At 6am Saturday we rolled out on the familiar route north to the High Peaks, headed for the ADK Loj and Algonquin Peak. Two and a half hours later we were on the hard-packed foot and ski trail to Marcy Dam and Algonquin. There were about twenty people registered for the trail that morning but most had gone to Marcy Dam and there were only four ahead of us. We meandered upwards through a sparkling landscape dusted by fresh snow. The clouds were breaking up and we hoped for a clear summit. Higher on the trail the footing became slippery and the trees covered in ice, very pretty in the sunshine. I finished one roll of film and began another. Occasionally one of us would step off the trail and disappear waist deep into a spruce trap. The eye-level trail markers were at knee height. We caught a first glimpse of the summit partially obscured by a gray-white mist that made it look like the mountain had dissolved into the clouds. Tiny figures clambered over the rocks above us. We ascended surprisingly fast, and as we climbed the clouds drifted away and bright blue sky emerged. The ground was coated with a thick layer of ice that had melted away from the sun-warmed rocks, making brittle glassy shells that crunched under my crampons. Nodules of ice covered the grassy areas, icicles that had grown sideways in the wind of the last ice storm. The fir trees were encased in ice as well. At the top a stiff West wind buffeted us and we took shelter behind a boulder. The horizon was still socked in with haze but very pretty nonetheless. We dined on sandwiches and granola bars until the chill surpassed the discomfort of hunger, then began to slide and shuffle our way down among the icy boulders. The descent was great fun and took a quarter as long as the climb had. We rested for a while atop a sunny cliff and watched high clouds blow in and obscure our sun, then returned to the trailhead. After browsing the gear at The Mountaineer in Keene Valley, we decided to eat dinner at the Olive Garden in Queensbury. Dressed in hiking clothing, tasting wine and cheese among the dinner guests, we did our best to avoid causing a scene. Sunday it rained: proof once again that one should never miss an opportunity to get out for a day, because you might not get a second chance.