dial and nippletop mountains

yesterday adam and i ventured off to hike dial mountain and nippletop mountains. i thought it would be appropriate to get back to the AMR as soon as possible so that i could prevent my single bad experience from becoming my only AMR experience.
we got to the trailhead at 8:30 AM. walking through the clubhouse/golf course/cabin area was a bit nerve wracking. if you can believe it (i still kick myself for not taking a picture), we passed a woman casually walking her large black poodle while reading the newspaper. i was speechless...
we signed in and pretended not to notice the glaring security guard in the gatehouse.
once off the lake road, the trail went immediately uphill. i struggled for much of the morning as i am not at top performance before noon.
although 15 miles long and difficult at times, the hike was amazingly beautiful. you are rewarded in the first three hours by 180 degree views as a result of the 1999 forest fire on noonmark mtn.
we hiked over bear den mtn and onto dial. it was difficult to be certain that you had summited as there is no sign or marker. after a brief stop, we were off to nippletop. those two miles seemed to take forever. going up and over mountains can make each mile feel twice as long.
approaching nippletop, you can see the peak and it appears so pointy and small.
we decided to hike back going toward elk lake pass, if only to avoid going back over dial and bear den a second time. also, we were running very low on water and there was NO water on the trail in. the hike down to the lake road was very steep and we were glad we did not come up that way.
it was a great hike and we only passed three people. we had each peak to ourselves. a redeeming experience, although not for AMR hospitality (it seems to me they would rather not have hikers there at all) but for the sheer beauty of the adirondacks.