My son and I decided it was time to hit the Adirondack High Peak Wilderness area and hike Mount Marcy ( 5,343 ft.,NY highest peak ) and the Haystacks ( 4,960 ft. , NY third highest peak). This was planned as first a 2 day trip and then due to distance to drive to trailhead, 6.5 hours and parking rules and regulations and crowds, it changed to a 3 day trip. We drove up to Lake Placid on Sunday evening and stayed overnight in a cheap hotel just to crash and wake up early with a short 30 minute drive to the Garden Trailhead.  Lucky for us, we arrived at 7 am on Monday morning and pretty much got the last spot available to park. And yes there was a parking fee of $10 day. Long story short we spent the full day hiking a total of 16 miles to Mount Marcy and then we took on the Haystacks also and continued back down to Bushnell Falls and camp for the night. The trails was brutal. Spent the entire day rock hopping small boulders and rocks, wet roots, mud everywhere due to heavy rains on sunday night and walking and climbing in stream beds and waterfalls. Thankfully the weather was beautiful.. low to mid 70s and blazing Sun. Most of trail we were under shade of trees until we got above tree-line into the Alpine zone.  The Haystacks were more fun to hike and maybe even better views then Marcy.. and we had them all to ourselves,  which was awesome.  Check out the video and see for yourself.  We were able to make camp using our hammocks and in the morning had breakfast at the foot of a beautiful peaceful waterfall.  My pack weight was 15.5 lbs before adding 2 liters of water. Thats includeding my Bare Boxer Contender bear can with food. I also carried my bug bivy in case we could not find suitable spots to hang our hammocks,  which almost was a problem due to strict camping rules and regulations in the High Peaks Wilderness area.  All in all it was a great trip,  its just a shame that there are so many rules and regulations,  which I do understand because of the amount of irresponsible people out there… kind of ruins the “true” Wilderness feeling. I have always know I wanted to hike Marcy because of its status as NY highest peak, and I live in NY.. just never rushed to do it because I knew its a hi traffic area and strict rules and regulations.. but we decided to get it done and im glad I waited for the right time to be able to do it with my son. For what its worth..  the Haystacks blew my mind more then Marcy..