Saranac Ultra 6: The Longest Day in the ADK

There is a bell that tolls in a small park in downtown Saranac Lake to acknowledge a great effort. It rings six times, once for each of the town’s surrounding peaks after they all have been climbed: Little Haystack, McKenzie, Scarface, Ampersand, St. Regis and Baker. Only the hearty souls who have climbed each peak should ring the bell.

Legend says that anyone who pulls the rope of the bell without first summiting the six mountains will fall prey to the Kiwassa Curse. The 30+ mile challenge is known as the Saranac Lake 6er and it can be done over a lifetime. If completed in 24 hours it’s known as the Saranac Ultra 6.

Powerman and I made the trip from the Lower Hudson Valley to meet up with Freebird in Keene. We chose the summer solstice to give the challenge a run on the longest day of the year. 15 hours of daylight will be plenty of time, right? Let’s just say they don’t play games up there.

We settled in at the Sentinel Cabin at the beautiful Barkeater Inn, after exploring their trails and caught up with the innkeepers. The Barkeater is a go-to base camp for adventures in the North Country. Just before midnight we turned in for some quick shuteye. The alpine alarm sounded at 3:30 am. We shuffled our gear and were out the door an hour later, hunting for Freebird and the promise of fresh dripped coffee.

After finding him and his thermos, we signed in at the register and started running up the Jackrabbit Ski Trail at 5:20 am with Little Haystack in our sights. “You pack your fears.” is a well known expression in the backpacking community. I had a titanium trowel tucked in my running vest in case the dark roast kicked in the wrong way and I was afraid that I might have to use it. Things smoothed out once we found our rhythm and the herd path. By 6 am we were standing on the first peak enjoying the first rays of the day.

Feeling good we ran towards McKenzie which was next on our list. We slowed to a crawl as we clawed our way up the rooty ascent. This area has been beaten up pretty bad and is in great need of trail rerouting and construction. The 6er program was designed in part to pull people away from the nearby High Peaks. Unfortunately its’ success has had the same effect of overuse in some places. A reminder that without proper planning these great places can be loved to death.

Just when you think you are on top of McKenzie, you aren’t. A few false summits later we were on the tippy top at 7:30 am. Freebird suggested we take an alternate route down passed Bartlett Pond which would be easier to descend but added some distance. Powerman and I chuckled repeatedly on the way down as we lost sight of Freebird on his “longer shortcut.”

He was right. The trail was fun to run. It is always best to follow a local. Now that he has lived in Keene for over a decade I think he may be eligible for the status. He runs these trails on the regular and had already climbed 5 of the 6 peaks in the challenge. I did my best to keep up. I even led the charge for awhile. Then just before the Lake Placid Trail my knee started acting up. A problematic IT band that comes and goes was here to stay. The boys took off and I hobbled back to the car. I had previously joked that I would crawl to the bell if necessary. Now only 8.5 miles in it felt as if I was facing that grim reality.

Ultra distances are anything over the traditional marathon length of 26.2 miles. 31 miles (50 km) is on the lighter side since some are over 100. Some are organized within a race format with aid stations or may be self-supported. What makes the 6er unusual is that it is a DIY challenge with 60+ miles of driving between trailheads (some people made of iron have been known to swap the car for a bike). The car is a blessing and a curse. It provides much needed rest and aid but also burns up valuable time and kills momentum.

We made the best of it. With Powerman behind the wheel we reclined in leather seats and enjoyed the AC. The back of his SUV looked like a collision between an outfitter and a grocery store. Backpacks and bananas were tangled up with trekking poles, coolers and various pairs of running sneakers. There was even a pineapple rolling around. We refilled our water bottles, chased down PB&Js with High Lifes and hit the trail to Scarface.

This is where things started to get fuzzy. Not known for endless views we became absorbed in the forest. The green tunnel obscured the sun and kept us cool. It was hard to tell what time it was or which direction we were going. Knowing those things did not really matter anyway because it was actually quite simple, it was time to grind and up was the direction. 7.5 miles later we were back in the clown car and on our way Ampersand.

The trails in the Adirondacks have their own special way of slowly whittling you down. Ampersand lays down the carving knife and instead goes full swing with a felling axe. 1,775 feet of elevation in 2.7 miles, the climb is steep and relentless. We brought trekking poles to try and alleviate the log chopping. It’s “like a stairmaster” was the innkeepers description. We repeated the line a few times on our way up in an attempt to bring levity to the situation which seemed to have no end.

We were rewarded mightily. The bare summit knob has incredible views in all directions. The rocky expanse provided plenty of places to chill even with a few other groups, which were the first people we had seen all day. The High Peaks to the south were on full display.

We lounged around for a bit and tried to take it all in. I could have spent the rest of the day there. We peeled ourselves from the granite and started the march back down the stairmaster. Back down into an old growth forest with trees nearly 500 years old.

St. Regis was next and it took some time on the road to get there. Near the college of Paul Smiths, it is a tranquil place that doesn’t seem to get much use even though it has a fire tower. 6.8 miles roundtrip was quite a blur. We were getting worn thin but the summit built us back up. We all agreed it had the best views. Mountains stretching as far as you can see and water everywhere. The wilderness of New York never ceases to amaze. It is something that must be seen to be believed and I wish all could be believers.

Back at the car a crisis had developed. It was now 8:30pm and about to be dark. We still had one more peak to go. Freebird said the local tradition was to eat a Farley burger after completing the 6er. Served from the greasy window of a kitchen called the Scullery, in the back of the dive bar Grizzle T’s, it is a challenge by itself.

The problem was the kitchen closes at 9 pm. We sped off towards downtown Saranac Lake finding cell service along the way and ordered up our trophies. Now, there was a dilemma. Do we eat them before or after climbing Baker? Freebird said it would be wrong to let them sit in a box. I had been daydreaming of this moment all day. Next thing you know we were drinking pints of Downeast Cider at the bar taking on a different challenge.

The ascent to the summit of Baker Mountain from the trailhead is 900 feet in just under a mile. 6er rules dictate that you must start and end the trip to Baker from the bell in Berkeley Green Park. This adds some distance, making it a 4 mile roundtrip. We donned our headlamps and stumbled off into the starry night. There was not much to see up there in the dark except for the geodetic survey marker shining in our lights. Freebird and Powerman sprinted to the finish and I made it back to the green without crawling.

At 11:20 pm, 18 hours after we started, the bell rang 18 times, perhaps to the dismay of the local residents who were sleeping. It rang loud for 3 friends, 6 mountains, 32.5 miles, 8,500 ft of elevation and one long day in the ADK.