Climb Cascade

A Great First Forty-Sixer

Story and photos by Brandon Marshall

Among the 46 Adirondack High-Peaks, there is one that singularly captures the energy surrounding its 45 brothers and sisters. Cascade ranks 36th on the list of high-peaks and altitude alone cannot affect the glory of reaching its summit. 

My father and I began our ascent around noon, starting at the registration booth off Route 73, to sign in.  It was warm for November and although I thought twice about bringing my heavier winter jacket, the thought of the frigid winds at the top was enough to make me stuff it into my duffel bag.  For the moment, the winds were calm and the sky was patterned with scattered clouds.  Most of it remained blue, which always brings a sense of hopefulness on a woodland walk.  A climb can be rough and long, and bad weather seems to only add weight to those already discomforting burdens.

As with most of my hikes, I am always accustomed to taking more than I need, just in case.  The path starts slow, through a magnificent forest of pine and ash.  Leaves damply carpet the forest-floor in a warm, calming array of fading browns, reds, yellows and oranges.  A half-an-hour or so into the hike, a lone raven flew overhead.  Swooping low beneath the canopy, it glided all the way up the trail and turned the next corner, as if to escort us to our destination. 

After the lower, muddier sections of the pathway, the mountains' dozens of switchbacks start to climb steeper.  Even though the soggy trail had become overwhelming in spots, a step to the side of the path, and a careful tip-toe around these mud-holes is not all that bothersome.

The remainder of the hike is quick and easy, depending on how you take it. Along the next mile or so, you’d swear that this place was somehow built by man, not formed by time.  Massive natural stones, perfectly assembled and structured into large grey steps, twist and careen upwards for much of the hike.  In sections, the giant-like stairways continued what could have been a hundreds of feet.  At these points, I could lunge from rock to rock, sometimes skipping a step or two.  I would traverse a portion in mere seconds this way, and while the hike continued, I could only move faster.

Having never climbed a high-peak, the closer I figured I was to the top, the more anxious I became.  One thing that has yet to change in my mountain-climbing experiences is that the summit never comes when you predict.  For a half-hour, at least, I kept telling myself, “It’s just around the next bend, five more minutes.” This only brought me down a bit, but it was enough to slightly agitate. 

At last we arrived at the peak, 3, 500 vertical feet in the air.  When the summit is in sight,there is only one thing to do--walk straight ahead, to the highest point of the precipice. I made it halfway to that point, over odd grasses and shrubs I’d never seen before, when I suddenly decided to turn around. A long range of dark-blue and green mountains stretched on for as far as I could see. All of them were tipped in snow, and glazed with a silvery frost that shimmered in the sunlight. It had been years since I'd climbed a mountain, and even then, it hadn't been a high-peak. This was the first time that I realized how small a human being truly is.  Everything seems so small from this distance, yet in reality it would take days, weeks, maybe even months to wander these mountains and valleys.

The most brilliant part of the peak is that it is open and allows for a complete 360 degree view of the surrounding region. The southern view outlines the rigid peaks of Upper Wolfjaw, Armstrong, Gothics, Saddleback and Big Slide. High-winds and bitter cold of the summit only allowed for a short visit, but the memories and photographs can’t lie.

Cascade is a perfect first hike in the high-peaks, with little effort and in a short amount of time, we reached the peak without breaking too much of a sweat. That could’ve been due to the temperature, but I think the easy-going nature of the hike had more to do with it. 

What High-Peaks have you climbed?