We Saw

Blown-up on Top by the Wind
Originally uploaded by Polish Carpetlayer.

The wind on top of the mountain was howling. Gusts of over 60 mph. I’m guessing. But it felt like more at times. We crawled along the summit so we wouldn’t be knocked over. And we looked out over the Adirondacks. This is what all the fuss was about. Everyone kept telling us that we needed to see this area. We needed to experience this part of New York before we left. It’s impressive and rugged.

No one in this state has ever heard of a switchback. All the trails go straight up what must have been creek beds in another time. Each step takes you higher. As you climb, all around you the trees are green and stunted compared to the northwest. It’s obvious that they’ve lived hard lives; the winters pummeling them with ten Oregon winters in one month. These are hardy living beings.

It is beautiful, awe inspiring, and small all at the same time. Mountains top out at a little over 4,000 feet. But you still get wonderfully lost in the grandeur. You are in God’s country. The ground is a mix of decomposing plant matter and stones. Large stones. And as we continued to rise up to the top of Mt. Wright I couldn’t help but think about my parent’s house and the riverbed that it was built on. All the excavating of rocks that I had to do to help my parents build a garden in the back yard. Now I was walking on those rocks. Step by step we made our way to the top of the world. In New York. On this Memorial Day weekend. 2007.

See all the pictures here.