Day 4 - Bushwacking, Mountain Climbing and Rock Scrambling

Waking up to the sound of loons on the lake in the comfort of the shelter this morning was a serene experience that embodies the reason I come out to nature; to relax and enjoy the tranquility of the moment. The rest of the day beat my ass. 

After a quick jaunt on the trail we started a just under two mile bushwack up Catamount Mountain through thick forest, blow downs, even thicker evergreen forest, and rock scrambles. It was painstakingly slow and difficult but was absolutely awesome. 

The really challenging experiences on trail always make for the best reward. When we got to the summit of Catamount Mt. It was hazy with storm clouds rolling in.

The second half of Catamount, going down was just as intense. Defending 1500 feet for 1.8 miles scrambling down exposed granite using hands and feet gave me flashbacks to the Whites and Maine on the AT. It was one of the steepest sustained grades on the route. It was a a jungle gym, tiring, but a blast. 

We reached the bottom and came out to the trailhead for lunch and took our time because we had another 2.1 mile uphill bushwhack right away and after draining nature of the first one this morning we weren't looking forward to it. We came about a quarter mile uphill and then crossed a snowmobile track and decided that if it headed the right direction up it would be 100 times less strenuous than fighting saplings and fallen trees uphill. Out guidebook mentioned an old map with a trail on it and I believe the snowmobile track to most likely be it. We followed it the whole way up and it meandered here and there but took us directly up the direction on the map. It was our first trail magic of the trail! The track went less directly at the top to reunite with another snowmobile track to take us down the mountain but it got us there in way better time. After cruising down the mountain we came out to the trailhead, headed down the road and ate a bit at a nice lake alongside the Whiteface Memorial Highway. We jumped off onto more snowmobile track until it intersected with our road to the base of Marble Mountain. We found a nice campsite off to the right by the water and called it a short but super strenuous day. Tomorrow we have around 3000ft of elevation within the first three miles and then it's a downhill cruise into Lake Placid for the night.