On May 24th, 2004, Steve the Knee From NJ e-mailed the following note to the Boys. Uncut and viewed in it's original format, the Knee (courtesy of Epic Adventures) describes his water-logged tale in the Adirondacks with the Hat and High Altitude Joe. G-WeBconnect is proud to present:

Warrior Brothers Find Atlantis In the Adirondacks

Men,

I would like to share with you the story I wrote to my Warrior Brothers about our experience this past weekend. I have gotten some unbelievable responses. I hope you all like it!

Steve

Brothers,

As some of you might know I have a deep passion for hiking, I have traveled all over the country backpacking in the most beautiful places on the continent. Being in the woods is where I connect with my thoughts and feelings and is a place where I can be with my warrior and practice the spirits of within.

Our plans were set in motion as I motored up to the High Peak region of the Adirondaks with a few buddies where we were to hike to Mt. Marcy over Mt. Haystack and out through Panther Gorge, easily a 25 mile round trip loop. Mt Marcy is a 5300ft peak tallest in NY State while Haystack is said to have the most spectacular summit in the high peaks. I was determined and focused to reach my goal, but Mother nature had other plans.

Our trip started out of Elk Lake on a beautiful sunny Friday morning, an 8.6 mile 1200ft trek to Panther Gorge which took us south of Ausable Lake over a Bluff and a grueling hike through marshy wetlands to our base camp at Panther Gorge Lean-to. There we rested for the night, made dinner and shared our experience of the day over hot chocolate and a fire. It is at this point where to our surprise a major storm out of the West was heading our way dumping over 3 inches of rain that evening, it continued to drizzle all day Saturday preventing us to day pack to our destination, the summits of Marcy and Haystack. So we spent the day sharing life's events, playing "Pass the Pig" (Milton Bradley board game) and contemplated the walk out Sunday morning.

We agreed that we would get up at sunrise finish packing and hit the trail before 7AM as we knew it would take us more than the time of 6 hours it took to get here, for sure the trails would be muddy and slippery. Joe decided to lead the way as he was eager to get back to someplace warm and dry. I was nursing a pulled calf from jumping over rocks and decided to take up the rear as I knew I would only slow Joe and Warren down....The trails were the worst, they were every bit of what we expected from all the rain. The Adirondacks have seen thousands of backpackers over the years causing Eroded trails to show poor footing from tree roots, slippery rocks and inadequate drainage, But it wasn't till we entered the wetlands that our hike from hell would tell its tale.

The DEC supported by the ADK (Adirondack Mountain Club) who maintains the trails in the park uses cut split trees for footing over marshy areas so backpackers can walk without stepping into mud along the trail. I would like point out that this particular trail was in very poor condition and not seen maintenance in quite sometime. Rotten footings, missing trail markers and blow down were evidence of needed attention. As we entered the marsh we noticed the tributary stream from the Ausable had flooded out raising the tree footing to rise and float. What we didn't realize was how high the water actually was. What looked like ankle deep turned out to be a waist deep pond that seemed like a length of a football field, something that wasn't there when we hiked in. Remember, we are carrying a minimum of 40lbs of gear on our back and there is no other way to get through but to challenge the route. Needless to say I was scared and frighten that someone could drown including myself. I told the men to use the tree footings as a float and to stick close together in case one of us should slip and fall. Relentlessly we pushed forward taking small steps over rocks and branches until we finaly reached the other side. We took a break and
ringed out our socks. I thanked my higher power for the courage to move forward and get through safely.

In all my years of hiking the events that transpired this past weekend were both fearful and challenging leaving me to believe that only the conscious King as a leader could give me the blessings and wisdom I needed to use my warrior sense to move forward with tenacity and persistence.

Feeling Grateful,
Steve