August 29, 2010 - Mount Colden

With Summer winding down, Jack and Rich tried to fit in a hike with our friends AJ and Kate; taking advantage of what might be the last hot August day. We got to the Adirondack Loj parking lot early, but no sign of AJ and Kate. The sky was possibly as clear as we have ever seen it on a hiking trip, and the temperature under the trees was very comfortable. At Marcy Dam, we met up with another hiker going to Mount Colden, and walked with him most of the way to the peak. Except for a brief break at Lake Arnold, we made excellent time reaching the summit before Noon.

The view across all the nearby mountains was spectacular, and each of us were surprised at how many of the peaks and we can recognize by sight and name. Using our binoculars, it was entertaining to see the number of hikers standing on the summits of Marcy, Algonquin, Wright, and Iroquois. It certainly was a busy Sunday in the High Peaks. After enjoying our PB&J sandwich, we decided to take a different route back towards the Loj, diverting down to Lake Colden and through Avalanche Pass (possibly our favorite spot in the Adirondacks). It was a steeper descent following that route, but we were not disappointed once we reached our destination.

During our previous trip through the pass, we were racing the setting sun and couldn't enjoy ourselves as much as we would have liked. This time we could take a little longer to soak up the sights and the sun. Still, we made good time through the flat zone back to Marcy Dam and the last push towards our car. At the beaver dam near the Loj, we were treated to an up close view of several beavers eating and playing in the water; a couple swam within inches of our feet. It was an entertaining final act to what might have been our best hike yet. From the trail head register, we learned that AJ and Kate arrived very late and decided to climb Phelps instead. The total trip was about 14 miles in a little over 8:15. Twenty-one (21) High Peaks down; 25 to go.

July 23, 2010 - Sawteeth Mountain

The goal for our final day in the Johns Brook Valley was hike up the Ore Bed Trail to the top of Gothics and then over the backside of that peak to Sawteeth. Interestingly, the weather picture was almost the opposite of the previous day; it started out promising, but steadily got worse as the day went on. We had no trouble navigating to the base of the cables that mark the final push towards the summit of Gothics, but we quickly saw that it was going to change fast. Clouds were moving in fast, and we were met near the peak by some fierce winds that were coming from the East.

Rather than spend much time sitting on the exposed ledges of Gothics, we quickly got into the tree cover of the trail over Pyramid Mountain towards Sawteeth. We had a very uneventful and enjoyable hike over the col to the summit of Sawteeth, and enjoyed watching the storm clouds swirl overhead. We didn't enjoy it for long, since we knew that we were going to have to hike back through those storm clouds to get back to JBL and our gear.

It wasn't as easy to get back down the Gothics cables as it was to get up, because now we had to do it in high winds and driving rain. Regardless, we made in back to the Ore Bed Trail without incident, and even made it to JBL in plenty of time to hike out to our car without danger of needing head lamps like the previous Summer. The total hike (including trip back to The Garden) was 13.5 miles in 10:30; the three (3) day total was 35.2 miles in about 26 hours. Twenty (20) High Peaks down; 26 to go.

July 22, 2010 - Marcy, Skylight, and Gray Peak

For the first new hike of our JBL trip, we decided to tackle Mount Marcy; the biggest of the group. The forecast was for 40% chance of rain, but the morning started out very dismal with cool air and fog. Our plan was to get to the top of Marcy as fast as we could, and if we had enough time and energy, see if we could also conquer Skylight before getting back for dinner. We wasted no time getting out on the trail after breakfast, leading a pack of JBL guests that were also planning to climb Marcy. As we made our way up to the summit, if became increasingly clear that we were not going to get much of a view. As we worked our way to the top, the weather deteriorated even more with high winds and sleet. Luckily, we had a couple of pairs of gloves in the pack from our last winter hike (not that we expected to need them in July).

 

We spent very little time on the peak, since it was cold and uncomfortable. Once we reached the tree line on the trail down toward the Four Corners, we were able to warm up and regroup. Since we worked such a good pace in the early going, we had plenty of time to get over to Skylight before we needed to head back to the lodge. On the summit of Skylight, the temperature seemed a bit warmer, although we still needed to seek shelter from the wind in order to eat our lunch.

On our way back toward Marcy and JBL, we decided to make a small diversion to see the Lake Tear of the Clouds. A fellow hiker pointed out the cairns which marked the trail to Gray Peak, and we took a photo for us to use in finding it for some future hike. As we turned to leave, another hiker encouraged us to not waste the opportunity to climb Gray, being that we were so close. Even though we were worried about missing dinner, that was all the encouragement Jack needed to hop across the creek and start the climb. It only took us about 25 minutes to reach the top, and the views improved significantly as we climbed.

Once back to the summit of Marcy, the cloud cover still had not improved, but the winds had died down and the temperature was warmer. As we were about the leave, the clouds magically parted and we were treated some outstanding views of the entire range. We were significantly harming our chances to get dinner, but spent 30 minutes soaking up the sights anyway.

We worked hard down the trail to make it back to JBL just as they were serving dinner. It was fun describing our outstanding late afternoon views on Marcy, all while listening to all the other guests complain about heading back to the lodge long before the clouds parted. The total hike was a little over 15 miles in an exhausting 10:15. Nineteen (19) High Peaks down; 27 to go.

July 21, 2010 - Big Slide Mountain

Jack and Rich embarked on the annual Johns Brook Lodge trip with a hike to the top of Big Slide via The Brothers. We had been 0-2 as far as summit views went up to that point, and we were hoping that the weather would hold out as we raced the storms up the trail. The going was very slow, since we carried all our gear for a three day stay at the lodge, and the air was quite humid. On the route to the peak, we officially got lost for the first time, as we were following footprints instead of trail markers. Our confusion only lasted about 15 minutes, and after back-tracking about a quarter mile, we were able to pickup the trail again.

Once we got to the summit, we enjoyed the views that had eluded us during our previous hikes. However, the thunder from an approaching storm quickly chased us away, but not before we were able to share some of our sandwich with a chipmunk.

Ponchos were required for the trip down the mountain to JBL, but we made it in plenty of time to unpack and meet some of the other guests before dinner. Jack was excited that we were able to claim our same bunks from the previous Summer. The hike was 6.5 miles with full packs in 5:15. No new peaks (again), but big plans for the next couple of days.