it’s becoming a bit of a tradition on our family trips, that not only do we schedule a day for me to go on an epic adventure without the fam, but we also plan an extra long extra cool excursion for me and the annababy.
for this vacations extra long extra cool adventure, we chose a hike in the adirondack mountain reserve that took us to the indian head vista and then along onto rainbow falls. unbeknownst to us, the 2ish miles would have us trudging along a gravel road, through a mountain resort village type place, and then finally to an actual trail. after a bit of time on the trail, we were faced with a tough decision…
obviously, we chose the scenic route. which was really just along the river, hopping over rocks and the sort, versus a little bit away from the river on a flatter, easier trail. we chose correctly. also. we love the rustic adirondack vibes.
there were many stream crossings, and we simply cannot pass up a good bridge photo op.
like most adirondack trails we have encountered, there were lots of insanely steep sections. sometimes there were stairs to help us along. sometimes an exposed root system of a tree gave us the footing necessary to continue on.
the last climb to indian head overlook (?) was tough, but we were rewarded greatly for our efforts. a lovely view of this lake whose name i do not know. of course we took a zillion photos. there were two overlook locations, you might be able to tell from the angle of the lake. they were a short distance apart, but separated by the most ridiculous steep washed out trail we’ve been on in awhile.
and then we were off. back down into waterfall country….
rainbow falls was pretty fantastic. and we had it all to ourselves for a nice long visit. we climbed up to a tiny little overlook (not even 100% sure that it was intended to be) directly across from the falls to have our lunch, and then scrambled out along the rocks on the bottom for the humbling experience of standing at the bottom of the towering falls. i have decided against posting the first few failed attempts at getting a pic using the tripod and my camera timer. it was a tight squeeze hitting the button and then getting out onto that rock with anna in 10 seconds.
i do not know the name of the next falls, but it was cool and we chilled for a bit.
the hike back was a long and drearing tromp. traipse. trudge. trek. we tested out all of these words to see which ones felt right. here are some views from that boring part of the hike. always love a good trail blaze/marker. and. we thought that mushroom looked like it was caramel flavor. but, we did not confirm.
we made it back alive. derek arrived to pick us up about 10 minutes after our arrival in the parking lot, so we pretty much nailed the timing. (no internet out here in this wilderness).
here is a lovely before and after shot. the trail was about 12 miles and 2200′ elevation. i would venture to say we don’t look too bad in the after. 🙂
a lovely day with the middle kid in the adk.