Mt Joe

"Let's go to Mt. Joe," he said. And so we did, although I was a bit skeptical that Dad could make it up the 713 foot climb over .9 miles. Yes, not really a huge mountain, a mountain surrounded by the high peaks of the Adirondacks. Mt. Marcy a mere six miles away.
Nevertheless, on a crispy morning, we set off for the trailhead.

Unfortunately, so did a few hundred others, from US and Canada. Both countries are celebrating Labor Day and the parking lots were full. In order to begin a short hike, one had to take a long walk from the roadside about a mile down a hill...the only available parking, unless you were willing to wait for departing early bird hikers. We opted for this and twenty minutes later we were ready to begin the hike.

I let Dad set the pace. Drawing on my Outward Bound experience, I patiently fell in behind and took snaps. Many hikers, including a two year old "K-becker" passed us.
And the words of wisdom Dad offered, "You climb a mountain one step at a time," applied to every one who hoofed it to the summit.