowded trails. Instead of heading into this hike with a negative attitude, I began to view it as choosing to visit a place like the Lincoln Memorial or the Empire State Building. If you're in the area, then you've gotta do it sort of thing.

We parked the car across the road in the Pitchoff Mountain lot and dodged a flurry of cars as we crossed the street to Cascade.

We got to the trailhead and had to wait in line to sign the register... Fun! 

Once signed in, we made our way on the trail.

We passed a little runoff shortly into the hike and a couple of red squirrels scurried around chasing each other completely unfazed by our presence. I'm sure they've seen their fair share of humans before.

The trees had lost all of their leaves and any time we turned around we could see the menacing looking Algonquin looming over us.


We worked at a pretty good pace and we sure saw a lot of faces on the trail. The most that either of us have seen this year. We said countless "Hi's" as we walked... which might've been more tiring than the mountain itself.

At this point, there was a group of people walking at a pace that perpetually kept them about 50 yards behind us. They had a walkie talkie set at a screaming decibel. Anything within a half mile could have heard the damn thing. It was beyond annoying.

Lookout Ledge.

Soon enough we were at a lookout ledge which offered a nice view and spot to take a quick break.

We continued on and shortly came upon the trail split. Left led to Cascade and right led to Porter.

We had been planning to head right to Porter first but we didn't want the walkie talkie crew to see us go that way and have them follow us by a mistaken chance.

Porter from the col.

So we stood by the sign and acted like we were taking a break. Once they had passed, we began our descent into the col. It was a gentle 300' drop to the middle of the col where we could see both Summit-areas of Cascade and Porter.


Moving forward, we began the brief ascent to Porter. We hit a False Summit and enjoyed it's pretty views before hitting the real Summit.

Porter offered a nice look at the Great Range and the mob of people on Cascade's Summit.




Initially, we were the only people there. Soon we were joined by a number of other smaller groups. We sat down and enjoyed a lunch consisting of mini bagels and cheese sandwiches, almonds, jerky and Air Heads.

After our mountaintop feast we strapped on our backpacks and set out to bag Cascade.

It was a brisk walk back and Kailee proceeded to list her favorite mountains that we've climbed this year in numerical order. She listed Porter as #4. From everything I understood about Cascade, I had a feeling that Porter was going to soon drop a spot. A prediction that proved correct.

We got back to the junction and proceeded towards Cascade. We crossed some wooden walkways and popped out of the woods with Cascade's large, cleared peak right in front of us.

We joyously jogged towards the top for a moment before slowing back down to our normal hiking pace as we neared a ladder.






We were then approached by Ian the Summit Steward. Himself a 46er, ADK member and volunteer. He was readying to make his descent but took a few minutes to chat with us. We told him that this was our third 46er and Kailee told him that she too wanted to be a 46er.

Ian replied to her "If you were able to climb Giant then you should have no problems with the other 46ers."

I thought they were very kind words of encouragement.

Kailee & the three 46ers that we've climbed this year.
Giant (background), Porter (foreground), and standing on Cascade.

We immediately began looking for the benchmark after our chat with Ian. Kailee found the highest one and said "Dad, it's right here!"

She then proceed to celebrate by throwing her arms in the air and yelling in a 'cool' voice "Cascade! Yeah Cascade, you're the best!"

A pretty funny moment that I'm glad to have witnessed.

Cascade's views are impeccable. The Adirondack fires of 1903 cleared the Summit leaving it with it's current unobstructed 360° view.

We could see the Great Range, Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, the Keene Valley, Champlain Valley and... of course... Whiteface.

Kailee played with a bunch of dogs and was oblivious to the fact that I was making a phone call to put in place the final details of a last minute surprise for her.

My parents wanted to drop off a Halloween costume for her. So, I asked them the night before to meet us in Keene to make the exchange. Unbeknownst to Kails, they would be meeting us at the trailhead.

Cascade.

We had a great time at the Summit and it wasn't that bad dealing with a bunch of people there. We grabbed our packs and began our descent.

It was a nice and easy walk back down.




Just as we were nearing the register, who came into view? Grandma and Grandpa!

Kailee was very surprised, confused and happy to see them.

My Mom told her that it was great that she had finished two big mountains in a day.

Surprise!

"It doesn't count until we check the book (trail register)," Kailee replied.

The girl knows her rules of hiking!

We walked the 100 feet to the register, signed out and slapped high five. Job well done.

After our hike we picnicked at the park between the Cascade Lakes with my parents. It was a satisfying way to end our adventure!

Cascade and Porter are located on Route 73 on the border of Keene and North Elba.

Hiking notes: We keep learning and trying to prepare as best as possible for our hikes. We saw a number of people completely unprepared for what lay ahead of them. Some didn't even have water. A few people were dropping like flies. Prepare yourself for the wilderness and Mother Nature! H20 is a must!