After doing this hike last fall in the lousy weather, I was eager to try it again. I knew the views from this peak were supposed to be astounding, and could tell, sitting atop the bare dome at the top, that it should have been so much more. I wanted that payoff. Luckily, my brother Marc was up for a good hike and agreed to join me on my second hike of this mountain, on a better day. He drove over to our house the night before, and we prepped for the hike. We left from home at 7:30 a.m. and drove to the High Peaks Information Center (HPIC) near Adirondak Loj.

We started our hike at 10:00 a.m. It was a beautiful day for hiking. It was crystal clear, with temperatures between 52° and 65° for the entire hike—so much better than the last time I was here! Also, this time, the mountain was very busy with lots of hikers. Almost all of them were French Canadian, and we heard far more French than English on the trails. We took our time going up. The trail was nice and dry, making the steep sections much easier. In general, Marc had an easier time going up than I did, as we climbed the mountain.

About 10 minutes shy of the summit, we were alarmed when a woman who was descending in front of us fell about six feet, bouncing off a rock, and landing on her back. Luckily, she was fine (her backpack very likely saved her from a very ugly back or head injury), and she continued on her way down with her companion.

We arrived at a very crowded summit, with perhaps 70-100 people. The views from the top were gorgeous with a 360° viewshed and amazing visibility. It was just what I had been hoping for. Whiteface Mountain stood out clearly to the north. There was a woman there who was the summit steward for the day and made sure to keep the people on the bare rock, and off the fragile alpine vegetation. Marc and I found a quiet south-facing spot, had our lunch, and lingered a bit before our descent.