Cascade and Hopkins Mountain Climbs

So, kind of last minute, I joined my hiking friends Kathy and Gail on October 5th and 6th for some high peaks hiking. We hit the road early, about 8am from the Benson Rd and headed north for Keene Valley.

We got up to The Hostel (http://www.keenevalleyhostel.com/) about 11am to claim our bed space then headed to Cascade's trail head. The day was forecast for scattered showers and that's just what we got. The rocky trail was muddy and slippery so we proceeded with care.
The 2 hour hike up to the top wasn't bad but at the summit, the wind was really blowing hard so we just tapped the marker with our toes and headed back down. I did take a minute to take a picture of it. No view at all as the peak was totally socked in. Leaving the summit we had a trail runner and his chocolate lab run by us headed for the summit.

Headed back down we discussed whether or not to go for Porter too. We agreed to give it a go and started down the trail. Near the bottom of the descent down Cascade, we met some people coming back from thier trip to Porter. The trail was very muddy, they said, and of course, still no view from the top due to the weather. We made a group decision to turn back. None of us were all that into peak bagging and we wanted to hit the Mountaineer shop before it closed anyway. So, back up the trail to the junction with the Cascade trail for the trip back to the car. On the way to the junction, the trail runner and his dog passed us again, headed for Porter.

We took about as much time going down the Cascade trail as we did going up as the rocks were wet and slippery. Again, the trail runner and dog passed us going down to the trail head. I haven't spoken about others on the trail, but they were there. Not totally crowded but a good number of people for a week day and a rainy one at that.

We got back to the car and visited The Mountaineer. I got a Cascade patch and Kathy and Gail got pack covers. Then on to The Hostel to clean up. We unloaded the gear and our overnight bags and went into the Hostel. Nice place, small kitchen with stove and fridge for making your own meals, small living room area and a mud room with space for gear and a work bench for gear repair. Beds are upstairs and named for various mountains. After I cleaned up, Kathy broke out a nice bottle of wine and Gail broke out some before dinner snacks. We shared the wine and snacks with a couple from Great Britain, also staying at the Hostel. They were on a tour of the US and decided to come up to the Adirondacks for a few days.

About 7pm we went across the road to the diner and had a nice meal, then back to the hostel to relax. We read and relaxed and talked with a young woman from Holland, who arrived while we were at dinner. We had a nice chat about her hiking adventures in Nepal and talked about some hikes in the high peaks she may enjoy. A long day for me, I hit the bed about 9:30pm.

Up at 7am, we breakfasted and packed up and were out the door by about 8am. A short drive later, we were at the Hopkins trail head. The weather on the 6th was nice. Clear and partly sunny. The trail was also a little nicer, forest floor rather than rocks. This trail went in stages, kind of level, then a steep up, repeated all the way to the peak. Once there, we had great views of the valley and many of the high peaks. The fall colors were fantastic. We had lunch up there and I managed to get a group photo of the 3 of us with the view in the background.


No drama on the way back down. A few hikers on the trail, certainly not as many as were on Cascade the day before. Once back at the car, we headed home. What a great time and great company.