WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Off the Trails: Sliding Toward Death the Adirondacks

Episode Date: April 1, 2025

Join Nicole Sighiartau and Storm Drexler as they discuss their wildest experiences in the great outdoors! This week they have Maggie and Anna Baldwin on to share some stories from their trek through the Adirondacks.

You're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. Welcome to Off the Trails. Hey ho! I'm Storm Drexler. And I'm Nicole Seguera Tao and we'll be your adventure buddies every week as we discuss some of our wildest stories from our outdoor endeavors. This week we have special guests on Maggie and Anna Baldwin to share some of their stories from the Adirondacks. Hi, so good to be on here. Yeah, how are you guys doing? Good, good. Yeah, I'm excited to talk about our trip. Do you guys want to say your names just so we can distinguish your voices a little bit? I'm Maggie. I'm the oldest twin.

I'm Anna. I'm the younger one. The other option. I'm not part of the triplets. No, I'm not part of the other. So how did you guys get involved with this trip? Are you guys super outdoorsy? Well, I was the one that they had to convince to go on the trip, actually.

So Maggie and our friend Karris really wanted to do it. and they convinced me to do it. And I don't know that I would have done it if I could have found another class to take, but then the option of three credits with no final or paper was just really tempting. So I got a little bit dragged along. I'm really, really glad I went though. Anna's being really humble because I feel like she's way more outdoorsy than me. I just have ideals, and it's my dream to do backpacking since I was little. And I'd done like one backpacking trip before and a lot of hiking and this just sounded like the most epic adventure so i had to do it so this is a class who's the professor and kind of what's the course like leaving up to the trip so it's

actually with the head of security at hillsdale joe kellem and it's a leadership class a military leadership class so the cool is hilarious for us to be doing but hey yeah the cool thing about the classes each day you get to lead a day so you have a team a tready trail buddy and um you lead like the whole trail uh you decide when to stop where to go you have the map and it was way more challenging than i thought it would be and the whole purpose of that is to work on our leadership skills because the whole year we've been learning about leadership in our weekly class and then we actually get to apply it on the trail wait that's so cool that's awesome Nicole will you be my trutty sure Truddy buddy.

So how long was the trip, how many days? What was it, eight days total? Including traveling there and back, right? Yeah, so it's 14 hours to New York in a tiny little van, which was exhausting. Yeah, it would. Maybe harder than backpacking. I don't know about that, but. And this is over Hillsdale Spring Break.

Yes. And they do have other trips, too, in the fall that are to like pictured rocks. are the smoky mountains, but this is their extreme trip because it's in the spring. So there's a lot of snow. The whole different type of backpacking. Yeah. How much snow was there? Eight feet?

Eight feet? And I think more than that at certain elevations too. So we had snow shoes on the whole time, which was fun. I never worn those before. Yeah. We were able to measure the snow because there's trail markers on the trail, and they're usually about eight feet off the ground. and we would be walking and there'd be a trail marker like sticking out of the snow and then they would

disappear so that's how we knew how high up the snow was oh my lord so had you guys practiced walking in snow shoes before is this just like a first time you get there and you figure it out yep yeah we were really thrown into it that was the first day well we drove all day Saturday up to the adirondacks and we slept in the van for two hours um and then we got to got out, did not eat breakfast, threw on snow shoes, our full packs, which how heavy were the packs? 40 pounds? 40 pounds? Dang, that's heavy. And then we hiked a mountain and it was freezing and snowing. We hadn't eaten and we hadn't slept. And that was, I think that was the worst day for everyone. But also it made every other day feel really easy. But yeah, I think that was a hardest day

for me. And then we got to the top of that mountain and you couldn't see anything at all because it was so cloudy. Not worth it. It really wasn't worth it. Yeah. Well, we got to the top of that mountain. And then we got to the top of that It really wasn't worth it. Yeah. What was that Mount Phelps? I'm sure it's beautiful when I mean, it was beautiful. We just can't really see. Yeah. The snow was nice. That mountain was a funny experience because when as we were reaching the top, I was like, oh, there's all these cute little baby trees. I love the baby trees. They're not baby trees. It's the tops of enormous trees. And they looked like a miniature like Charlie Brown and Christmas trees. Oh my gosh. That's how high. It's so thick enough that you can stand on it. And it's the top of it. And it's the tops of enormous trees. And it's the top of it. It's not high. It's thick enough that you can stand on it. It. It. Even though it's that deep. Yeah. Well, there is an issue, though. So with snow shoes, when snow grows over a tree branch that's kind of sticking out far from the tree, it kind of creates a hole if you step on that particular spot.

And so you'd be walking along. What a tree well. Yep, tree well. Next thing you know, you're up to your waist in snow or doing the splits, which happened to me often. And you have to yell at your trail buddy to help you out. Yep, get you out of that. It actually never happened to me. I strategically walked behind people who fell in tree wells the most.

That's smart. It worked. I did not fall in any, and I think I might have been the only one. Our poor friend Kate, it was like every five minutes at one point. That first day, I think the hardest part was that the snowshoes are, well, they were also cheap snow shoes. Maybe this is not the same with real one. They were like Amazon snow shoes. They don't really stay on your foot.

That was just that one pair, though. Yeah. But you'd be walking along and it's just like off the snowshoe goes and you trip and fall. And this happened so much. So we made such a slow pace at first because all the snow shoes were just falling off. And then also you have to walk with your feet kind of spread out. And so the knee and calf pain is unreal. Like you have muscles hurting.

You never knew existed. And like hip flexors hurt because you're having to pick up extra weight. So every day we'd be like, maybe we won't have to wear snow shoes. out and is like, nope. Just going to be snow the whole week. Wow. So were you guys camping with all the snow? Some nights, yeah.

How many? I don't remember. Okay, so, yeah. So the thing is there are lean-toes in the Adirondacks, which is really nice because they're like three-walled wooden shelters with a ton of snow on top. So you get some barrier from the wind and then you have like a wooden floor. So the girls every night, we were able to find. find a lean to

there was one night where the guys didn't and so they slept out on top the snow in their sleeping bags which was fine until their um bivisack which kind of protects you from the snow got so much moisture they woke up soaking uh which is not ideal so it insulates you too well yeah yeah you just sweat so much you can do about it yeah so how many people were on this trip nine yeah right we actually each had a name from the fellowship of the ring and it was so It was funny. It worked. Anna and I were Marion Pippin. Yes. Yeah. That's glorious. Yeah. It was so good. Yeah. So I'm not particularly familiar with the Adirondacks and like the environment there. You mentioned pine trees. Is there like a lot of brush or was that probably all covered up by the snow? Is it like rocky at the top of these mountains or I just I just am not aware with the environment really. Yeah. At the top of. one of the mountains we were at, it was completely bald, so no trees. It just, which you had a 360 view,

which was pretty cool. I think that was one of my favorite days. Yeah, that was called Cascade. Yeah, that mountain was really awesome. And then the last two days we were there, the snow at the base of the mountain started to melt, so you could kind of see what the ground actually looked like, very mossy, lots of roots. I don't know if that goes all the way up the mountains or not, because we never saw the tops besides the rocky one without the snow. But lots of trees from what I could tell. I can imagine to be very beautiful. Lakes, we got to walk across two frozen lakes. That was also really gorgeous. Do you remember what these were cold? Yeah, so the first one we walked across was Lake Colden. And then that went into Avalanche Pass, which sounds dangerous. Oh, it was.

So the day we walked on it, it was already starting to get warmer. So like, I remember I didn't have to wear my coat. And the next day after that, there was. was an avalanche there. And they don't happen, from what I could understand, they don't happen very often in that spot. The day after you pass through. The day after. That's a little sketchy. Yeah. It's a beautiful area though. Like you're walking between two massive like mountains and it's such a long lake. It was we had to separate by 12 feet apart in case someone fell in because it was kind of melty. And so you're just silently walking forever on this frozen lake. And that was such a, I felt like I was in Antarctica. So cool. It was awesome. Did you guys have any other near-death experiences in the trip?

Maggie definitely did. Yeah. So the Friday that, the last day that we were hiking, like a big hike, we went up Big Slide Mountain. And again, it was 50 degrees that day. Most days, it was like 20 degrees. So this is a huge shift. It means everything's melting, which really just means ice everywhere. And a big slide is straight uphill for miles. So there's a huge shift. So there's a huge shift. It means everything's melting. It's There's no break. You're just hiking uphill. And thank goodness that the snow shoes have a little like, we never found the name of that, did me, like a bracket that you pop up so your calves get a break because I would not have made it without those. So we climbed up big slide, ate a lunch there, relaxed. It was so beautiful. Like one of the prettiest views. We were chilling. And then we were like,

we're going to go over to Yard Mountain. And we talked to a hiker before and we're like, can we do like, can we go Yard Mountain and do a loop? And he was like, I mean, no one does that, but sure. We should have not done it. And we also shouldn't have spent like an hour and a half on top of the mountain because the sun started to go down. We're like, oh, we'll make it. It's not that far. We start on the yard mountain path and you cannot see this path.

Like, it is, no one's walked it. It was probably over eight feet because we just couldn't see any trail markers for a while. Yeah. And my least favorite part was the amount of branches you got in your face because like every step you walk, there's a, there's a fir tree branch smacking you and snapping. So we had cuts all over our face. all of our arms the guys had shorts on that day which was a mistake because their legs were all cut up they denied that it was a mistake but they're miserable right now there's our stories you can tell when you get back to school

yeah exactly um so we're walking this mountain it took forever again because we had to stop constantly and find the trail which really was just looking for broken tree branches ahead because you couldn't no footsteps so it was it was difficult um and we got to one part of the trail where the side of the trail had come off the mountain. And so there was this tiny little walkway of snow curving around the mountain. And I was one of the last persons to go. And so I started walking and my foot slipped off the side. And as I did, my trekking pole dropped. So I was down to one trekking pole. And I kept going. I was like, I'll be fine. But it's just ice everywhere. And before that, we'd been going down these slopes by just sliding on our butts, which is so much fun. Glissating.

Yeah, there is a name for it. And seeing our leader, Joe Kellam, slide like a little kid was the highlight of the trip. So we came to this one icy slide, and everyone was like, do not slide down this on your butt because, look, there's a drop off.

And at the end, sure enough, it was like it just kept going down the mountain and there's no stopping. I only have one tracking pole, though. So everyone else goes sideways, grabs their trekking poles, stabs it into the snow. We go one at a time.

We're being very careful. I go and I lose my balance and I start sliding and oh gosh Anna you watch this what was it like she just like headed straight for the edge and then her legs went off the edge and she grabbed a tree and pulled herself up and then she was like wow guys I almost died oh my gosh it didn't it hit me I was very calm I think that was the lord I think I would have just you know if I'd realize what situation I was in I would have screamed and not been able to have control of myself but yeah I was able to scoot. It was actually a sideways tree, so it hit my chest and my arms. I didn't even mean to grab it. It just hit me. And then I was able to get back on the path. And after that,

my heart was beating so fast. And I had so much adrenaline because I think my body knew what I was going, what was going on, but my mind did not. And yeah, that was definitely the scariest part of the trip. You're listening to Off the Trails on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. And let's get back to hearing about Maggie's near-death experience. Yeah. So the end of that story is that my tricking pole, Joe Kellam somehow rescued it. I think he laid down and grabbed it with his pole. And so I actually ended up having two again, which was really good because the rest of the trail was full of holes because some person didn't wear snow shoes. It was, yeah, so annoying. And so the whole time you're just falling over and over and over again. So I would have really hurt

myself without those two trekking poles. So we made it down the mountain, sunset. We had to use headlamps. But you lost your headlamps that then. Yep. Lost my life. Lost my headlamp. Lost my headlap. Lost my drinking pole. He needed equipment malfunction. So after experiencing that, were you like sketched out the rest of the time hiking down? Did that emotionally scar you for the rest of the trip? I think it totally would have. But thank goodness it was the last day. And so the next day was Saturday, which it was just hiking out of the trail. So there's only like three miles with full packs and it was basically uphill and then flat. So I didn't have to overthink it too much. But yeah, it scared me a lot. I mean, I've never had that experience in particular,

but like I have glissated a couple of times where I have lost control. And like one time I was going towards a Boulder field, I was nine years old. So like I, I don't know, I just wasn't equipped What is it with you getting in peril at nine years ago? I wasn't equipped with like the strength to self-arrest. That's what you're supposed to do. If you have an ice axe or tracking poles, you flip onto your stomach really hard and you dig it into the snow. And so I tried doing that, but it didn't work.

So I just kept sliding. Thank goodness my dad was like at the bottom of this snow bank because there were all these boulders that I would have just smacked right into. But he caught me and stopped me. But I don't know, even that, like hiking the rest of the time, I was so, so scared. And, like, even now walking on snow, I just have flashbacks of that. Oh, that's terrible.

But, like, yours was way more dangerous. There was a cliff there. Yeah. It wasn't like, oh, there's some rocks. It's like, oh, there's nothing. What kind of click are we talking? Like, Disney villain outro cliff? No, it wasn't like there's rocks at the bottom and you will be crushed to pieces.

But, like, it was so slippery and such a steep incline. I just don't know how I would have stopped myself. Yeah. And I don't know where it went. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty scary.

Anna, I can't imagine watching this. Like, I don't have a sister, but if I did, I feel like I would be screaming. If you watched Mead, almost die. I'd be like, ah, it's okay. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. But, I mean, she was fine. So I think.

I bet if one else was just freaking out and you're like, I'm good. And you're like, she's good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was, it was pretty scary to watch, but then it was okay. And I think she got her other trekking pole pretty soon after that because I was just like, how are we going to make it down the rest of the mountain? We were just going to have to pass mine back and forth every time we came to a spot like that, which would have worked, but it would have just taken a while.

And we were a little pressed for time. So, yeah. I mean, I was, I feel like I was more scared for her the first day we were there because she didn't eat all night. I don't, like, because we were in the car the whole time. And so no one thought about eating. And then you were like already just really low on energy and hat and slept. and all of that.

And so we got to like midway up Mount Phelps. And you like she got super dizzy and was just exhausted. And I was like, I don't know how we're going to do the rest of this trip. Like what if this is continuous? Yeah. But I was like, wait, maybe I ate food and it was fine. Yeah, that was the issue. It was food.

But I was like, maybe you're like, something's wrong with you. But no, you just needed a be sick and then you could keep going. Yeah. Yeah. And the rest of the trip, you had way more energy than me. So now, I really don't know how. Yes, you did. Are the Adirondacks like at.

at some sort of elevation, like 4,000 feet. Do we know? Do you guys know? I should have looked at that up. I never know when she asks me. I don't know. Yep, I don't know. A lot of elevation. I remember that.

Very tall. Yeah, yeah. Because elevation can definitely mess with like your hunger, your thirst, just overall energy levels. No, we were at elevation. So I think that could have been part of it. Yeah. Especially like the first couple of days if you're not really used to it.

So before this, you say, you'd been on like trekking expedition before. No. No. Yeah, that was my dream. We go hiking as a family a lot. And then one time, so my dad,

he did like the Grand Teton's. Like he was a big backpack. Oh my gosh. I want to do that. I know. So, but that was like back in college, or like it was a senior trip after college.

So it's been a while. And he was like, I really want to take you guys backpacking. But we were younger. So we used his old like 1980s, like were the poles exposed on the back. backpack and they did not fit us and went on like a one night backpacking trip and then my dad tore his meniscus on it and that was tragic yeah so not a great experience but I was like I need to

do this more so yeah that was the only time I'd been like backpacking I'd camped before and hiked but is there any advice you would give for people going on like their first serious multi-day trek oh that's a good question um I might be able to answer do that better because Anna did not prepare. What? And yes. So annoying. Okay.

This is the annoying part. I worked out and did like hiking specific workouts and stuff and my legs were always tired. She had full endurance and did nothing to prepare. I didn't do anything. Life is so unfair. Well, okay. The first day was a lot more rough on me than it was on you though.

Ha. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think in terms of like preparation, really good to um like lunges squats deadlifts just trying to like the weight of a backpack is unlike anything else like you can think oh i can handle it but it is it hurts your shoulders it really does yep

and your hips like random pains that you can never expect so i think like teaching your legs to handle the weight is really nice um and then hydration is so important because food yeah i started i kept um Reese's cups in my pants pockets the entire trip and I just ate them. Pocket peanut butter. Oh yeah. Her trail name was peanut because of that. That's cute. Peanut Pepin? Yeah. I was wow because apparently that's quote all I ever say. Wow. I think there were a lot of wow moments though for those views. Oh, all the time. Everything was wow. Yeah. I was going to say speaking of views, how is the weather? Yeah. treat you well.

No, that's great. The sky's blue or was it? We actually had really nice weather. Well, I, I, well, okay. Depends on your perspective. The first day was awful. I thought I was frostbitten. I'm also dramatic, but I was like, I'm going to die.

And then, like, the rest of the days it started progressively getting warmer, I think it got really cold at night. That was the hard part. Right. So sleeping was, eh, didn't do much of it. Because your face is exposed. You can't put it in the sleeping bag or you're soaked in. and liquid.

Yeah. I actually slept so well. You're tired. I slept really well. I did not. That's okay. So you guys were in these lean twos, but did you ever peek your heads out to look at the stars?

Because I bet they're probably pretty amazing there. It was so cloudy at night. What? I saw stars. Well, okay. But not as much as I think that you could have on a clear night. We definitely saw stars. It wasn't like yellow stone stars like we're out and it's like all colors.

Yeah. I think there was one night where we couldn't find our lean to and we got lost. It was just the girls. We'd separated from the guys because the Adirondack rule, there's a lot of rules with this park. No. Although every one of them snores. So I was having to work out of it. But yeah, the Adirondacks have very specific rules.

You can't have a group over eight stay in the same spot. So at like 11 o'clock, we had to hike a mile with full packs. I was very tired. And that was Friday after that big day to find our lean to. And we got lost in the woods. And I remember looking up and seeing the stars. And then at that moment, I heard what I thought was wolves. We'd already seen wolf footprints.

And I was like, we're surrounded and going to die and we're lost. And then our guide, Rachel, who's amazing, was like, it's an owl. I was like, oh, wow. Wow. Yeah, I definitely said that then. Well, thank you so much for coming on the show. This was such a blast. And honestly, I really want to take this class now and go on this trip.

You have to. It's the best A I've ever received. Sounds like a great A. Thank you for listening to Off the Trails on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. We hope you have a great week and make time to go outside and enjoy the great outdoors. We'll see you out there. Happy trails. Tackle the mountains.

Bye, guys.