Wright Peak
Date of hike: 8/21/2010
Vertical Ascent: 2415’
Length of Hike (miles): 6.5
Total Time: 8:45
Hiked with: Samantha, Alex, Wendy, Russell, Amanda, Bria, Lisa, Sydney, and Harry
This year, I decided we should try to hike Wright Peak for our annual camping weekend. A cousin’s family joined us camping this year, and I knew this would be ambitious for the kids and Lisa, but I wanted to give it a shot. I’d already done about 85% of this hike when I did Algonquin in 2004 and 2005. We got a later-than-planned start out of our campsite at Heart Lake and hit the trail at 10:30 a.m. on a very cool August morning, with cloudy, but dry weather. It was nice to be able to start one of these hikes right from our campsite.
As expected, the first part of the hike was a breeze. It started to get more difficult for some members of our group after passing the Whale’s Tail junction at the 1-mile mark, and especially by the time we hit MacIntyre Falls, which was practically dry. As conditions got harder, we began to fall into different groups based on speed. Two of the kids, Amanda and Bria, tended to be up front, with Lisa and Harry at the back, and the rest of us drifting around. We took many breaks as we ascended, waiting for all to catch up and regroup.
Three of our gang at the early part of the trail
“Isn’t this supposed to be a waterfall?”
Lisa was absolutely determined, and admirably persevered, but conceded that she could not go any further about a quarter mile before the Algonquin/Wright Trail junction. She found a great log to rest at and said she was going to stay put right here and wait for us to come back down. The trail steepened considerably after this point, with even more scrambling over rocks. The trail became quite steep after Wright branched off, and the last quarter mile was all on exposed rock with great views under overcast skies. It continued to be steep, despite the guidebook's info to the contrary. Stone cairns marked the way.
Great views on the ascent
Approaching the bald summit
We summited in 3 groups - Alex, Bria, Amanda, and Sydney first, then me at 2:45 p.m., then Wendy, Russell, Sami, and Harry. A handful of hikers were at the top, where we ate lunch, accompanied by the summit steward. The full views in all directions atop this bald summit were stunning. Alex impressed the steward, with his sense of direction and ability to identify many of the peaks and valleys. Sami was physically and mentally exhausted, but we were all fine after about a half hour’s rest. At our request, the steward gave us a tour of the remains of the B-47 Strategic Air Command plane crash that happened in 1962. She explained that there wasn’t much debris here, since it was strewn along various parts of the mountain, and early on, people kept taking pieces as souvenirs. We started our descent at 3:35 p.m.
Vista from the Summit of Wright Peak
Cousins Harry and Alex goofing around on the summit
Some pieces of wreckage from the plane crash
We met Lisa where we’d left her hours earlier, now well-rested and in good spirits. She’d spent her time greeting people ascending and descending, while awaiting our return. Along the descent, we again ended up in divided groups, with Lisa and Harry taking a very slow descent. I stayed back with them when we were about 1.5 miles out, and we were all back at our campsite at 7:15 p.m. In retrospect, the trek was more difficult than expected, and too long for this group. Everyone was exhausted. The ascent for me was not bad at all but it included many breaks and a slow pace, which made it deceiving. Half the group wanted more hikes like this. Half wanted nothing more to do with it.
Sam and Sydney beginning the descent