Porter Cascade traverse
The weather looked good on Saturday so Mike and I headed down to the Peaks to get in another hike. This time we opted for a non-list peak… too many list peaks of late so it was nice to do a hike just to explore some new trail and enjoy the day – no real agenda no fixed summit to bag. I decided I’d stay down on Sunday to take in the Ironman competition so we drove down in separate vehicles… which of course means we could try a traverse. We weighed our options, bounced a few ideas around and settled on Porter and Cascade. Porter and Cascade? Aren’t they “list peaks”? Indeed, but both Mike and I had them checked off. With 2 cars we could take the lesser used approach from the Keene valley, traverse these two peaks and then drop down the short, direct trade route to the Cascade pass where we would leave the second car.
Hazy Keene valley 
With Mike’s car in the Cascade pass and we drove around to the Marcy airfield in the Keene valley to get to the other trailhead. The climb from the Keene valley has an extra 1000ft of climb and is a significantly longer approach which is why it is seldom used but the trail is a good one. From the parking lot we started to climb, and then climbed and climbed and climbed some more. The day was hot and muggy which seemed to sap my energy faster than normal – glad this wasn’t one of the marathon hikes I have left on the “list”. Once we got to the first summit of Blueberry mountain we were both pretty beat but this mountain had a treat for us. As its name suggested it was covered with wild blueberries – snack time! Also along this summit ridge we came across one of the largest high ridge erratics I have ever seen. I of course had to climb it and fortunately didn’t snap both my ankles as I lept off.
No time to rest for long though as we still had more climbing to do. Here the humidity gave way to actual rain… then some sun (which pumped up the humidex to new highs) and then more rain. As we crested Porter the rain was coming down in sheets (no views) so we didn’t stay long but instead ducked into the trees for a little cover. Fortunately as we walked the ridge to Cascade the sun came out and we enjoyed some good summit time. It was still a little hazy and the clouds (and birds) were blowing around above us but on a day like this you take what you can get.
Cascade is a relatively easy peak to get to on the main trail from the Cascade pass and as a result a lot of non-hikers come up to try out high peak hiking… and today was no exception. Converse high tops and high tech running shoes, denim to basketball shorts, overstuffed packs to no pack at all… the tourist crowd has all the bases covered but anything that gets people up to enjoy the high summits is a good thing.
Finally we started down and as we did it started to rain again… I moved faster wanting to get off trail without getting too wet… but of course forgot that it was Mikes’ car in the pass… so I had to wait for him to exit the woods(with his keys) before we could load up and drive back to my car. It wasn’t too long though and soon we had cleaned up and were enjoying a beer and a burg on a patio in Keene as it had cleared up nicely in the evening. Good hike and a nice traverse.
After Saturdays hike, I stayed overnight in Lake Placid to check out the Ironman competition on Sunday. I wanted to see the race out of curiosity as well as see how another big event like this handles the logistics that I deal with in the spring. After a tour of the course Saturday evening (to see any course prep), I got an early start to see how set up and road closure were handled. Of course when roads close I couldn’t drive around much so I had wisely brought my bike to cycle around and see how it all went off. After a bit of a tour on the bike I headed over to the Lake in town to join the crowds in watching the swim start. Quite a scene watching 2400 swimmers churning up Mirror lake and for each competitor there is at least 3 or 4 "Ironfans" on the sidelines in support - Big crowds. 
As the pros finished their second lap (of 2) in the lake I ducked around to get a good position to see them coming out on the bike for the second leg of the race. Just as the first competitors took to the bike course the rain began. Sprinkles, then drizzles, then pounding, dousing rain…. Then more rain (in cups and buckets)… and more in the “cats and dogs” variety… And then more and more and more. In fact… it rained (at times really hard) all day long. Not a huge problem for the competitors who would appreciate the cooler weather although visibility and bike handling would be a bit of an issue in the pounding rain. No, this day would test the mettle of the "Ironfans" and volunteers who would spend many hours standing around waiting - cold and wet. I heard a lot of comments like "I saw him go by, lets get out of here..." amongst the crowd. I was quickly drenched and was worried my camera would get soaked so after most of the riders were on their way on the bike leg I sloshed back to the car and got changed into dry clothes. 
Rather then head home (it was only 9am at this point) I decided to drive the bike course. The Police keep the opposite lane of traffic open on the 56 mile loop of highway the racers use so I did a clockwise drive of the course while the riders went counter clockwise. I even got to see the leaders working their way around for the second lap as they descended through the Cascade pass. Back in town I took my camera and my umbrella (which would have been useful in the morning) and wandered back into town. The rain was still pounding down but it was a great opportunity to see the riders deal with the wet roads. On a couple of tricky wet corners it was immediately clear who had trained in the rain and who were fair weather riders. I didn’t see any spills though as the poorer bike handlers typically slowed to a crawl before gingerly edging around the corners while the better bike handlers carved their turns flawlessly. Before long the leaders were back in town and ready to head off on a marathon…. 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile ride and 26.2 mile run, man is that a tough day. 
The rain was still pounding down and the rolling streets in town were becoming cascades…more wet feet but I had one last pair of dry shoes in the car (umbrella was working like a charm though). The Lake Placid brew pub had a tent on course and was cooking up a little barb-q so I partook in a little lunch while the runners ran (and lots of cyclists still cycled). Must be hard to run by that tent after 8, 10, 16+ hours on the course and smell the brats cooking up yet be unable to stop… kinda cruel really. Finally the leaders came in to take the victory and I took my leave to drive home. Wet day but an interesting one so I was glad I hadn’t bailed out after the initial soaking. 
