46 poems celebrating the high peaks region of the Adirondacks

Agony
Yes it’s difficult
Yes it’s rigorous
Yes you suffer
Suffer discomfort
Suffer inconveniences
Suffer impositions
When are we going to get there?
How much lon-ger?
The keener the suffering
The keener the satisfaction you feel
When you accomplish what you set out to do

Algonquin Peak
The only other peak in New York to clear 5,000 feet
The view from the summit is similar
To what the pre-columbian Algonquin Indian
Saw from this point
Ages ago

Approach/Departure
Driving in on Friday night
You see the trees on the side of the road
That your car’s headlights illuminate
A mere hint of the extraordinary views
That you would see in the same place in the daylight
Driving out on Sunday afternoon
Winding your way through the towering mountains of the high peaks region
What a treat for the eyes
You feel the joy of accomplishment
Despite your fatigue
Cascade Lake, Chapel Pond
Back on the highway
Next time will be next year

Bushwacking
Terror!
It's seldom in this insulated modern life that terror is experienced
Terror breeds panic
Panic!
It's seldom in this insulated modern life that panic is experienced
Overcoming panic is important in the face of exhaustion
Confusion!
Reason, still lurking somewhere in the background, must be forced to the foreground
Choose the correct brook to follow to it's source
Obstacles, tight thin pines, a long cliff, are ever present
Hope!
Encountering an unforeseen slide after being tangled in steep blowdown rekindles hope
A slide that provides an easy climb of 300 additional feet of altitude
Relief!
The sweet relief of finding the herdpath after hours adrift in the wilderness

Camping Meals
Everything tastes better when you eat outside
Higher levels of oxygen generated by the nearby flora
Enriches the air
Activates acute sensitivity in your taste buds and sense of smell
Or maybe not – just a theory enhanced with poetic license
You actually feel the nourishment recharging your energy level
Like at no other time in your life
After you have had a quick snack
You go from being dull, delirious, and tired
To being alert, refreshed, and recharged
You notice the change
You eat strategically, to survive

Camping Trip Sleep
Sleep poorly, sleep shallowly, not deeply
Sleep on a hard surface
The rain makes it into the corners of your tent
And wets your feet while you sleep
Sleep with the sound of rain pelting your tent
Wake up fourteen times throughout the night
On the twelfth time, wonder how long before dawn will arrive
Sleep on your side and wake to feel the pain in your hip and shoulder
Where all of your weight is centered
Sleep in the cold
Entwining yourself in your mummy bag
Unable to move your legs apart from one another
The bag hugging our shoulders and covering your face
Seemingly suffocating you
Using a few items of clothing as your pillow
Wake up the eighth time with a strong urge to urinate
Relieving yourself means getting out of your sleeping bag
And probably waking your companions in the process
Putting on your wet boots
Walking into the dark
Facing your bear fear.
Sleeping without heat
Sleeping without your wife
Sleeping without your mattress
Sleeping without the extra pillow to put between your knees
Sleeping without your wooby
Sleeping is one of the many sacrifices of convenience when one goes camping
Still want to go? NO! (yes)

Civilization
Stop in Saratoga for dinner on your way up the Northway
There are plenty of places with beer on tap
To celebrate in Fat Tuesday fashion before the ritual rigor begins
Civilization is a comfort
Especially after being in the wilderness for a couple of days
Comfortable car seat
Comfortable food at the Keene Valley breakfast place
Hot cup of coffee? Yes please!
Back in suburbia it’s still comfortable
But not so pleasant being around all of my fellow citizens
Selfish, crass, silly, ignorant, wasteful
Their materialism
There are few humans on the trail
And even when you encounter them they’re hiding those special traits

Comfort
We are addicted to comfort
We are soft, we are weak
Our standard of living has insulated us from what is wild
From the elements
From the weather
From the woods
From the sun
On a clear night in New York City
You cannot see many stars
But from the Adirondacks
You can see the whole Milky Way
And the galaxies beyond
The mountain environment heals us
Heals our body
Heals our mind
Heals our soul
It helps bring us back to our essence
To our essential selves
That evolved into deriving happiness from a waterfall
A rushing brook, a distant view, a meadow

Coming out from Calamity Pond
The color red is not more vibrant and surprising
Than when you see it on a series of sugar maples
At the height of their autumnal leaf color-changing process
On a bright sunny but cold morning
With a crisp blue sky back drop
The leaves waving in the wind
Trying to get your attention, but often failing
Because there is too much competition for your attention
All the trees surrounding the sugar maples are different species
And have not yet begun to change color
The red sugar maples create a patchwork
Of red on the green mountainside
Enabling you to notice that sugar maples
Don’t grow above a certain altitude

Companion
You’re bringing him with you?
No one else will go with you?
He can’t keep up
He’ll slow you down
You won’t reach Mt. Emmons
It’s too far for him
He’s too old, fat, slow
Sharing the time and place with him
Is more important than bagging Mt. Emmons

Couchsachraga Peak
It’s a long way in for what on the surface seems to be nothing
It’s not even higher than 4,000 feet
It doesn't even have a view
When you get to the top of Santanoni Peak
You see miles of beautiful unaltered land
Except for the Sanford Hill strip mine
Barren of trees, unusual man-made patterns of earth
Clearly contrasting with its surroundings
Why does the mining industry have to do it here?
Not in my backyard
Not in the high peaks region
Yes, right in the middle of your collection of pristine high peaks

Dark Eyed Junco
When you come upon a dark eyed junco on the trail
The bird will take short low flying hops in front of you
Each time landing on the trail, further up the trail
Staying far enough away so that it proves difficult
To identify its species
What gives it away
Are the white outer tail feathers you see as it flees
It will often repeat this short flight
Several times before it departs
This is its way of engaging you

Dix range
Dix range offers beautiful sights
Unsurpassed by all the others
Yet equally beautiful
The labyrinth of trail weaving its way through the dense fir trees
The great Macomb slide of 1947
See it, climb it
Curiously, no plants grow on the slide
Your feet sinking into the stony sand with each step up the slide
The blowdown
The rockscape with giant boulders on the large flat stone slab
Randomly spaced in their resting place
Where they will stay for eons
South Dix, bag it
East Dix, bag it
Hough Peak, bag it
And lastly and tallest Dix Mountain
I met an old woman with lyme disease
How’d you get it?
On the trail?
And yet, here you are again
On the trail
Why? Hope to see you again

Face Your Fear
Hike a couple of miles at night in the rain
Experience very real, very justified, very logical fears
Your fears will diminish while your self reliance grows
Your worries shrink while your confidence broadens
Fear helps your self-preservation
Fear hinders your spiritual growth while courage strengthens it
Why am I here?
Nature is restorative
Nature heals the soul
Nature heals the soul
The repetition of the last phrase is not a mistake
I wrote it again for emphasis

Fear
Fear of the dark
Fear of the night
Fear of the cold
Fear of heights
Losing your way
Fear of the rain
Fear of the bear
Fear of pain
Fear of a spider
Fear of a bee
Spraining your ankle
Twisting your knee
Stumble on the trail
Fall and break skin
When crossing the brook
Don’t fall in
Stop going camping
It’s safer indoors
Can’t get hurt there
Oh, what a bore

Flora
A stand of Birch trees
Orderly and uniform in their rectitude
White trunks against a green background
The ferns covering the ground as far as the eye can see
The grove of eastern white pines
Covering the ground in a thick springy bed of orange needles
Passing balsams afford the most poignant of tree aromas

Focus
The more things are altered by humans for the sake of convenience and comfort
The more our view of reality is brought out of focus, obfuscated
The more things are left unaltered, closer to their original natural form
The more our perception of reality is focused, easier to see
Pure reality is perceived infrequently
But it will not dodge us at the moment of our death

Greetings Stranger
Greet every stranger on the trail
Talk with some
Where are you from?
Where are you going?
What have you seen?
What was it like?
How was the view?
Is it windy at the summit?
Are you trying to become a 46er?
What number are you on?
Have a nice hike.

Impressions
Why does it rain every single time I go camping?
It scares off my fairweather friends
The leanto is empty!
We can stay in it without having to share it with strangers
Shelter from the rain for a night
At the Gray Peak summit, the tunnel in the scrub leads to Mt. Marcy
The marten scampering over the boulder
The smell of yellow and red half crinkled wet leaves
Easiest peaks are not far from the road
Cascade Mt. and Giant Mt.
Allen so far to go to just bag one peak
I’ve never seen so many French Canadians
Use the cable fastened to the mountain
To help navigate the long steep pitch
Bare summits, rugged trail

Lake Tear of the Clouds
The origin of the Hudson
Highest lake in New York
Peaceful, soothing, serene
Ralph Waldo Emerson said,
“Serenity is joy fixed or habitual”

Leave It As It Is
All humans make messes
Some humans clean messes
If I see the glint and glitter of litter on the trail
I am reminded that I have to share this trail
With other humans
Some people are so careless, heedless, and inconsiderate
That they see nothing wrong with marring the pristine environment
With their discarded plastic water bottle
I pick it up if it’s not too soiled
I put it in my pocket or in my pack
I’m of the cleaning sort, of the healing type
I follow the great sage, Teddy Roosevelt
Who was known to hike in these parts
“Leave it as it is…
Man can only mar it”
I return to camp
With a pocketful of protein bar wrappers, bottles and string
And with the hope
That I have enhanced in a small way
Someone else’s future experience

Leave Your Car Behind
I’m back on the trail!
It’s good to be back
12 more hours of hiking
What a relief
Roots, rocks, leaves, mud
In infinite patterns, forms, inclinations, and configurations
Hike from sunrise to sunset seldom stopping
The first stop is always to shed layers
You’re cold when your dressing in the morning, but not on the trail
Layers you thought you’d need when you dressed
Come off in the first mile or two

MacNaughton Mountain
It’s not one but it is
Its height brings it into the group
Climb it too
Unique in that there is not even a herd path
Finally, bushwacking for real
Which way to the summit?
Just keep going uphill
How do we get down?
Now we need the compass
Follow 168 degrees
Check it every five minutes
Stepping in places where I would never have dreamed of stepping
Falling in water up to my shoulder blades
After you pass through a couple of miles of blowdown on a steep inclination
You won’t ever forget it

Meadow
The natural grass meadow
Looks nothing like the bastardization
Of the grass meadow that can be found
In the countless urban and suburban lawns
That we live amongst
The keeper of the natural grass meadow
Lets the grass grow one to three feet
And subtly intermingles flowers into the mix

Mt. Colden
I’ve gotten so tired and delirious
After hiking for a full two days
That while I was on a trail looking for the left turnoff
To go up Mt. Colden
I hiked right past it even though it was clearly marked
Even though I was racing to get back to camp before the daylight expired
And then, after hiking downhill for a mile past the turnoff
I realized my mistake
I retraced my steps
Running uphill to save time
I found the turn
Astonished that I missed it in the first place
It’s so clearly marked
If I was so delirious that I missed the turn
Was it safe to hike Colden now in this condition?
On my ascent
I came across three hikers descending Colden
“You’re climbing up now?” they asked in disbelief
“By yourself? The sun’s going down you know”
I know, I know, all too well, I know
Their facial expressions read like a book
Concern for my safety
Or was I reading into it? probably not<.br> I comforted myself with thoughts
“They’re novice hikers
They’re not good at assessing the risks
They’re underestimating my abilities”
It was a good time to stop and eat
Food used as a tool
To clear my head
To regain strength
To muster up some courage
When I got to the summit of Mt. Colden
I saw Lake Colden and the Flowed Lands below
I saw the promontory where my lean-to was located
Thousands of feet below
I yelled to my brother and waved
But the distance was too great
With too much wind between us
He did not make himself seen to acknowledge my greeting
The sun was almost gone, get off the mountain
The Western trail is one long inclined rock face
It’s slow going and hard on your feet
An innovation brightened my mood
Turn around and descend backwards
Hands are now close to the ground
And quickly put into use if feet begin to slip
See where you’re going by looking between your legs
Enabling you to take longer strides
A time-saving technique
Which gave me confidence
Which gave me strength
Almost more than the food
The feeling of getting back to the leanto
Just after sunset and thinking
It couldn’t have been timed better
I maximized my time spent hiking
I maximized my satisfaction
I maximized my rigor
I maximized my relief
I maximized my fun

Mt. Emmons
Herd paths that lead in circles
Hiking for half an hour while you’re racing the sunset
Only to find yourself in the same place
Experiencing good old fashioned panic
Feel the heart thumping in your chest
Ponder the worst case scenario
Worry, am I lost? (of course I’m lost)
Will I have to spend the night in the woods?
Will I live to tell about it?
Regaining control of your mind is part of the fun
Wresting control from the overwhelming panic
If you’re on this mountain you’re a peak bagger
And committed to hiking all 46
There’s no shame in that
Mt. Emmons is so far into the interior as to almost be unattainable
With Seward Mt. and Mt. Donaldson obstructing the way
But attained it must be to become a 46er

Mt. Marshall
Why is the hike so stunningly beautiful?
Hint: It’s not the lack of view from the summit
Don’t follow the wrong brook
That comes with its very own herd path
The correct herd path that follows the correct brook
The running, gurgling brook
What is more pleasant?
To see the running water dashing
Over a stone or whirling in an eddy
Or to hear the constant noise of water crashing
Against the next obstruction it encounters
A delight for the ears
The two perceptions are experienced together
To more than double the delight

Mt. Skylight
Mt. Skylight’s summit is well above treeline
It’s a mile from Marcy’s peak in a beeline
The herd path to Gray
Is not far away
Bagging the three in one day makes you feel fine

Mud
Will my feet stay dry?
Stay on the rocks
Rocks ran out
Hard to believe
There are rocks everywhere, until now
Stay on the sticks
Sticks ran out
Hard to believe
There are sticks everywhere, until now
There’s no way around this part of the trail
If I must step in the mud
I'll find what looks like a shallow area
Not there!
Sink one foot into the mud
Water seeps through my gator
Water finds its way
Into my well protected inner boot sanctuary
I feel the suction as I pull my foot out
The mud does not want to let go
I hear the sound that only suction can make
Now my foot is wet
For the rest of the day, and tomorrow.
When I get back to camp
I'll put on dry socks
But when I put my boot on in the morning
My foot becomes instantly wet
Thanks to the mud

Muse
What inspires these songs?
The high mountains are the muse
There, it’s been written

Pedestrian Highway
The trail from the Adirondack Loj
To Marcy Dam is a heavily traveled trail
It is a wide, beaten down path
It appears that stones have been removed
To make the walking easier, to make it flatter
To make it so that someone in a wheelchair can get to Marcy Dam
It is nature bent to man’s will
Mended, altered
It is also nature diminished
Transformed into something less wild
Less real
The herd path is better than the blazed trail
Because it is less traveled and therefore less altered by man
More natural, more beautiful
The herd path isn’t as wide
At points it is hard to distinguish which way to proceed
Cairns and the ability to find them and follow them
Are used when climbing the Mt. Marshall herd path
You cross the brook about twelve times
From one side to the other
The cairns tell you when to cross again

Prepare the Backpack
Don’t forget your day pack
Check the list on the computer
Improve upon it each year
Not too heavy, about 50 pounds
Sometimes you have no choice
But to carry your full pack to the summit
Water filters keep it light
Don’t rely on new fangled gear
Cooking stoves use gasoline
Yes it gives you hot soup at night
But they're a little too comfortable

Signs
Seeing the sign post on the trail is a pleasure
You always read it
It’s symbolizes your progress
It gives you distances and directions
It marks the completion of one leg of the journey
There’s the sign at the summit, you made it!
Phelps Mountain summit has no sign!
Is there more to climb?
Sign encounters often result in breaks
Pause for rest
Pause to shed layers or add them
Pause for food and water

Street Mt.
Near the summit it was dark
Everything dank, dense, foggy
Mostly moss-covered morass
Still, solemn, slimy, spooky
After seeing the slight view from the summit of Street Mountain
Be pleasantly surprised by the proximity of Nye Mountain

Summiting
When you are approaching a summit you sense that you are close
The trail gets less steep, the trees often change to short stubby scrub pines
Or if the summit is above treeline
Delicate alpine mosses, fragile grasses
You look ahead and see the outcropping boulder thinking “finally, the summit!”
As you approach it you’re suddenly able to see the continuing ascent beyond
It’s a false peak! Keep going
Your stamina and psychological outlook has just been tested
You know when you’ve reached the real summit
You may find a group of sixty people at the summit, or more
You may find that you are the only one there
Mt. Redfield has a large boulder at the summit
Conveniently deposited there by a thoughtful primordial glacier
So that you can sit on it and enjoy the view
Otherwise there would be no view
It’s most exciting when it is your first summit of the 46
(especially after a few failed summit attempts)
Or it’s your last summit
I’ve seen people kiss the highest stone on Algonquin Peak

Technology
Put away your I-Phone,
It’s not going to help you out here
Why did you bring it?
Out here survival depends on your wits
Your abilities, skills, bravery, endurance
The I-Phone works best in suburbia
Where you have reception
Where it will help you find the nearest Starbucks
I don’t care who won the game
But I do care for you

Thirst
Ever run out of water in your backpack
With hours of night hiking on Sawteeth to go
Because you wanted to squeeze in Mt. Haystack
And you didn’t time the daylight well? If so,
When you finally reach Lower Ausable Lake
To quench an uncommon, savagely raging thirst
Do you drink the unfiltered water in the lake?
Giardia concerns be damned, relief comes first.

Toenail
Trim your toenails
In preparation for a hiking trip
Taking tens of thousands of paces
It only takes one to smash your toenail
The toenail will provide throbbing pain for a day or two
The toenail turns dark blue-black
The toenail sticks out of the hole in your dark blue-black sock
The toenail takes two and a half months to fall off
The toenail disgusts people, especially if you perform the final rip off in front of an audience
The toenail, or lack thereof, acts as a memory trigger to mountain scenes when your attention is captivated by it
The new toenail starts out like a bubble at the base of the toenail area
The new toenail takes seven and a half months to grow in
The new toenail will be back in time for next year’s camping trip

Unsettling Encounter
I see you use a walking stick, no poles?
Where are you from? (how do you think?) You’re telling me you carry a concealed handgun?
That’s not comforting, that frightens me
That makes me think of murders that occur on the trail
No, no, don’t show it to me, I believe you
It’s for protection from unsafe people (like you)

Walking
Shift your weight to the foot in front of your body
Lift the leg and foot behind your body and move them from behind to before
Shift your weight to the foot in front of your body
Lift the leg and foot behind your body and move them from behind to before
Repeat this cyclical process for a lifetime
These motions approach the classification of involuntary

Wallface Mountain
Rock climbers flock
With ropes and gear
To climb up rock
And overcome fear
The climb begins
At Indian Pass
A gorge about a mile long
1000 foot cliff
One of the highest cliffs in the East
That gives the mountain its name
They do not care to bag any peaks

What’s Missing?
No smokestacks, cell phones, audible electronic devices
No cranes, telephone poles, overhead cables
No electrical lights, no electric anything
No warehouses, asphalt, concrete
No glass, plastic, metal
No fences, curbs
No golf courses
The only sand pits you see are natural
No advertisements vying for your attention
Aside from the occasional bridge over a brook
Or a ladder on a steep part
The only man-made thing you see on the trail is the trail
The trail which wild animals share with you
And help to maintain
As evidenced by the occasional hoof print or paw print

Whiteface Mountain
A road going to the top
And a tower at the summit
Make it a unique peak
Despite the alterations it still command respect
With its partner Esther
Geographically estranged from its peers
On a different map
On your way up, take the spur to the shore
Of Lake Placid’s Northeastern waters
See why it was given its name
Follow the markers
Don’t lose your way
Avoid the terminator of delights
And the separator of companions
If you shiver uncontrollably
Because you’ve been cold and wet all day
How do you get warm?
No fires allowed, it’s still raining
Hope you came prepared
With warm dry clothes
How do you treat hypothermia?

Wildlife
Counterintuitively, on the trail
Wildlife viewing is seldom
And therefore more special
A soaring falcon
A scampering chipmunk
A hopping wood thrush

Wright Peak
Extreme elements
Wind so strong you can lean 30 degrees into it without falling
You can’t hear the person next to you unless they shout
Steady, strong wind, not gusts
Non-stop wind
Blowing over the bare rock
All the sand and dust blown clean off of it