Episode Date: August 9th, 2018

Adventurer: Lisa O’Malley

Location: Adirondack Mountains, NY

Description: In Episode 1, we meet my mom, Lisa O’Malley, on the trail in the Adirondacks after completing her first Adirondack High Peak – Macomb Mountain in the Dix Range. We engaged in an ambitious weekend in the mainly unmarked Dix Range and she discovered the beauty of mountains. Not all beautiful things are easy to attain. 3 weeks after the hike, I followed up to see what she felt looking back on the experience. This a story of learning limits.

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What do you do when the higher Adirondack elevations are muddy, wet, and fragile and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation asks hikers to consider remaining below 2,500 feet in elevation to let the peaks dry? Hike to the half way point just below 2,500 feet on the originally-planned hike and then use the rest of the afternoon to jump off some cliffs, obviously. Spontaneity feeds adventure and curiosity and this change of plan ended up being just as fun as the original plan would have been. The initial plan for friends Neil, Rose, Andrew and myself was to conquer Mount Colvin and Blake Peak via Lake Road off of the Ausable Club. We decided to still hike in this way to hit Indian Head, one of the Adirondacks' more beautiful and iconic sights.

Map of Route to Indian Head (out of Ausable Club)

We started the day off parking at the far Ausable Club parking lot located at the "P" in the above map (free lot) and hiked past the always beautiful Ausable Club towards the huge timber AMR gate to Lake Road. This access point serves as a means of getting to the Great Range including the Lower and Upper Wolfjaw, Armstrong, and Gothics  and the edge of the Dix Mountain Wilderness including Mt. Colvin and Blake. When we signed in at the check-in, a post-it note said "muddy, bugs are bad, go home." Knowing that we would still be below 2,500 feet in elevation and that a decent portion of the hike would be along the access road, we began walking. This was the soothing start of the first part of the day - a part that would be filled with a timber bridge in the woods and lots of waterfalls. When TLC tells you "Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls", they are wrong. Definitely chase waterfalls.

Totally Appreciate a Nice Bridge in the Woods

Waterfalls....Waterfalls Everywhere. And Neil.

Chasing Waterfalls

Once we started to gain in elevation, Indian Head quickly approached. This is not a super intensive hike, but the rewards are incredible. As you get close to Indian Head, there is a junction with a branch to an outlook, which we eagerly took. This was the first taste of views.

The Outlook is Certainly Worth The Exploration

Neil and Andrew on the Outlook

We made short time at the outlook knowing that Indian Head was right around the corner. We were ready to sit down, snack, and take in the Indian Head views for a little while now that we had our first taste of the lush greenery in the mountains along Lower Ausable Lake.

Boom. We made it.

Indian Head

Required Candid Pose (Photo Credit: Rose)

View Looking North from Indian Head

We climbed around the rocks for about a half an hour (it only took us about 2.5 hours to get to Indian Head). This is a great spot if you're looking for a moderate hike that will allow you plenty of time to snack, eat lunch, and soak in the views. I imagine Indian Head is majestic at sunrise and sunset as well and wouldn't be too difficult to get to to experience them. We took a slightly alternate route back to Lake Road, cutting down as soon as possible as we left Indian Head. This allowed us to check out the awesome dam at the end of Lower Ausable Lake. Sweet!

Dam at the Edge of Lower Ausable Lake

From this point on, we took the gravelly Lake Road back to the Ausable Club and eventually to the car. Surprisingly, the black flies weren't nearly as bad as we thought they were going to be (maybe due to the weather?). We were warned ahead of the hike that "the black flies are thick and chewy this year. Prepare to give blood." Nice!...very descriptive indeed! We were prepped for Armageddon but never really encountered it. With how wet many of the areas in the high peaks are right now, I'm not surprised that other areas may be a war zone.

Anyways, we finished the hike around 1:30pm and still had the entire afternoon to explore, so naturally we went cliff jumping. None of the others had been to Split Rock Falls on the way to Elizabethtown, so that's where we went.

Sunday, January 14th: The Second Ski Day.

** As always, head over to the gallery from Whistler Blackcomb - January 2018 to see all photos from my adventures! **

Somewhat adjusting to the Pacific timezone (or maybe it was just how much the skiing wiped us out), my Dad, brother, and I all got a full night of sleep on Saturday night. I'm pretty sure that I was knocked out within 5 minutes of my head hitting the pillow. The few beers had the night before probably helped the process as well. We woke around 6:30 AM (with Shawn waking at 7 when I pile-drove him into the bed to get him up) and made breakfast. Today was to be our first full Whistler Mountain day. We got our gear on and headed to the basement to get our skis and snowboard out of the locker that we were provided and required to keep our gear in. We ventured outside the Lost Lake Lodge to the shuttle stop located at the end of the driveway and hopped on the free shuttle to get to Whistler Village. **Side note...the entire lodging operation was seamless and made getting our gear and travelling to the mountain extremely easy and accessible. I would highly recommend staying at any place near Whistler Village that has access to the free shuttle. Many of the lodges/hotels are independently run but majority have great accessibility to all of the Whistler Blackcomb amenities. ** We arrived at the same base near the Excalibur Gondola that we had taken the day before to get to Blackcomb. This time, we took the Fitzsimmons Express chair lift to access Whistler Mountain. There was the same cloud cover over the village as the day before. We were quickly learning that there seems to always be some form of a cloud layer or fog in the pacific northwest valleys - more times than not it seems. Luckily, the forecast called for breaks of sun with some clouds. Looking back at the village from the chair, we were able to see a break in the clouds and noticed the distant mountain peaks illuminated by the vibrant morning sun. Little did we know the sweetness of the bluebird treat that we would soon be served once we broke through the bottom layer of clouds.

A peek through the clouds at the bluebird skies waiting above the clouds

The sneak preview turned out to be right. We would soon find out how right it would be. Once we got above the base layer of clouds, there was NOT A CLOUD IN THE SKY. We got to experience early morning skiing with views more expansive than anything we had ever experienced before. We strapped in and geared up, ready to soak in the sun and the views during a day we would never forget.

Strapping in and gearing up - our first blue-sky view of the Canadian Rockies

We had the Whistler Peak on our mind and wanted to check out the Whistler bowl at some point on this day. We made our way up another lift and got over to the base of the Whistler peak chair.

Whistler Mountain backbone glistening in the morning sun

We would go on to ride the Whistler Peak chair to get to the top of the world. This lift became the most terrifying, awesome, and adrenaline-pumping part of the entire trip. The chairs were normal chairs with just a single bar with foot rests restraining you. The lift passes over two cliffs at which you are 100 or more feet in the air (this may or may not be accurate...but I can tell you that you get UP THERE to the point where falling off would be painless). I was white knuckled hanging onto my poles and the restraint bar. I felt alive. See the photo below that shows the height of the first cliff that the chair climbs. In the ski day 3 blog and photos there are some great photos of the whistler peak chair from alternate angles, so be on the lookout for those.

Whistler Peak chair

Once we reached the summit, our amazement peaked. The views were breathtaking and I was speechless. The Whistler Mountain summit left an impression that will forever be tattooed into my memory.

Canadian Rockies from Whistler Mountain Peak

At this point,