Cascade Mountain Adventure

In: adventures, hiking, mountains, outdoor, vegan, posted: July 7, 2014

Over the years, I’ve hiked some of the Adirondack High Peaks. These are the 46 mountains in the Adirondack Park that are 4,000 feet or taller.

I was vegetarian for some of them, so I’ve decided to re-hike all of them as a vegan. Earlier this spring I hiked Phelps Mountain, and a few weeks ago, I hiked Cascade Mountain with my boyfriend and one of his friends, in town from Colorado.

View of Cascade Mountain from the road near the trailhead

This hike is pretty straightforward. A rocky, sometimes steep, trail that travels directly to the summit from the road.

It was a beautiful day, so the trail was pretty crowded. This is typical in the High Peaks region, especially on trails that start directly on the main road. This one is less than 3 miles each way.

Amazing views from a rocky outcrop near the summit.

There is a short side trip to Porter Mountain, accessible from a trail near the summit of Cascade. I’ve hiked it a few times before, but this particular day we decided on just Cascade.

The last bit of trail to the summit is bald rock. There are cairns to guide you and it’s important to stay off of the fragile alpine vegetation at this point. Personally, I always like to sing and do a little dance about it. I sing “Do the rock walk!” to the tune of The Hustle. Oddly enough, now that I’m thinking about it, I usually do the “Walk Like an Egyptian” dance while I’m singing it. haha Oy.

Cascade Mountain is one of my favorite hikes because you are rewarded with such incredible views after just a short hike. It was the first High Peak I ever climbed and has a very special place in my heart. Awwwww.

Here are a few more of my favorite pictures from the day:

Fact: I stop approximately 43764376598643 times on a hike to take pictures of flowers.

A cairn near the summit

The three tallest mountains in the distance are Mount Marcy (center – the tallest mountain in New York State), to the right of it is Mount Colden (11th tallest High Peak) and at the far right Algonquin Peak (2nd tallest High Peak)