I wrote up a little report regarding my recent climb of Treadway. I put it on our sister site and figured I should share it here as well.
My dog Dack and I got up to Schroon Lake a few days later then originally planned because of rain up there, but get here we did. We spent the first three days hiking various trails, including Wolf Pond. Weather was great, and almost no black flies anywhere. When we ran into some, just walking got us away from them. This left me almost totally unprepared for our climb of Treadway. Weather was great, Dack and I were the only ones on the trail both going up and coming down. An empty parking lot greeted us on our return. The trail conditions were very good, better than expected to be honest. But the black flies which had not bothered us at all, suddenly found us with a vengeance. The one saving grace is that for the most part they weren't biting, but we had to contend with a cloud of them the entire time. Signing into the register was nearly impossible because they were everywhere, and unfortunately, once we summited, I only took a couple of quick pictures and fed Dack before we quickly turned around and headed back. While this is Dack's fourth trip to the Adirondacks, the first two we were limited by my senior dog Maggie. On our third trip my wife was with us and she stayed with Maggie while Dack and I climbed First Brother in Keene. That hike went very well. This hike was more challenging for Dack but he did really great. He, like myself, has not gotten in any long hikes prior because of Mag's limitations. That didn't help with his - or my - preparations for this rather straightforward climb. He was tired and wanted to rest a few times on the way down, but the flies just didn't make that an option. This isn't my first go round with the little guys, and I would have prepared better if they had given me any reason to think I needed to prior to the climb. Bug spray just didn't cut it unfortunately. The fact that I continued to the top is a testament of my determination I guess. I have wanted to do Treadway for a very long time, and four years ago I thought Maggie and I would climb it. It was then that I first came to realize how limited my girl had become, and I called that climb off before we even set foot on the mountain. While I admit my bucket list isn't as glamorous as many on this forum, I managed to check this one off my list. I estimate that I have come up to the Adirondacks perhaps 80 times over the years from Cleveland, but for the first time ever up here, I brought two ticks down from the mountain with me.
On a bittersweet note, this was the first time in over 10 years that my sweet Maggie wasn't with me when here in the Adirondacks. As some of you might recall, we were forced to have her put to sleep shortly after this past Christmas. While I will always cherish her memory, on this recent trip, Dack and I hiked over 30 miles and climbed Treadway. Had Mag's been with us, and with us she would most definitely have been if she were alive today, I doubt we could have hike 12 miles in total, and definitely no climbs.