Nye Mountain
3,895 ft. | Ranked 45/46 in height | 17th peak climbed | 29 to go
Street Mountain
4,166 ft. | Ranked 31/46 in height | 18th peak climbed | 28 to go
We spent most of the week looking forward to a big peak-bagging weekend in the Dix Range. I went to EMS to rent a bear canister, bought food, and arranged for dog care. We drove to our friends house (Adam and Jen for those of you following along) in Saranac. The place is fantastic, it is a camp along a river that they are lovingly converting to a year-round home in the woods. (That said, we may wait until the bridge repairs are finished before we visit again; be warned that a “Summer ‘Road’” is an oxymoronic concept in case one of the locals tries to convince you otherwise.) After being treated to steak, local beer, and good company we set the alarms and went to bed dreaming of mountains.
The morning of September 11th we got up at 5:00 a.m., had breakfast, took a look at the river in daylight, and got on the road to the trailhead by Elk Lake. We were at the trailhead by 8:30 a.m. and there wasn’t enough room in the lot for Adam’s Civic.
Yes, a Honda Civic. Adam could probably have stuffed it into that monstrous Gregory Whitney 95 on his back, but there was no way in hell it was going to fit in the parking lot.
What really burned me was that had one or two people parked a bit more courteously, we all could have fit without any issues.
After a few moments cursing the dearth of parking space, and the jealously guarded (and frequently tow-truck patrolled) private road over which the State has only an easement, we turned back and decided to head into Heart Lake to try Colden, Street, and Nye.
We arrived at Heart Lake only to find tour buses, mobs of college students swarming the HPIC, and a sign indicating that the parking lot was full.
There was no way we could even think about parking the Subaru in a congested lot, but now it was the Honda’s turn to shine. Jen found a way to squeeze the little Civic in between two cars in the lot.
That said, parking cost us our early start and we didn’t hit the trail until 11:00 a.m. Our plan leaving the parking lot was to climb Street and Nye with Adam and Jen, part ways afterward (Adam and Jen have dogs at home that needed their humans home for dinner), and then Jayme and I were going to pack into Marcy Dam, pitch a tent, and hike up Colden the next morning before heading home.
The trail began on the Heart Lake Trail (the same one you use to get to the base of Mount Jo) and continues on an unmaintained trail west onto State Land. This trail is really pretty pleasant, flat, and easy to follow. In about 45 minutes (give or take) we made it to a wide stream. Last Columbus Day this stream was waist deep and raging, preventing us from attempting these two peaks. This time the stream was much lower and we skipped across some rocks. After passing a little swamp (in case you’re ever there, don’t bother with the bypass on the left, there are plenty of logs half buried in the swamp to keep your boots dry) we crossed the little brook twice more.
After the third crossing we saw the remains of a little lumber camp off to the left of the trail. Several fuel canisters, a bottomless washbasin, and something that might have been a wagon tongue or piece of logging equipment are still in place. The first three miles or so were fairly flat and follow the brook; the last mile is somewhat more steep and there is an odd notch in the trail where it appears to fork.
The first time you come to a place where the trail splits, look to the right side of the trail. If there is a cairn there, go right. In fact, if you aren’t sure if you’re at this little notch in the trail, or at the junction, turn right. If you’re at the notch, you’ll start climbing the steepest last half mile to the junction. If you were already at the junction, you’ll be at the well marked (albeit viewless) summit in about 8 minutes.
The junction has a tree with an N and an S on it and arrows pointing to the trails to the summits. Nye is a quick job up and back, but Street was a little bit longer (perhaps forty minutes or so if you don’t stop to rest).
The summit of Street had no views (just a tree with a yellow sign) but just past the summit on the right hand side was a little clearing with some rock and a nice view of the MacIntyre Range to the south. We had lunch there at about 3:30.
We left the summit a little before 4:00 p.m. and had a pleasant walk back down, arriving at the trail register at about 6:30 p.m. After Adam and Jen left, Jayme and I cooked dinner on the big rocks by the HPIC before discussing our plans. We were exhausted (more from long weeks at work than hiking, but tired is tired), hearing stories of groups of 20 people from colleges clogging the trails, packed lean-to’s and tent sites, and considering whether intentionally hiking at night was a good idea.
In the end we decided that it was 8:00 p.m., we’d had a nice day, enjoyed the company of friends, and salvaged two peaks from the vicissitudes of unregulated Adirondack parking lots, but that disappointment at having to change plans did not require us to do something potentially unsafe.
We washed up the pot, packed the Subaru, and drove home with two more flags to pin into our map of the big 46.
Editor’s note: Jayme expended considerable effort and energy into picking out our family car this past winter. Finding something that has a separate rear section for Guinness (our lovable but shed-happy Golden Retriever), four-wheel or all-wheel drive, gets decent gas milage, can be parallel parked in downtown Albany, and after all that was still affordable was quite a feat. There are two trim-lines on the Subaru Forester; the more expensive version has a huge moonroof and heated seats. Generally we are not “all the bells and whistles” people, preferring pragmatism and thrift to flashy vehicles, but since we found a fantastic deal on a gently pre-owned Forester, we wound up with the better trim-line. Nothing (and I mean nothing) is quite as decadent as the feeling of heated seats relaxing your back after a day of hiking. After a quick stop for some water, Jayme drifted off to sleep in the passenger seat – two peaks closer to our goal.
