Skylight & Gray via Upper Works

Set out on an adventure this past weekend with 2 lady friends. We left from Buffalo around 7am Saturday, and arrived at upper works around 1pm. We were very pleased to be able to get a parking spot on the holiday weekend. It was overcast but not terribly cold. We suited up with our packs and headed towards our first destination. These peaks were numbers 6&7 for Kelly and I, and it was Ashley's first mountain (go big or go home eh?). The hike into camp started out very pleasant. Easy terrain for the first few miles, slowly getting more challenging. Consensus of the group was that the hike was fun with its varied terrain - rock hopping, puncheons, ladders, suspension bridges. About halfway through the hike it started raining pretty good. We put on our pack covers and ponchos and carried on, though the rain made the terrain slippery and slowed our pace a bit. We set up tents at a primitive site about a mile before the uphill leanto, shortly before sunset. Ate dinner and changed into dry clothes for a brisk night of sleep. Woke up to better weather on Sunday. Still quite overcast, but not raining. We were feeling good about our lighter packs (no bear can, tents, etc) for our hike to summit. Aside - we had been wondering why Ashley's pack was so heavy when she wasn't carrying a tent. Turns out she had an entire bag of wine (from inside of a box) and those are actually quite hefty. We were on our way at 9am. This portion of the hike was muddy, which was to be expected. It was a bit of distance until we reached Lake Tear, but it wasn't terribly steep. Did a little celebration dance and filtered some water from the source of the Hudson. We talked to a man who said it was a quick 20 minutes to the summit of Skylight, and an even easier short burst to the summit of Gray (more on that later). The half mile up to Skylight's summit passed fairly quickly. The trail was very narrow in some parts, making it difficult if anyone was passing. The summit was unlike any I've seen before, it felt like another planet, or maybe stone henge. Lots of interesting vegetation. We could see Marcy but her summit was encircled by thick clouds. We still had pretty decent views despite the clouds. We spent about 20 minutes having a snack and taking photos, before heading back down. Next, we took the herd path up Gray. This trail was a lot more technical, not to mention even more wet and muddy than the trail up Skylight. Unlike the other hiker we met, we found this much more difficult and in some parts dangerous. The summit was nothing to write home about, but another checked off the list. We hiked back to camp and arrived around 6pm. We drank some victory wine, and with our ravenous hunger, the mountain house meals we brought tasted like gourmet fare. We slept in 30 degree weather that night. We woke up at 7am, packed up and were on the trail again by 8. We made good time and returned to upper works at 11:30am. Had lunch in Newcomb then made the long drive back to Buffalo. A successful hiking challenge for us ladies. I am happy to also have today and tomorrow off of work, since I am moving like I'm 80 years old today :o

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