Blue

Have you ever had something you wanted to do that just felt insurmountable? Climbing Blue Mountain has been my nemesis for the last four years. I'm game for climbing anything but...

Yes, the road does go to the left and DOWN before getting closer to Blue Mountain.

For years I've driven past THIS and completely talked myself out of climbing Blue. It's too high! It's too hot! It's too whatever!

Taken from ADK Museum parking lot.
Trailhead is 1/4 mile to the left.

Finally, last week when I knew I was taking one last camping trip for the year, I told everyone that I was going to climb Blue. I figured if I told everyone I couldn't talk myself out of it...even when I came down with bronchitis the day before my trip.

Oh, such a sight for sore eyes after climbing for 2 hours

The day dawned a brisk 36F which turned out to be very nice hiking weather. Blue is a 2 mile climb with the first mile very rocky and mildly steep while the second mile was very steep rock face "scrambles" that have been known to be quite damp and slippery. A bonus for a drought year is a completely dry hike!

And then, yes, I also climbed the tower.
You can see from the cement where buildings used to stand.

I felt quilt slow after taking 2 hours to huff and puff my way to the top but I've been told that I made pretty good time. I was the first person to summit for the day (9:45am) altho there was a worker at the top dealing with the radio towers. He rode up a brand spanking new $1,000,000 road on his ATV = cheater! It was fantastic to enjoy the view in near solitude for nearly an hour before heading back down the mountain.

Sun rays were an unexpected bonus

Now that I'd made it to the top of Blue I feel like I can climb anything I want to.

first building on left is under 1 of the comm towers - you can see the guy wires
building in middle is where a ranger lives in the summer
fire tower is top center
second comm tower is off to the right

I like to hike mountains and flat trails alike but lately I've been trying to complete some of the hiking challenges that are around the ADK. Most of the challenges offer a patch for finishing and I plan to sew the patches to the new woodsman quilt I'll be making!

remember the shot up above taken from the parking lot?
the finger points to the parking lot. eek!

One such challenge is for firetowers (I've now climbed 2 of the 5 mountains) and another is called the 4-3-2-1 Challenge (which includes an increasing amount of difficulty for the 10 required hikes but I've already completed 5 of the 10 if I can count hikes from 2015). They both include three of the same (difficult!) mountains and crossing off Blue has given me the gumption to plan on finishing both challenges next summer. It's going to take a lot of hard work but I've got a "few" months to up my hiking skills and I KNOW I can do it!!

Well...I think so any way.

Bwahahahaha!