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My roommate Sam and I had entertained the idea of day hiking the Jack Rabbit Trail for quite some time. Many of our friends expressed the belief that we were incapable of accomplishing such a feat. Naturally, we had little other choice than to prove them wrong. I backpacked it last November over the course of 3 days, but a day hike would certainly be quite the undertaking.
Saturday night (after getting back from climbing Wakely Mountain) Sam and I had a friend drive us to Rock and River in Keene. We hiked a few hundred feet into the forest preserve, set up tents, and went to bed. We awoke at 4:30 am, ate breakfast, and after a short delay of finding our friend who had taken a wrong turn in the woods in the darkness, set out at 5:40 am.
We hiked for at least an hour in the darkness. It did not start to get light out until we reached the beaver flow in the pass behind Pitchoff Mountain. There were some really nice views of Pitchoff and Keene to the east in the darkness and the growing light. We found a faint path around the flow on the north side of the water. As we reached the road, it became light enough to hike without headlamps, but the sun still did not rise for at least another hour. The trail through the cascade ski area is muddy at times, but it appears that it has been re-routed, avoiding some of the muddier sections. We re-crossed 73, and headed north-west across the first country club. A few golfers were out getting some early-morning holes in, and we talked to them for a bit before heading on.
After the golf course, the trail goes through some nice woods both before and after crossing the Ausable River. Upon reaching the second golf course, we got a bit turned around on the greens, as they JRT trail markers had not been put out yet for the winter season. We eventually found the way though, and soon made our way into Lake Placid. Unfortunately, most of the businesses were closed (we had been looking forwards to maybe a beer at Placid Pub and Brewery, or the chance to stop at EMS, but it was not yet 10 am). Instead of climbing the hill to the hotel however, we walked down main street and took a left to get to the Hojos. By this time, some people were up, on their way to church mostly. Walking on the sidewalk was tough, and this was the beginning of the downfall for our feet.
We took a short break at the Gas Station across from Hojos, and then continued on the peninsula trails and through yet another country club until we reached the Whiteface Inn. We started up the trail towards McKenzie, taking note that someone had driven the trail all the way up to the state land boundary line, and then had even complained about the quality of the trail as a drivable road in the register. We reached the lean-to soon after leaving the road, and took a break here. I unzipped my pants so that I was wearing shorts, and took my ankle brace off- the pain it was causing by digging into my ankle at this point far outweighed the support it gave.
About 1.5-2 hours after leaving the lean-to, we reached McKenzie pond road. The trail through here was steep and somewhat muddy in sections, but it also passes through some impressive old growth white pine that are massive. After crossing McKenzie pond road, the trail goes through a muddy section, and then through a really nice red pine forest before reaching the railroad tracks. We followed the rail road tracks north until Saranac Lake, then we left them to take a detour into town to get some lunch (we only carried granola bars and fig newtons with us, knowing that we could stop along the way for lunch). At Little Italy Pizzeria, we ate several slices of pizza, had a beer, and the waitress was even kind enough to give us some asprin. After lunch, we continued through Saranac Lake, stopping to talk with people we knew along the way.
If the pavement in Lake Placid and Saranac Lakes was the beginning of the downfall of our feet, the rail road tracks between Saranac and Lake Clear cemented their fate. This is some of the roughest 5 miles I've ever hiked... the gravel was unyielding, and the ties were not spaced evenly and so walking on them exerted extra energy to keep balance. We were still going strong when we reached placid, but the pain had definitely begun to set in when we reached Lake Clear. To keep our minds occupied along the tracks, we paced out a mile by counting steps in our head and found that we were pretty close with our estimations, but hiking together and walking in sync messed us up somewhat.
After lake clear, the trail follows first power lines and then a logging road, which were not much better than the tracks. In the dieing light, we followed both until we reached a true woods trail again, which was a relief on both our feet and our legs. We followed the trail north, across 86, through the PSC Silviculture Plots, then across Jones Pond Road and White Pine Road, past the Church Pond lean-to. By the time we reached 86, it was dark enough to pull out our headlamps again. We touched the doors of the VIC Building at approximately 8:30 pm, about 15 hours after we started out. We then had to hike an extra half-mile to get back to campus... finished the night out by getting chinese take out, eating a little bit, and then passing out.
Sam and I are both extremely sore today, and everyone on campus is getting a huge kick out of how slow we are moving and how much effort it takes to do simple things like sit down, stand up, etc. But we sure showed them!
Saturday night (after getting back from climbing Wakely Mountain) Sam and I had a friend drive us to Rock and River in Keene. We hiked a few hundred feet into the forest preserve, set up tents, and went to bed. We awoke at 4:30 am, ate breakfast, and after a short delay of finding our friend who had taken a wrong turn in the woods in the darkness, set out at 5:40 am.
We hiked for at least an hour in the darkness. It did not start to get light out until we reached the beaver flow in the pass behind Pitchoff Mountain. There were some really nice views of Pitchoff and Keene to the east in the darkness and the growing light. We found a faint path around the flow on the north side of the water. As we reached the road, it became light enough to hike without headlamps, but the sun still did not rise for at least another hour. The trail through the cascade ski area is muddy at times, but it appears that it has been re-routed, avoiding some of the muddier sections. We re-crossed 73, and headed north-west across the first country club. A few golfers were out getting some early-morning holes in, and we talked to them for a bit before heading on.
After the golf course, the trail goes through some nice woods both before and after crossing the Ausable River. Upon reaching the second golf course, we got a bit turned around on the greens, as they JRT trail markers had not been put out yet for the winter season. We eventually found the way though, and soon made our way into Lake Placid. Unfortunately, most of the businesses were closed (we had been looking forwards to maybe a beer at Placid Pub and Brewery, or the chance to stop at EMS, but it was not yet 10 am). Instead of climbing the hill to the hotel however, we walked down main street and took a left to get to the Hojos. By this time, some people were up, on their way to church mostly. Walking on the sidewalk was tough, and this was the beginning of the downfall for our feet.
We took a short break at the Gas Station across from Hojos, and then continued on the peninsula trails and through yet another country club until we reached the Whiteface Inn. We started up the trail towards McKenzie, taking note that someone had driven the trail all the way up to the state land boundary line, and then had even complained about the quality of the trail as a drivable road in the register. We reached the lean-to soon after leaving the road, and took a break here. I unzipped my pants so that I was wearing shorts, and took my ankle brace off- the pain it was causing by digging into my ankle at this point far outweighed the support it gave.
About 1.5-2 hours after leaving the lean-to, we reached McKenzie pond road. The trail through here was steep and somewhat muddy in sections, but it also passes through some impressive old growth white pine that are massive. After crossing McKenzie pond road, the trail goes through a muddy section, and then through a really nice red pine forest before reaching the railroad tracks. We followed the rail road tracks north until Saranac Lake, then we left them to take a detour into town to get some lunch (we only carried granola bars and fig newtons with us, knowing that we could stop along the way for lunch). At Little Italy Pizzeria, we ate several slices of pizza, had a beer, and the waitress was even kind enough to give us some asprin. After lunch, we continued through Saranac Lake, stopping to talk with people we knew along the way.
If the pavement in Lake Placid and Saranac Lakes was the beginning of the downfall of our feet, the rail road tracks between Saranac and Lake Clear cemented their fate. This is some of the roughest 5 miles I've ever hiked... the gravel was unyielding, and the ties were not spaced evenly and so walking on them exerted extra energy to keep balance. We were still going strong when we reached placid, but the pain had definitely begun to set in when we reached Lake Clear. To keep our minds occupied along the tracks, we paced out a mile by counting steps in our head and found that we were pretty close with our estimations, but hiking together and walking in sync messed us up somewhat.
After lake clear, the trail follows first power lines and then a logging road, which were not much better than the tracks. In the dieing light, we followed both until we reached a true woods trail again, which was a relief on both our feet and our legs. We followed the trail north, across 86, through the PSC Silviculture Plots, then across Jones Pond Road and White Pine Road, past the Church Pond lean-to. By the time we reached 86, it was dark enough to pull out our headlamps again. We touched the doors of the VIC Building at approximately 8:30 pm, about 15 hours after we started out. We then had to hike an extra half-mile to get back to campus... finished the night out by getting chinese take out, eating a little bit, and then passing out.
Sam and I are both extremely sore today, and everyone on campus is getting a huge kick out of how slow we are moving and how much effort it takes to do simple things like sit down, stand up, etc. But we sure showed them!
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