In my latest adventure I team up with Jimmy Mac of 7 Eleven Ultra and Fat Ass 50 fame to night hike through the High Peaks Wilderness and climb Mount Marcy (the highest peak in New York State) in the Adirondacks to support the Rat Race Source to the City adventure which follows the Hudson River from its source at the Lake Cloud of Tears for to New York City 315 miles away.

We discover what ‘Slop Rocks’ are, have the worst sleep in the best place and appreciate why it can take 7 hours to travel 10 miles in some of the most stunning and challenging countryside I’ve ever been to. We also manage to set a Fastest Known Time Record on the Calamity Brook Trail.

Some of the best things I’ve done start with Jim Mee

Whether its crossing a frozen lake in Mongolia or running a 5k across the seabed in the UK some of the most dramatic and tough things I’ve ever done start with a call from Jim Mee of Rat Race.

Last year I joined the Rat Race Test Pilots as they figured out how to travel from the Source of the Hudson at the Lake Cloud of Tears to New York where the Hudson meets the Sea by the Statue of Liberty. Last year I joined them for the final 13 mile run into the city and the kayaking on the Hudson. The Source to City adventure is an annual event that takes adventurers along the entire length of the Hudson on Foot, Bike and Kayak over 3 days.

This year Jim was keen to have a few people act as guides through the High Peaks Wilderness route between Mount Marcy and the Calamity Brook Trail.

The Adirondacks sit dramatically in the northern part of New York State and include the High Peaks Wilderness area which is the largest state park in the USA. The Native Americans called Mount Marcy ‘Tahawus’ which means Cloud-Splitter and at 5,300ft it is the highest point in New York State.

Jimmy and I were to drive up late on the Thursday evening, hike through the night up to the peak and meet the team as they come over the peak in the morning then lead 2 groups through the High Peaks Wilderness for 10 miles to the end of the Calamity Brook Trail where they would jump on bikes and carry on their adventure for another two days.

One ‘A’ Short of Useful

On the 4 hour drive up Jimmy Mac needed batteries for his headtorch. In the first stop at a garage he disappeared for 10 mins and returned with a donut for me. As I munched on the donut and drove off I asked if he got batteries and he looked at me blankly.

At the second shop we stopped at Jimmy returned with a Red Bull and no batteries.

At the third stop Jimmy returned with Reeses Pieces and to my joy a pack of batteries.

It wasn’t until much later on in the hike around 2am that we found out he had got AA batteries when he actually needed AAA.

Slop Rocks

The Calamity Brook Trail and Mount Marcy Trail are tough. Really really tough. On the outbound night hike we found the dense woodland, high trees by the trail and narrow trails very oppressive. It was like being stuck in a hedgerow maze at night. The trails transformed on the return leg the next day and in bright sunshine they were a joy to amble through.

The problem with this trail route to Mount Marcy is the elevation gain and the state of the trail underfoot. There are long sections of what dubbed ‘slop rocks’ which involves the seemingly impossible combination of huge rocks floating on deep sloppy mud. In some places with the elevation gain, terrain we struggled to travel 1 mile in an hour.

4am Coffee on a Wooden Ladder

By 4am we had been moving for 5 hours without a break on tough uphill terrain. We had managed to miss a small turn for a lean to shelter on the trail (where we wanted to sleep for a few hours) so we had carried on looking for another suitable place to sleep and found nothing. In a fit of despair we sat down on a wooden ladder sloping up the trail and got a stove out and made hot coffee.

The coffee spurred us on and lifted our spirits and gave us the final push we needed to get to the summit for sunrise.

Mount Marcy Sunrise

After the lows came the highs. As the trail got even steeper the sky went from black to very dark indigo. The trees thinned out and got shorter, we started seeing berries and shrubs and a sign on the trail proudly announced we were entering an ‘Alpine Arctic Zone’.

Both of us stopped and took in the incredible colors and rolling mountains stretching in every direction into lighter shades of blue as the sun came up. We were exhausted from trekking through the night but elated to see such a beautiful sunrise from such a stunning location.

The Worst Nap in the Best Place

We reached sight of the peak at about 6.30 am. With rather high winds and low temperatures we opted to have a 1 hour ‘crash nap’ out of some of the wind. We literally rolled out a sleeping bag each and just sort of passed out for a groggy 45 mins of very poor quality sleep. It was noisy, cold and uncomfortable. I loved it.

The Worst Coffee Shop in the Best Location

We had lugged enough gear up the mountain for a surprise breakfast for the Rat Racers. As they arrived from the opposite side of the mountain we greeted them with bleary eyed smiles and a bacon sandwich made with very squashed bread. We also served hot instant coffee and Jimmy noticed the wild blueberries growing on the rocks at the summit and harvested them for breakfast.

The Rat Racers were a mixture of Brits and Americans and we quickly split into two groups to allow the slightly faster people to get ahead while the power walkers still had a guide too. The difference between running and walking on this trail is about 0.5mph!

Lake Cloud of Tears, Wobbly Bridges and Waterfalls

As we left the peak of Mount Marcy and retraced our steps on the trail with the Rat Racers we quickly passed the source of the Hudson River. The Lake Tear of the Clouds is little more than a placid large pond but it is surprisingly high up! It was from here in 1901 that future president Theodore Roosevelt found out that he was going to be president.

Further down the trail we found numerous waterfalls and a wobbly suspension bridge. The trail winds through dense and ancient woodland and pops out sporadically by the river to see waterfalls and lakes. We stopped by a dam to enjoy a short lunch and take in just how stunning and quiet this wilderness was.

Bikes and Goodbyes

By late afternoon both groups were safely at the trail head ready to meet the support crew vehicles and switch to bikes for a 30 mile ride to their hotel for the evening.

Broken, Tired and Smiling Jimmy and I laughing all the way home and agreed that the trails were some of the most beautiful and challenging under foot we had ever done.

The team still had 2 more days of cycling, kayaking and a half marathon run into New York. Jimmy and I had an absolute blast even though we only played a small 10 mile part in their 315 mile adventure.

You can find out more about the Rat Race Source to City Adventure here.