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| Climbing Mt. Joe By: Jennifer I.
Brooklyn, NY |
Our first stay at the Mirror Lake Inn was during the Easter break of few years ago. We live in Brooklyn and had never been to the Adirondakes. Of course we fell in love with the Inn on sight. Friends had told us to reasonably expect snow in April and we were not disappointed. Each morning we awoke to a beautiful view of a snow c overed Mirror lake which seemed to melt by midday. One morning we decided to try a hike. I had guide books which I read religously describing various hikes in the area. Some friends had described Mt. Jo as an easy, family friendly, first hike. What we didn't realize was that all of the advice did not take into consideration the winter-like conditions.
My husband Bill and son Charlie, 8 at the time., were up for the adventure . We asked the young person on duty at the park for an update on the conditions and he said they were great. Possibly, we looked like we knew what we were doing. The ascent was beautiful beyond words. We noticed it getting icier the higher we got. The "scramble" up boulders was quite challenging . We made it to the top with not much more than a nagging feeling of how we were going to get down. After an exhilerating look around. we noticed that the descent was indeed a sheet of ice at a very steep incline. That's when my 8 year old, city boy from Brooklyn took the lead. He took off his down vest, sat on it and,using his gloved hands as sort of ski poles, shouted at us, "Do it like this"! We did, most of the way on our bottoms. Needless to say we made it down, muddy and in one piece.
When we arrived back at the Inn we were still worked up from our adventure. I will never forget the feeling of walking in that front door and finding that it was chocolate chip cookie time! Our prize was waiting. It was a simple adventure, but one our little familly will always remember. We always talk about climbing Mt. Joe again, without the ice. Somehow, on our subsequent visits, we never seem to get beyond those early morning walks around the lake, and I for one, never miss the chocolate chip cookie time.
Jennifer Ingram- Park Slope, Brooklyn |
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