Big Slide/John Brook Valley On Fire

 

"Solo travel not only pushes you out of your comfort zone, it also pushes you out of the zone of others' expectations."

Monday morning I last minute booked myself a campsite at the ADK Loj for Tuesday- Thursday. I knew I needed to hike Big Slide & Giant still to catch up to Laura so we can finish at the same time. So this felt like a good opportunity.

Just a few days prior I unexpectedly had to bury my brother. After losing my mother just over a year ago, losing my brother was just beyond overwhelming. Not in a million years did I think I would be back at the cemetery where my mother was laid to rest, standing next to her, and now laying my brother down to his final resting place. 

I would wake up Tuesday morning, take Ricky Bobby to the vet for his shots, then head directly to my weekly therapy session. From there I would hit the road to New York for a few days. Solo.

I have never just left by myself to go anywhere to camp. I always spend my time in the wilderness or back-country that is unfamiliar territory with others. I have done this so many times though I am not sure why I was even nervous to do it.

I made it to the Loj around 6:00pm. I checked in and headed to my campsite to set up. I quickly set up camp, picked up some fire wood, got in some cozy clothes and started a camp fire, where I would read my book peacefully and think about life. 

In December of 2019 my mother was diagnosed with cancer, that 5.5 months later would take her life. She was laid to rest June of 2019. So many of my friends insured me and reminded me that 2020 would be my year. I would get back on my feet again, get back into a routine that didn't include doctors appointments and care giving 24/7.

Well, 2020 came around and just as I was finally feeling good and establishing a life for myself again, COVID hit the world. The Observatory closed it's admin offices down and had all staff working remotely by March. Not even a week into working remotely I was given my noticed that I would be placed on furlough until further notice. The hardest thing to deal with.

The morning I received the call of my brothers death, that same evening I also received an email from my employer with an official letter of termination effective October 31, 2020. After almost 9 years working for them.

I officially needed this break away from life.

Given the weather forecast called for rain on Wednesday I decided to go with Big Slide as it was the longer of the two peaks I needed. I saw the forecast called for rain starting later in the day. I awoke at 4:50am, made some coffee, packed my pack with all the essentials and gear to be out in rain all day and I hit the road.

I made it to the Garden Trailhead by 6:15am and on trail by 6:30am. Rick and I started hiking in the dark, with stars still shining brightly above us. I had no idea what to expect so I took my time hiking up to the Brothers.

This trail climbs quickly and pops you out on these beautiful open ledges with spectacular views to the east. To my surprise, I got up there just in time for an incredible sunrise! I was in such awe. Happy and felt so free. I needed this. The sun shining and making the foliage look stunning. Bright and vibrant colors lit up on fire in the John Brook Valley as I gazed across to the Grand Range.

I continued onward and over all of the Brothers making my way to the junction where I would then head up the last half mile or so to the summit of Big Slide. Sharing the summit with only one other person.

Here I sat with Ricky Bobby taking in the views and sipping on my hot apple cider from my thermos.

After about 15 minutes or so we headed down as I could see the clouds were moving in quickly.

We were about 3 miles out from the car when it started to rain on us lightly. We made it back to the car lightly wet and not needing to put a rain jacket on. Once back at the car shortly after the skies opened up and it poured buckets until about 9pm that evening.

The wind coming through the trees like a freight train not letting me be able to enjoy a fire that evening. So I called it an early night in hopes to wake up and hit Giant on our way out of town.

When I woke up on Thursday morning the temperature at camp was 35 degrees. I took my time packing up camp and decided Giant was not in the cards for us today as I did not bring my micro-spikes and didn't want to chance it with snow in the higher summits.

Instead Ricky Bobby and I took a drive through Lake Schroon and Lake George area and made some shopping pit stops, then we hit the road back home to NH.