It was the second week of December and my good friend Kelly Moody and I were racking our brains as to where we might possibly find snow to begin to get in shape for winter adventures. The first place that came to mind is the Whiteface Vetern’s Memorial Highway. If there is snow to be found, usually that area is a good bet.
First, a little history on the highway. An entrepreneur from Saranac Lake, Marcellus Leonard came up with the idea of building a road up Whiteface Mountain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The property for the road was donated by its owner to New York State providing that the highway would be named after America’s Great War veterans. In 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicated the highway as requested. Later in 1985, then New York Governor Mario Cuomo re-dedicated the highway to all veterans. And now on to our hike.
Kelly and I met at the toll booth at 8 in the morning. The day’s forecast was to be light wind with fairly mild temperatures. The sun was promised at some point. As I drove up the road to the toll booth, I was quite skeptical as the road was bare and no snow on the trees. About ½ a mile from where we would park, it turned into a winter wonderland. Whoo-Hoo! Now I was excited. Kelly was there already organizing her pack getting ready for our day. A quick look at the well packed highway ahead of us confirmed that we really did not ‘need’ snowshoes but that was the whole point of the trip.
At 8:30 am, snowshoes strapped to our feet and packs on our back we were off. I’ll be honest, after 15 minutes I said it felt like there were cement blocks strapped to my feet. The good news was that we were not breaking trail as there had been lots of outdoor enthusiasts ahead of us carving up the snow. It seemed like a chilly start but before long we were removing layers trying to avoid sweating.
The 5-mile scenic road climbs over 2,300 feet. There are several viewpoints and we took advantage of each one, using them as an excuse to grab a drink or take a brief rest. It was fun to watch skiers glide by as they climbed and I could only imagine the quick ride they would have on the return trip. At one point there is a great view of Esther Mountain, one of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks.
As we walked, we could see the castle way up high in the distance. It seemed such a long way away. Sometimes the sky was a stunning bright blue and sometimes it was totally full of cloud cover. We kept our fingers crossed for some blue sky when we reached the top.
It was a gentle climb as we traversed the long switchbacks but our constant chatter made time go by quickly. Eventually, we arrived at the end of the road. At this point, we removed our snowshoes and pulled on our microspikes. (The snowshoes would be quite awkward climbing the steep stairs to the top.)
As we walked through the tunnel, it was as if we had stepped into a scene from the movie Frozen. Everything was encased in beautiful, crusty crystals of snow. Clouds hung below the summit and the white formations on everything were unreal. The stairway climb is about a mile, but it took us forever. Between the two of us we took roughly 500 photos. No matter which way you looked, it was breathtaking.
Finally, we arrived at the top. The castle covered with icy feathers is constructed from the granite excavated from when the highway was built. Words cannot describe the beauty. There is an amazing 360 degree view and we had it all to ourselves. To our surprise, the lack of wind and the warm rays of the sun enabled us to leave our mittens off as we took photo after photo. The deep, blue sky was filled with lots of puffy, small clouds giving it a marbled effect. As we looked down at the winding highway below we could see skiers enjoying the day as they came and went. We stayed up high for almost 2 hours soaking in the radiant sun and spectacular views.
Alas, all good things must come to an end and it was time to retreat. It was still calm and mild as we trudged down the road eventually watching the sun set below the mountains. It took us only 2 hours to do the 5 miles back to our vehicles. I attribute that to getting our fill of photo taking on the way up. As I walked past Kelly’s car, I asked her if she meant to leave her window wide open. Her reply, “No, are my keys still in it?” With numerous break ins at trailheads someone had mentioned maybe we should just leave our cars unlocked. Kelly went over the top with her car. She was short of leaving a sign: “Take the car if you want it.” We both were relieved all was how we had left it but definitely had a good laugh.
Happy Trails and wishing everyone a Happy New Year!
— Peru resident Joanne Kennedy is a photographer and writer who can be found exploring the many lakes and mountains in the Adirondacks or other wilderness areas. She enjoys sharing the unique places she visits in the natural world with her readers. Reach her at loonsrcool@gmail.com.