Ester and Whiteface 24'th and 25'th High Peak Ascent

Whiteface and Ester

The 5'th, and 28'th highest peaks in New York State with elevations of 4,867 and 4,240 ft.

       Climbed on Sunday 5-25-14 with my friend Evan. We left Speculator at 7 am and arrived at the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center parking lot a bit after 9. We were on the trail and headed toward Whiteface by 9:30. The trip reports I had read online weren't kidding. The trail starts with a steep rocky incline almost immediately and doesn't let up until you get to the top of Marble Mountain. 

      From that point towards the mountains it is still mostly uphill but not nearly as steep and not nearly as rocky. We tried to decide as we hiked if we would go first to Ester and then finish with Whiteface or the other way around. I had read that the views on Ester were not much and that Whiteface was much better. We had pretty much decided to go on to Whiteface first if for no other reason that if something went wrong it would be easier to return to climb Ester since it was closer. 

      When we got to the cairn marking the footpath towards Ester we spoke to a couple other hikers that were waiting for a group to come off Ester before they went up. That clinched it for us and even if we hadn't already decided to go to Whiteface first we decided now. We continued on and summited Whiteface around 12:30 pm. 

      The climb was gradual and not too strenuous almost the entire rest of the way. We actually saw some snow and ice on the trail, which I didn’t expect to see in May. 
      

      I also didn't expect so many people on the summit of Whiteface. Whiteface is a unique peak in that there is a road to the top and many people drive up for the views. 

      I always said I would finish the 46 on Whiteface but am now glad I didn't. It would be too different I think to finish the 46 and have so many other people around that had just drove up and wouldn't appreciate all the blood, sweat, and tears that it takes to climb a high peak. I think I will prefer to finish on any other peak with just a few others who had actually climbed the mountain. After a lunch break of around a half hour we headed back down and got to the Ester junction around 2 pm. We met a dad and his two daughters just coming down and warned us of the mud and said it would take us about an hour to summit Ester. They weren't exaggerating a bit. The trail less peak was a wet muddy mess almost the entire way. 

      We passed two other groups coming back and one couple even had two dogs. The dad was right on with his time prediction as well. We were at the Ester plaque in about an hour and the round trip about two hours total. The peak isn't much to see but the plaque is pretty cool and the hike, although muddy, was gradual and no real steep sections at all. 

      I’m surprised that Ester is a separate peak because it didn’t feel like we gained enough elevation for it to be considered one. We then headed down and out and the last mile was a killer on my toes. Evan was feeling it a bit as well but my toes were banging against the front of my boots and every step because a painful experience. We were back to the car almost exactly at 5:30 pm. We finished the day with our usual stop at the ADK Café for dinner. After dinner I bought a Lemon Shaker pie to bring home to the rest of the family. Back in Speculator after a nice hot shower that slice of pie with whipped cream really hit the spot. Over all great hiking, great weather, great views, great food, and all shared with a great friend.