Panther Mountain (Tupper Lake)

"Panther" is apparently a super common name for mountains here in the Adirondacks, where I can think of at least three or four others, and elsewhere too, I suspect.  This trip report is for the Panther located along Route 3 east of Tupper Lake.  It is a tiny little mountain, with a short trail that's just 0.6 mile each way with about 350 feet elevation gain.  Frankie and I stopped to hike it for a leg-stretcher on our way home from camping at Heart Lake with Erin and Alden.  The clouds were low but it's such a small peak, it seemed unlikely to be socked in.  We carried small water bottles because of the humidity, but didn't bother with packs and I let Frankie keep his sneakers on instead of lacing up his boots. 

Wright Peak

 

Wright

4,580 feet  |  ranked 16/46 in height  |  5th peak climbed (repeat)

Erin and I planned this trip entirely around the notion of enabling Frankie and Alden to camp and climb a High Peak together.  Both boys have previously camped and hiked 4,000-footers separately, but this would be their first big hike together.  I made reservations for the campground at Heart Lake, and nominated Wright as our target summit.  By camping at Heart Lake, we had automatic parking at the busy trailhead, and Wright is the shortest mileage hike among the High Peaks that neither kid had already climbed.  Alden was initially skeptical, since he'd been planning on Giant for his next 46er, but Erin had him look at his map, and he came around to the Wright plan pretty easily.

The Long Point Trail

After hiking the Endless Wall Trail, we hopped back in the car and cranked the air conditioner, then drove back across the New River Gorge Bridge, through Fayetteville, and then a bit further.  We followed the twisty Gatewood Road until we got to Newtown Road, which is the location of the trailhead for the Long Point Trail.  This is the other iconic hike of the Fayetteville area, offering perhaps the best views of the New River Gorge Bridge.  The National Park Service website lists this out-and-back hike as 1.6 miles each way, for a roundtrip hike of 3.2 miles.  The trail skirts along the edge of a field near the beginning, but the majority of the trail is shaded, passing through mature forests.  Grades are easy, with the trail mostly flat or rolling gently until the end, when it descends to the viewpoint along a narrow peninsula of rock.

The Endless Wall Trail

After a much enjoyed visit with Erwin's Mom in South Carolina, we got back on the road to make the long trip home.  As we did on the way down, we planned a big stop to break up the driving: three nights in our newest National Park, New River Gorge in West Virginia.  Our drive yesterday would have been about 7.5 hours if we went directly to where we are staying in Fayetteville, at the northern end of the park.  However, I convinced Erwin to detour to Grandview last night, which made our drive a little longer, but was totally worth it to get a taste of the southern end of the park without having to drive all the way back down on one of our two full days in the park.  Definitely worth the detour!  This allowed us to divide our time thusly: one day for hiking and one day for rafting.

Hawksbill Summit Traverse

My original plan was for us to hike the Hawksbill Loop after completing the Stony Man-Little Stony Man Loop.  Two short hikes in one day seemed like a reasonable plan; it is something we have done many times before.  However, as we hiked the last segment of the first hike, the ascent back to the parking lot on the Furnace Springs Trail, Erwin started waffling.  He and I slept terribly last night, due to a large party checking into the rooms on both side of us around midnight and being *extremely* loud for several hours afterwards. Luckily Frankie slept through the entire thing.  I didn't care about being tired; how often am I in Shenandoah National Park!?  I was determined to enjoy it.  Erwin was very clear he didn't want to prevent me from squeezing in one more hike -- he would simply drop me off and read while I hiked.  That worked for me!

Stony Man - Little Stony Man Loop

Yesterday was our "big hike" day, leaving today for shorter adventures.  But first we had to take care of some important details, namely the Junior Ranger program.  Frankie had finished most of the required activities to earn his Junior Ranger badge yesterday, but wouldn't be able to officially swear in until he attended a ranger-led program.  There were a few to choose from, but one obvious choice for our boy -- the birds of prey program at Big Meadows.  Frankie's favorite animal is the peregrine falcon, so this was a no brainer.  Sometimes Erwin and I feel a bit disgruntled at having to schedule a whole day around infrequent programs.  But this program was actually pretty great.  We all enjoyed it. 

Marys Rock via the Pinnacle

Shenandoah National Park is the first stop on our road trip south.  Like our mid-west road trip last month, this journey was also designed around visiting one of Frankie's grandmothers: in this case Erwin's mom, who we hadn't seen since before COVID.  We wanted Frankie to get to see his grandmother without the risk of flying.  It is quite a long drive to her house in South Carolina, so to break up the driving, we planned one big stop on each the drive down and the drive back.  This would make the trip more manageable and enjoyable -- plus we'd get to see some really cool new places along the way!  The halfway point on the drive south is in Virginia, making Shenandoah an obvious on-the-way destination.  We booked lodging at the park concession at Skyland, and focused hike selection to the central portion of the park.  Marys Rock looked pretty amazing.