Cascade Mountain: An "Easy" First Climb
One of the easiest climbs in the Adirondacks leading to one of the best views in the entire area is the hike up to Cascade Mountain. Some people rate the view from the top of Cascade as the best in the Adirondacks. At 4,098 feet Cascade barely qualifies as one of the Adirondack 46, yet its location makes it more appealing than some higher peaks. It sits squarely in the center of a group of mountain clusters so that its summit enjoys a 360°
view of row upon row of endless green peaks. You can park right off Route 73 and follow a trail that climbs 3 miles to the summit of Cascade. The climb up can be completed in a couple of hours.
On my first Adirondack trip I was thrilled at the thought of climbing Cascade – rated number 1 in the beauty of its summit views and easiest to climb, who could resist? Little did I realize that the Adirondack trails are not to be underestimated. I had hiked in national parks out west where the mountains soar much higher than 4 or 5 thousand feet.
The trails are designed to accommodate a wide range of hikers, however, and have fairly gentle climbs or symmetrically carved switchbacks that lead one higher and higher without unnecessary effort. Not so the Adirondack trails. These rough and tumble trails have a "go for it" character that often lead you straight up, literally scrambling over endless piles of rock, only to descend again, climb again, redescend, and endure a roller-coaster of up and down climbing. Often you wonder if you're gaining elevation at all, alternately straining the front and then the back of your knees, pulling yourself up with tree roots and then grabbing tree branches to steady yourself as you head back down before going back up! These trails are not what you expect.
Cascade is fairly representative of the Adirondack trail "style". It starts easily enough. Even when it climbs fairly steeply it doesn't feel too initimidating. Something about the nature of these trails leads to a kind of exasperation about halfway up, and a feeling that you're never going to get there. With Cascade this happens a lot earlier than with other mountain trails. The more than 2,000 foot elevation gain of this trail is pretty typical. Although the entire trip up takes only a couple of hours, every footstep upward seems to require a few down and back up as well as around, over and to one side. Even though I was in excellent shape when I climbed Cascade, it was a warm summer day and I was huffing and puffing, drenched with sweat by the time I reached the turn-off to Porter Mountain, Cascade's closest neighbor and a trail not far from the final approach to Cascade's summit.
Once I reached the top I was not only awestruck by the view but also freezing from the blasts of cold wind hitting the summit from all sides. I had to sit down behind a rock, sheltered from the worst wind blasts, and soak up the sun in order to be able to stay up there. But what a view! I was immediately hooked. South I could see Mt. Marcy and what looked like an infinite number of undulating green peaks, but East was the vastness of the Giant Mountain Wilderness and North was Whiteface Mountain and the peaks of the Sentinal Range, all equally impressive. Suddenly I completely forgot the previous two hours of frustratingly slow progress and sweat.
I guess I had "hiker's high:" that combination of a rush of endorphins after all the climbing, a little less oxygen than down at the trail head, and a beautiful view that made my head swim. All of a sudden Cascade's neighbor, Porter Mountain, didn't seem so far away, so I decided, why not?, and resolved to head back down the trail, take the turn-off and trudge up to what would be my High Peak number 2, Porter Mountain (4,059 feet). Easier said than done, of course! The trails were muddy and buggy and hot that day, until you got above the tree line, where freezing blasts of wind were the norm. Porter's view was similar, but not as dramatic as Cascade's.
Don't let anyone mislead you: climbing is half the story. The other half should be titled "Part II: Knee Agony." Cascade's descent is particularly bad because of its steepness. A steady two hours of pressure on the back of one's knees takes its toll. Not only do you feel this almost immediately, but its effects linger for days. My body was literally in a state of shock over this experience.
