Cascade and Porter

           One of the coolest places to take advantage of near St. Lawrence is the Adirondack region. This past weekend some of the interns (Evan, Lyndsay & Bela), our housemate Carl and I climbed two of the high peaks in the Adirondacks, called Cascade and Porter. There are so many opportunities for hiking, biking, canoeing, and simply taking advantage of nature surrounding SLU.

Every year the Outing Club at SLU hosts a tradition here called “Peak Weekend.” The goal is to get at least one St. Lawrence student on every one of the 46 high peaks in the Adirondacks. This past year I participated in Peak Weekend and I hiked mountains called Dial and Nippletop. I was told before the trip that this was a “moderate hike.” It ended up thunder-storming during the entire hike which was over 15 miles. Not my idea of moderate, but it did end up being a blast. We were soaked through, sore, and cold; yet everyone on the trip ended up having TONS of fun. I would definitely say that it is one of my favorite SLU experiences thus far and I would do it again in a heartbeat! Here is picture of my group from this past fall.

So, last weekend we decided to hike a peak. We decided no matter what the weather was like we he had to go because we had been putting it off. We left at about 9:00 AM on Sunday. Lyndsay drove with the help of “Nancy”, Bela’s GPS system. The clouds looked slightly ominous on our ride to Cascade, but we committed to it no matter what. The hike up Cascade was not bad and we all stayed dry until we reached the top. Cascade is one of the smallest high peaks, but has a pretty steep incline. When we finally reached the top, there was so much fog that we couldn’t see anything. It was still fun to say we accomplished it. I have included some of the pics from our trip. After completing Cascade we decided to continue on and finish Porter as well. By the time we started hiking Porter, the skies opened up with a torrential downpour. We got SOAKED during this part of the hike, yet it made it that much more memorable and eventful.

There were a lot of laughs between Bela cursing nature, Evan hiking up only able to use one arm, Lyndsay helping Ev along the way and all of us slipping and sliding in the mud. If you are ever in the Adirondack region, make a point to hike at least one of the high peaks. It is a guaranteed good time and I hear Cascade has one of the best views. I hope to hike it again on a clearer day! I believe I have completed 7 of the high peaks after this weekend. I still have a long way before I become a “46-er” but I hope to complete them all one day.