Let the photo tell the story #3
- Setting: High Peaks Wilderness in New York, USA
- Main Character: The Adirondack Mountains
- Plot: overlooking what was hiding in plain sight
The Majesty of the Adirondack Mountains
Whenever I share with people that I am from New York, I have this compulsion to blurt out, “but-not-the-city” in one big rush before they can assume further. Don’t misunderstand me- I am not putting down the city, but it is not all that New York has to offer. The noise of the city too often mutes the beautiful landscapes of New York. Those 472 square miles of cityscapes are a glutton for attention, leaving the remaining 54,083 square miles to the shadows. But what an injustice to my home state, and what a shame that I fell victim to this mindset up until a few years ago. Unfortunately, I started paying mind to what was under my nose two years before I planned to move away. In all the years I have lived in New York, I have dreamt of moving to the mountains of the western USA and of being greeted by spacious skies. All that time spent yearning for another life, I was missing the one waiting to be lived around me.
A Hidden, Not-So-Hidden Gem of New York
This photo is from my very first trip to the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. I took my dog, packed my bag, and set off on a 3-day trip into High Peaks Wilderness. It was on this trip that I fell in love with this gem of New York. The way the mountain range surrounds you, and the green envelops you. The wild, rugged landscapes with the enchanting mountains in the distance were love at first sight. On the way to the trailhead, I had to pull over to stare, bewitched by the majesty of the landscape. I had lived in New York my entire life and never realized something like this existed. What a shame, too, because I spent so much time exploring other faraway places that I missed what was waiting for me in my own backyard.
Some Neat Facts About the Adirondack Mountains
- Etymology: the name Adirondack is derived from the Mohawk word, Haderondah, meaning tree or bark eater. The European colonizers pronounced it Adirondack.
- The Adirondacks is the largest park in the lower-48 states of the USA, spanning over 6 million square acres. They extend about 5,000 square miles and make up over 9% of New York’s landmass.
- The mountains are relatively young, at approximately 5 million years old. They were formed by a combination of tectonic uplift, glaciation, and erosion. Although geologically ripe, they consist of ancient metamorphic rock more than 1,000 million years old.
- The Adirondacks form a 160-mile-wide circular dome made up of over 100 peaks that are still growing annually by 2-3mm. This dome process differs from the more widely known mountain range formation of the Appalachian or Rocky Mountains, which were created by plate tectonic collisions.
- Mount Marcy is the tallest peak in the Adirondacks and in New York, standing at 5,344 feet (~1629 meters). Hidden away on this peak is Lake Tear of Clouds, the head of the Hudson River.
If you are interested in learning more about the Adirondack Mountains, give the Adirondack Almanack a peek. Otherwise, if you ever find yourself with the opportunity to explore the beauty of the Adirondack Mountains, I couldn’t recommend it more. Despite my comings and goings over the last several years, I continue to feel a call from the Adirondacks.
Happy Trails!
