Allen

In preparation for the full day required to get to Allen Peak, we camped at Lake Harris in Newcomb. The campground was quiet, and we had a spot looking out on the lake.

When we awoke to Lisa's watch, it was still dark and we procrastinated getting out of bed for fifteen minutes before finally moving. We ate breakfast and headed to the trailhead in Tahawus. When we arrived, the sun was rising.

We started our hike happy to see that the first bridge had been repaired and that there was a new path around the outlet to Jimmy Lake. The bridge over the Opalescent River has not yet been repaired so we had to ford. We were prepared with our kayaking shoes strapped to our daypacks.

The trail kept going and we were starting to think that we may have missed the turn for the herd-path to Allen Mountain. In this mode, I start scouring the ground for evidence of any twig out of place or footprint that may give us a clue. It's also at this point when I slap my head when I turn a corner and find the path labeled in a painfully obvious way:

*Please note that the sign on the tree is the size of a Chrysler.

We kept following the trail through the woods, wondering if we would ever turn uphill. After slogging through mud and across two brooks, we finally reached Allen Brook - the drainage that we would follow to the summit. Now that we were on the path, the trail still didn't gain much elevation.

Finally after passing a waterfall, the trail went up. It was slippery wet rock with a kind of red algae that even made the dry areas slick. It was slow-going and I found myself looking at the GPS in disbelief every few minutes when it showed such little elevation gain. It took a solid two hours from the waterfall to the summit. The views looking towards Marcy, Skylight and the Great Range were fantastic though and we ate our lunch while admiring them.

It took another two hours to descend to the waterfall, carefully picking our way down the slippery rocks. The picture below shows a *tiny* Lisa coming down the waterfall.  We then made the eight mile journey from there to the car as quickly as possible since we were running out of sunlight. On the return trip - the cold Opalescent water felt great on tired feet! 

We arrived at the car around sunset and headed to Gene's Michigan Stand in Port Henry for some much needed calorie replacement.  The real achievement of the day was not summiting Allen, rather the woman taking our order knew my name.  I'm finally a regular!