Ampersand Mountain
By Justin Levine Adirondack Council Communications and Outreach Assistant
At 4:15 a.m. on a dark, cold November morning, I picked up my friend Christian in Saranac Lake and we went to Berkeley Green, signed the register, and officially started our quest to become Saranac Lake Ultra 6ers. Well, that’s not quite true. Our quest had begun months earlier but started in earnest that Friday at 4:21 a.m. I had enough caffeinated jelly beans in my pack to kill a horse, and I hoped it was enough to get through the day.
The Saranac Lake 6er Program
One of the more popular hiking challenges in the Adirondacks is the Saranac Lake 6er program. It requires people to climb Haystack, Scarface, McKenzie, St. Regis, Ampersand, and Baker mountains to earn a certificate and patch. If all six peaks are climbed in less than 24 hours, then you can become an Ultra 6er. The upshot is that the six mountains combined hold about 30 miles of hiking and almost 10,000 feet of elevation gain.
we trail ran each of the peaks with the exception of Baker Mountain, only because Baker is fairly short and we’ve each been up it dozens of times. While we had spent the summer months trail running the mountains, we also talked about the routes we would take during the Ultra, and which peaks we would do in what order. So as September rolled into October and the days got shorter and shorter, Christian and I finally pulled the trigger and put in for the day off on Friday, Nov. 5. Officially, there would be about 10 hours of daylight that day, and the sun wouldn’t come up until more than three hours after we started in downtown Saranac Lake.
Haystack and McKenzie
Leaving from the bandshell in
Saranac Lake, we drove to Lake Placid to tackle Haystack and McKenzie mountains. McKenzie is the longest and highest of the six peaks, and we wanted to get it over with. The trail was slick with ice and a little snow, and the only light came from our headlamps. We made good time going up Haystack first, then backtracked a bit to head up McKenzie. Just as we reached the summit, the sun came up over Lake Placid, giving us a pretty nice reward for the early start.
On to Scarface
Despite a couple of slip and falls on the ice, we successfully made our way back to the car after almost four and a half hours and more than 8.6 miles on the trail. We congratulated ourselves for being one third of the way done. With full sun now, Scarface was
next and went pretty smoothly, but we were already beginning to feel the pain of doing this much climbing and hiking in one day. Luckily, since you have to drive between mountains, we were able to stop at Christian’s house in town to get some food, water, and warmth and put on dry clothes. My friend even put his clothes in the dryer for a few minutes, while I was left to regret that I didn’t.
And to Ampersand
Then we headed to Ampersand Mountain, with big puffy clouds in a mostly blue sky. But more importantly, we had plenty of daylight. We set out from the parking area at about 1:30 in the afternoon and were soon enjoying the beautiful view from the top. But the wind Continued on page 5
Preparing for the Ultra
Early in the spring of 2021, Christian and I decided to tackle the Ultra 6er. We knew it would be a long day, full of sore feet, sweaty clothes, and the possibility of injury. With that in mind, we set out in May to begin training for the attempt. Over the course of the summer, 4
Sunrise at McKenzie Mountain EMBARK ~ Get Up, Get Out
Spring 2022
(Provided photos —Justin A. Levine)
A Quest to Become Saranac Lake Ultra 6er
