Hiking NY: Backpacking in the Adirondacks (Dial and Nippletop)

This week I decided to finally do something big--my first SOLO backpacking trip! I went to the Adirondacks for my last trip this season for 2 more high peaks, Dial and Nippletop--putting me now at 17/46 high peaks! I camped 2 nights and came home on Friday for a total of 18.2 miles and 4,678' elevation gain.

Here is all the gear I had to pack and carry! I ended up leaving the second set of hiking poles in my car. I was going to take them to use on my tent, but I decided to use sticks instead. It worked out well! When I take a trip with a buddy, we can share the load of food/tent/supplies. But on my own I had to carry everything myself. My total pack weight was 28lb including 1L of water, and I'm pretty proud of that number! Especially with a bear can which prob weighs close to 2lb on it's own. I also took some extra gear to prepare for cold nights which I ended up not needing.

Here is all the food I took. 2 of each meal, plus snacks and drink mixes (for electrolytes). I ended up not using everything, I usually struggle with appetite when I hike. It all easily fit in my small bear can, and when I packed out I was also able to fit my cooking set up and fuel bottle in there as well.

I started at AMR and hit the trail! I've used this trailhead several times and am very comfortable with it. Extra bonus that there's wifi in the parking lot so I can let my family know I arrived and double check my GPS settings.

Gotta love the easy start and finish on Lake Road!

Such beautiful fall scenery all around!

I arrived at my campsite by about 5pm and had enough time to set up camp and get a fire started to enjoy during dinner. As the sun set and the forest got darker, I put away everything for the night and laid in my tent watching the fire go out as I rested in the quiet. It got very windy that night and I just hoped a branch didn't fall on my tent!

Ready for a full day of mountain climbing! I packed up my day bag and squared away my tent then the trail heading to Elk pass and the mountains. I saw one other person that day--another lady hiking solo as well! She was very sweet and we chatted for a bit along the trail.

As I climbed in elevation the weather got more cloudy and misty as I got higher. It eventually turned to a steady rain. I had a rain jacket with me but I had worked up such a sweat that I kept it off and even took off my long sleeves to stay cool! Here is Elk lake where I filled up on water both on my way in and out that day.

Blue wood?!

Classic ADK "trail"

Finally at my first summit! No views on Nippletop here, except for clouds! I paused just a moment to take it in and grab a pic. The momentary pause did make me chilly so for the way down I went ahead and put on my rain jacket until it cleared up a bit later before my next summit.

The clouds cleared just enough to get a glimpse of views from my next summit, Dial! I enjoyed the rest there much longer, and ate some lunch for an energy bump. The winds were pretty crazy up there and I had to hold on to everything so nothing got blown away. After about a 20 minute rest (and some Ibuprofen) I turned around and headed back the way I came. My goal was to beat the rain back to camp!

I made it back to camp just after 4pm and had barely enough time to cook dinner before the rain started again. I cleaned everything up and got my nasty shoes covered just in time to duck in for the night. Nothing else to do but lay there and listen to the rain! It got dark by about 7pm and I slept off and on that night listening to the torrential rain. I occasionally used my light to make sure my tent was staying dry inside, and thank the Lord I was kept nice and dry while it poured and gusted wind outside!

It rained clear up until about 7am the next morning so I finally started packing things up. That's no fun when everything is sopping wet and muddy!! I skipped cooking breakfast that morning to save time and just grabbed a granola bar. The hike out only took about an hour and a half. I couldn't believe how much higher the water level was in the creek by my campsite. Normally it's pretty shallow with a few waterfalls (pictured above at the beginning) but the rangers said we got about 2" rain overnight and man it was incredible how raging the creek was now. You can see the difference below in the levels!

There was a couple water crossings that normally were no big deal and usually either dry or very shallow....Not this day! The rocks were all submerged and the water was 1-2' deep! The only way to get across was just get wet....so that's what I had to do! And with a full pack you just have to be super careful not to fall!

It's a great feeling to accomplish something really difficult that you set out to do like this. It's a close second when you get to the end and see your car! Such a good feeling to take wet boots and socks off!

See you next year Adirondacks.