Ancient History

In the summer of 2003 we were living in Ithaca NY in a small efficiency apartment off the Commons with windows helpfully placed adjacent to a street light. Needless to say eventually we got the bright idea to go to the Adirondacks. I had heard that Mt. Marcy was a fun hike so I figured we would go there. It was 4th of July weekend when we drove up. Planning ahead is not something we excel at. Given that, it was unsurprising that we found ourselves hungry with no food. We did not find any dining establishments open and eventually ended up at a grocery store in Underwood or Elizabethtown it is a bit hazy now. The store was closing and we were dithering near the deli. I wanted a decent meal and Tiffanee wanted something hot. Inexplicably we bought a huge bucket of fried chicken. (What a deal, I'm sure that was my fault). Our appetites were satiated, but we forgot to get any other food. We approached the mountain with no clear idea of where to sleep, nor a tent to sleep in. I wanted to sleep off the main road by a bridge with a large posted sign saying no camping. For some weird reason Tiffanee thought it was a bad idea so we camped off Meadows Lane instead. We ended up sleeping in the van Uncle Scott gave us. We could not open windows or mosquitoes would attack viciously so we sat sweltering in the van with our fried chicken bucket. It was difficult to tell whether the chicken or our skin was more greasy. Morning finally came giving us an excuse to move. Our stomachs were grumbling, but it was likely that was just the chicken talking not any hunger.

The hike was uneventful, a bit overcast but easy. There was a ranger on a rock that warned us that storms were coming and we would die a horrible death. We ignored him and went on. Got to the top weather was fine, though clouds came and went. Another ranger was hanging out on the summit to answer questions that visitors had. Apparently she camped up there. She told us some about the rock geology, but alas whatever wisdom she imparted was only fleeting for I do not recollect it now at all (I suppose I could look it up and pretend I remembered).


Thus began our accidental effort to reach high points. It was not official in that we did not do so for the purpose of hiking up a high point, but rather just to go on a nice hike. It turns out we achieved both. This was from the era before we had a digital camera so photographic evidence is lacking, lost, or most likely packed in one of the many boxes we never unpacked when we moved uh...2 years ago. When I say many I mean 60-70% of the boxes we never unpacked. But we have an excuse really, I can't tell you what it is though. Its a secret after all.