Mount Philo

It seemed to make sense that if we were going to spend the summer in the Adirondacks, that we should climb the tallest mountain in our hometown to scope them out. That's exactly what we did on the night of June 11th. It also turned out to be an excellent opportunity to try backpacking with our new gear. If we forgot anything, home was just two miles away! Lisa, Tom and I got packed up and Jean brought us to the parking lot at the bottom of Mount Philo. She decided to head up the trail to the road with us and then head home.

Arriving at the summit (after an exhilarating 20 minute hike), we checked in to our lean-to. Sleeping in a lean-to also seemed like an appropriate way to test our Adirondack mettle. However, we did set up our tents inside so that we wouldn't be a mosquito feast all night long.

We stayed on the top, enjoying the vista of Lake Champlain, the Adirondack Mountains and the Champlain Valley while we ate our chicken salad sandwiches for dinner. Tom and I had to fight over the last sandwich and it ended up tearing roughly in halves after a brawl. After heading back to our campsite, we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores! I ate three and hit the sleeping bag in a sugar-crash stupor.

After a calm and temperate sleeping night, we awoke to oatmeal and the job of repacking our backpacks. Our gear fit well and we headed back down the trail to meet Amy and Ben - our ride home!