The Perks of Peak Weekend
Howdy, good folks of St. Lawrence University!
The Outing Club is very excited to announce that Peak Weekend 2025 was a success! Thanks to the hard work of house members and over 100 participants, we successfully summited all 46 High Peaks! This was definitely a Peak Weekend to remember.
Throughout the weekend, the Outing Club sent out 20 trips ranging from a beginner hike up St. Regis Mountain to more extreme hikes, such as the summit of the Dix and Seward Ranges. We had folks from all skill levels hit the trails—many even climbed their first High Peak.
The group I led hiked Mount Marcy, Mount Skylight and Gray Peak. These are some of the coolest peaks out there, prominent in both their elevation––with Marcy being the tallest peak in New York––and difficulty. I decided to run the trip as a day hike to avoid parking concerns. The day started at a very reasonable time of 3:00 a.m. By that time, the Outing Club was already active, with people gearing up to leave. We even had the griddle going with fresh bacon and pancakes a la carte.
Somehow, the entire crew emerged from their warm beds and got into the van (shoutout to SLU Facilities!) This thing was nice: a brand-new minivan with a heated steering wheel, power doors and Apple CarPlay. Once in the super-sick mom van, we fired up and hit the road. After two hours of driving in the dark and listening to house music, we made it to the trailhead. The parking usually fills up quickly, but luckily there were plenty of spots to pick from at 5:15 a.m.
There’s really something special about hiking in the dark because you don’t really know where you’re going—or even if you’re going uphill. Once some light appeared, we were excited to see that we had some climbing ahead. We reached Lake Arnold, where we took a nice break. This small lake sits rather high up in elevation and is a great place to take a rest. There were also a few campers out starting their day. We conspired to try to find some sun. It was cool, and there was frost on the ground. Some of the logs on the trail were particularly spicy to navigate.
After a few hours, we reached Lake Tear of the Clouds, the highest source of water for the Hudson River. Our first peak, Gray Peak, was rather chill steep 30 minutes up to a wooded summit with some views. After coming back down, we started our ascent of Skylight. On the way, we encountered a lot of ice and met two people who were finishing their 46’er journey—a challenge where one climbs all 46 High Peaks in New York. To be honest, this was my favorite peak. It had great views of the southern ’Dacks and Panther Gorge.
After the hike down, we started the trek up Mount Marcy. As the highest peak in the state, we knew this one would be good. The hike started in the woods, then we popped out above the treeline. From there, we followed a rock-lined path up straight bedrock to the summit. We reached the peak and were met by many others who had done the same. We chilled up there for a while and then started the long trek back to the car. It ended up taking us14 hours to hike the whole route. It wasn’t that we were slow; it took us that long because we were having fun! We took a lot of breaks and shared a lot of laughter.
Huge shoutout to everyone who vvparticipated in Peak Weekend! It is always a pleasure to see folks out in the mountains, enjoying the Adirondacks. The OC has a lot more planned for the future, so make sure to keep an eye out for trips on SLU Central or our email list serve. Also, Outing Club house applications for the spring are still live. Apps are available in our Instagram bio, and don’t forget to sign up for an interview at the box on our front porch.
Happy Trails,
Kyle