The Adirondack High Peaks Region and Andrew's 46er Page -

Mar. 13, 2022 (Sun.)

Elevation: 4580 feet; Order of Height: 16

Participants: Andrew Lavigne, Jennifer Innes, Alana Wilcox

A simple, late-winter visit to a reliably-excellent summit: Wright Peak.

On a chilly and windy mid-March day, we took advantage of great snow conditions to climb up to the summit of Wright Peak. Things started off nicely sunny but degraded to mostly cloudy by the time we reached treeline. Above treeline, gale-force winds had blasted and dried out the open bedrock, so much so that we bare-booted to the top. Those same winds also meant no lingering at the top, and soon we were back down into the trees. The great trail conditions let us zoom back down to the lowlands in no time at all.

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Image Gallery: March 2022 Wright Peak

Jan. 14, 2017 (Sat.)

Wright Peak

Elevation: 4580 feet; Order of Height: 16

Participants: Andrew Lavigne, Joel Koscielski, Ginette, Daniel Rosenblatt

Our third "Twilight Hike" - to the summit of Wright Peak.

A cold visit to the summit of Wright Peak to see the sun rise over the Central High Peaks. Rock-hard snow conditions but surprisingly little ice. Microspiked-it the whole way up to treeline and then bare-booted the rest of the way. Arrived just in time to witness the sun rise over the Great Range. Not as visually impressive as the previous two twilight hike outings but still well worth the effort.

Trip Reports, Image Galleries or Other References:
Image Gallery: Twilight Hike #3 - Wright Peak

Jul. 19, 2015 (Sun.)

Wright Peak

Elevation: 4580 feet; Order of Height: 16

Participants: Andrew Lavigne, Jennifer Innes, Brian Connell

Wright Peak, on a muggy, hazy, and thunderstorm-forecasted day.

It isn't usually my thing to do an Adirondack climb when the weather is not particularly nice, or the views likely to be obscured. However, in light of an upcoming larger trip, we wanted to get more mountain hiking under our belt, so we made an exception today.

We started off under (surprisingly) sunny skies from the ADK High Peaks visitor center parking, soon becoming drenched in sweat in the 100% humidity. We made rapid progress up to about the 3000-foot mark on the sometimes good, often rough and tedious Algonquin Peak trail. Here, Brian had to take a bit of a breather. This was much less of a stop than the fairly big bonk he experienced on our Trap Dike climb from a few weeks before, and soon we were on our way again.

A minor thunderstorm rolled in around 9am, sprinkling us for about 20 minutes or so before gliding off to the east. After that, we had dry conditions for the rest of the hike.

Steep climb to summit of Wright was enjoyable as always: open alpine terrain and steep, grippy slab. We were mostly in the cloud, but a vigorous and refreshing breeze made it feel interesting and exciting. We topped out shortly before 10:30 a.m.

A trouble-free descent brought us back down to the trailhead at a very early pre-1pm. The clouds we had experienced at the summit had mostly blown away, and the day was - at least for the time being - mostly sunny. Overall, the weather was less bad than had been predicted.

Please refer to the link below for the full trip report with lots of pictures.

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Image Gallery: July 2015 Wright Peak climb

Aug. 17, 2013 (Sat.)

Iroquois Peak, Algonquin Peak, Wright Peak

Elevations: 4840 feet, 5114 feet, 4580 feet; Order of Height: 8, 2, 16

Participants: Andrew Lavigne, Jennifer Innes, Julie Moran, Ty

A re-visit to the little-visited Shepherd's Tooth, on the flanks of Iroquois Peak, at the request of Julie.

After seeing my 2009 report on the Shepherd's Tooth, Julie expressed interest. So, this summer I suggested that we retrace our steps. We approached from the Indian Pass side, hiked up to Cold Brook Pass, then did the thick bushwhack up to the Tooth.

We followed the same track I recorded for the winter ascent, although in retrospect, I think the route could be tweaked to be a little easier. No matter, the bushwhack was still successful and I can report that the top of the Shepherd's Tooth is as pretty and enjoyable in the summer as in the winter. We completed the day with a triple ascent of Iroquois, Algonquin and Wright before finishing up the loop back to the Loj. See full trip report by following report link below.

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Image Gallery: August 2013 Shepherd's Tooth Loop

Jun. 16, 2012 (Sat.)

Wright Peak

Elevation: 4580 feet; Order of Height: 16

Participants: Andrew Lavigne, Jennifer Innes, Chris Hatko

A quickie... something scenic, short, and a non-climbed 46-R (for friend Chris). This was as standard and non-eventful as an Adirondack hike can get. The only detraction was the annoying number of black flies above 3,000 feet. We had a happy surprise encounter with hiker acquaintance Clay Olds at the waterfall, and we once again climbed the little open nubble alongside the trail at about the 3,800-foot mark. Even though it was a nice summery weekend day, we managed to have the summit to ourselves (well, except for the summit steward). We were back down at the parking lot shortly after 1:30pm. Tidy and fun. Except for the black flies.

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Image Gallery: June 2012 Wright Peak hike

May 22, 2011 (Sun.)

Wright Peak

Elevation: 4580 feet; Order of Height: 16

Participants: Andrew Lavigne, Jennifer Innes

A short little hike by myself and Jenn, just to get out and hike a peak in the Adirondacks. We had been away from the Adirondacks for three months - much too long!

We picked Wright for its straightforwardness and nice summit. It would not take a long time, but still provide a good workout and good views.

The trail up Wright was in its usual summer state - that is to say, very eroded and bouldery. In order to add some spice, we climbed the rocky open nubble (which I've termed 'Wright's Nubble) that sits alongside the trail not too far above the waterfall and not too far below the Wright summit trail junction. Very nice views on top.

We took our snack break on the summit under hazy skies and calm winds. In another first for me, we visited the site of the 1963 B-47 bomber crash - only a few hundred feet from the summit and now with the way marked by a sign.

A quick walk back down to the trailhead and we were finished, just under five hours after we set out.

Trip Reports, Image Galleries or Other References:
Image Gallery: May 2011 Wright Peak (and Nubble) Hike

Dec. 29, 2006 (Fri.)

Wright Peak

Elevation: 4580 feet; Order of Height: 16

Participants: Andrew Lavigne, Jennifer Innes, Roy Innes

While the Innes family was visiting for Christmas, Jenn wanted to get her Dad out to experience a climb in the Adirondacks. We waited until the perfect winter weather day, then headed up Wright Peak: a relatively short hike, but with a maximum of beautiful summit experience.

There was unfortunately very little snowpack, and the hike up to the junction with the Wright spur trail was unpleasant; none of the boulders and roughness of the trail was covered in sufficient snowpack, except at the very top. We were rewarded, however, with a beautiful winter wonderland on top. The air was exceptionally clear, and even Vermont's peaks stood out with great clarity. There was very little wind, and the sun was strong. We could not have hoped for a better introduction to the Adirondacks for Jenn's Dad.

The terrain above treeline was coated in ice and snow, but the texture of it was such that yaktrax were sufficient climbing aids; at no time did we need snowshoes or crampons.

See the image gallery link below for a more detailed writeup and the set of pictures.

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Image Gallery: December 2006 Wright Peak Hike

Dec. 12, 2004 (Sun.)

Wright Peak

Elevation: 4580 feet; Order of Height: 16

Participants: Andrew Lavigne, Jennifer Innes, Yi Wang, Peter Krug, Caroline Doucet, Sara Ednie, Pu Chen

Our fourth 'Kili training hike'. Not the best weather day, but the promise of snowy and/or icy conditions and the fact that we were running out of days before Kili made us go. I chose Wright because it was short, relatively steep, and had an open summit where I hoped we'd get a chance to get Yi to try out crampons and become comfortable with them.

We had a devil of a time getting her crampons adjusted due to sticky adjustment screws, and that delayed our start until almost 9am. The trails had less snow on them then I had expected, since the recent forecast had been for up to a foot and a half of new snow. Instead, we bare-booted all the way up to the waterfall on the trail up to Wright / Algonquin.

The weather was still socked in by the time we got to treeline. On the plus side however, the entire terrain above treeline was coated in ice. Perfect for crampons! We all tramped up sure-footedly with our crampons, enduring the strong winds. Very neat wild feeling up here today in the white and ice and wind. A short but steep climb in the open brings us to the nice little summit of Wright, where we all shake hands. Then its off to the northeast just below the summit to take shelter from the wind for a few moments. On the way down, Yi gets lots of good crampon practice (yay!).

Down below the trees, everything is calm and warm in comparsion to the blustery summit conditions. Once back at the waterfall, we take off the crampons and bare boot it the rest of the way. All in all, a very fun hike in very neat winter conditions, and good practice. Total distance = 11.5km, Total time about 7 hours.

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Image Gallery: December 2004 Wright Peak Hike

Feb. 24, 2001 (Sat.)

Wright Peak

Elevation: 4580 feet; Order of Height: 16

Participants: Andrew Lavigne, Lorraine Hughes

A cold but brillantly clear winter day. Down at the High Peaks visitor center at ADK Loj, there was a display of broken snow-gear on sale. A quick browse through revealed a set of basic MSR denali snowshoes with no apparent damage... oh wait, there was a hairline crack in the metal foot plate. Still, only 10 bucks, so Lorraine bought a pair (she didn't have any of her own at the time). The shoes worked well, although there was well-trodden boot path all the way up to the treeline on Wright Peak. The day was simply beautiful - fluffy snow everywhere, not a breath of wind, completely clear and sunny. Above treeline we traded snowshoes for crampons, although things were more snowy than icy. The summit presented us with a beautiful winter view of the High Peaks, and still, not a breath of wind, even up here. Wondeful. And not only that, I don't recall anyone else being on the summit with us (Wright peak often being crowded, of course).

Footnote: Lorraine called up MSR to inquire about getting the footplate on her snowshoes fixed, and they said to just send them in and they would replace them with a brand new pair for free! Pretty good deal : 10 bucks (plus some shipping) for brand new snowshoes!

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Image Gallery: February 2001 Wright Peak Climb.

Apr. 25, 1998 (Sat.)

Wright Peak

Elevation: 4580 feet; Order of Height: 16

Participants: Andrew Lavigne, Peter Guidry, Mark Enright, Andree Plouffe

A late winter / early spring climb of Wright. I hadn't been up in the mountains so far this year, so we weren't sure what the conditions would be like. To be on the safe side, we rented snowshoes from the EMS in downtown Lake Placid. As it turns out, however, we really didn't need them at all. It was super firm boot path or open rock all the way up. Oh well, extra weight, extra exercise! Still lots of snow on Algonquin.

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Image Gallery : April 1998 Wright Peak Climb

May 10, 1994 (Tue.)

Wright Peak

Elevation: 4580 feet; Order of Height: 16

Participants: Andrew Lavigne, Gilbert Benoit, Brian Connell, Paul Pantages, Paul Osmond, Gord Walls, George Zhao, Bob Gibson

The hike that started it all.

I won't go into too much detail here, since this is well described in a separate trip report.

Being an astronomy buff, I wanted to be in the path of the 1994 annular eclipse, which went straight over the Adirondacks. Managed to convince my manager (then Brian) to let the department take the day off and go hiking in the mountains. Down we came, totally unprepared (not realizing there would still be snow), me with jeans, sneakers, cotten, etc. We managed to make it up, through snow, cold and sleet, and managed to get a full view (with our welder's glass) of the eclipse. Everybody except maybe Gilbert was totally freezing (partially due to the eclipse's effects, probably), so we didn't stay long and slip-slided our way back down. I shake my head when I look back at this trip. Live and learn.

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Trip Report and Pictures: May 1994 Eclipse Hike