As we headed west on Vermont Route 125, the sun was still yet to fully rise. A layer of fog shrouded much of the landscape, so dense and defined you felt you could almost grab it. Minutes later, rays of sun bathed the valleys and farm fields in sleepy hues of orange and yellow. The fog reluctantly lifted, and soon I had truly woken up.
What exactly is “46 Peaks Day?” Why were people waking up at such heinous hours? In short, 46 Peaks Day is a challenge in which members of a club or group attempt to summit at least one of the 46 high peaks in the Adirondack Mountains, with the overall goal of the group’s participants having collectively climbed all of the peaks by the end of the day.
This was MMC’s first ever attempt at the challenge. The idea to complete it gained momentum last spring when the club received a suggestion for a 46 Peaks Day in their end-of-year feedback form. MCC President Will Hinkle ’26 had previously heard about the event from another regional college. Thus, on Oct. 5, Middlebury finally took it on.
In the week leading up to 46 Peaks Day, prospective hikers signed up for their trips through a Google form. MMC led six of these trips, designating a variety of day and overnight hikes for which registration was done separately. Outside of these six, however, students were given free rein in choosing which peak to tackle, and with whom to do the tackling. I registered for Sawteeth Mountain with Bernadette Osborn ’26.5, another MMC board member.
Entering the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks, one drives straight towards a wall of mountain before going deeper into the forest and away from the string of small towns. The trees grow taller and denser, the air gets a little cooler, and the roads begin contouring to the surrounding landscape. Heading west on Tracy Road (a heaven on earth for anyone who enjoys backroads driving), it was soon clear that our club was not the only group with hiking in mind that morning.
Dozens of cars, some over one mile from the closest trailhead, lined the sides of the roads. Large groups of hikers traveled single file, hugging the guardrail as they trudged to their routes. In fact, the Middlebury group that had arrived at 5:15 a.m. was still too late to beat the crowds, adding four miles to their hike just to make it to the trailhead from their parking spot. That same group ultimately walked twenty miles on Saturday, summiting Lower Wolfjaw, Upper Wolfjaw, Armstrong and Gothics — and traversing the shoulder of some roads along the way.
Bernadette and I were a bit luckier. Using a guest pass from a friend, we parked by the clubhouse of the Adirondack Mountain Reserve (AMR), which owns considerable property in the mountain range. The route for Sawteeth started right at the ornate wooden gate of the AMR, and at around 8:15 a.m., we set off on Lake Road and began our hike.
Lake Road continued for roughly three miles, a gravel road lined by trees and falling leaves that ran parallel to a small brook. The road ended by the incredible Lower Ausable Lake, and soon we began our ascent of Sawteeth. We took the scenic route trail on the way up, which wrapped around the lake for a while before sharply climbing for the last few miles.
We shimmied between massive boulders by the shoreline, climbed ladders up the vertical sections of the trail and scrambled over moss-blanketed rocks. Four miles into the ascent, we were perched high above the water and could gaze down at the lake snaking between the tumbling cliffs of the mountains.
The climbing continued. The lichen multiplied and the air took on a damp coolness. The palette of shifting reds, yellows, and oranges gave way to uniform tones of dark green. The incline began to waver, and right as we both began to consider putting on another layer, the summit appeared before us. We arrived at a patch of rocky ground in a clearing among the trees, and from here looked out towards the highest peaks of the Adirondacks.
Several other groups summited around the same time. As we ate our lunch, we even heard shouts of celebration coming across the valley. With the bustle of the morning, the hikers we passed along the way and the distant echoes of other groups, there was this tangible energy in the Adirondacks that day. The mountains felt alive.
We descended along a different trail, eventually passing Rainbow Falls right before we came back to the shoreline of Lower Ausable Lake. The afternoon sun glistened through the mist of the waterfall; there was a special awe we felt standing by its base, looking up at the towering cliffs and bright colored trees stretching out above.
Before making our return trip on the road, we took a dip in the lake. It was just warm enough that the chill of the water seemed worth it, yet as I jumped in, I was entirely unprepared for how cold I was about to feel. Frigid even compared to the Gorge in late fall, neither of us stayed in the water long. We scurried back onto land and recovered in the sun, before ultimately setting back out on Lake Road towards the trailhead. In the end we hiked a little over twelve miles, and although the exhaustion took a while to hit, when it did, it hit hard. By the time we got to Proctor, we had both gone nonverbal.
Talking with the MMC board about 46 Peaks Day a few days later, there was a sense of pride and accomplishment about the event. Hinkle further added that the “outdoor experience meant a lot for the people involved.”
Although Middlebury’s hikers had only reached the summits of roughly thirty of the peaks, the interest, participation and energy were high for the club’s first ever attempt at the challenge. Despite the messy parking (one group walked 28 miles) and the occasional route error, MMC’s 46 Peaks Day was an overall success. It was a success not only for all who tackled their hikes, but also an unquestionably positive sign for the years to come and MMC’s future attempts at the challenge.
Members of MMC on the summit of Mt. Hough.
