Adirondacks (Sep 28 - Oct 2, 2019)
Oct 4, 2019 7:57:31 GMT -8
tigger, rebeccad, and 4 more like this
Post by GaliWalker on Oct 4, 2019 7:57:31 GMT -8
Adirondacks (Sep 28 - Oct 2, 2019)
The Adirondacks, in Upstate New York, are my favorite hiking destination on the east coast. Sparkling lakes nestle amidst the folds of a blanket of peaks. The views from the tops are sublime, although getting to experience them requires a bit of work, since the terrain is steep and rugged. The end of September through mid-October usually coincides with peak fall foliage; a riot of colors marches up and down the mountain slopes, enchanting one and all.
Sep 28: Arrival, Cascade Lakes; Split Rock Falls; Connery Pond
After leaving Pittsburgh around 3:00am I made the painstakingly long drive to upstate New York, to arrive in the pretty town of Lake Placid a little after noon. I checked into my motel, and home for the next four nights, and took stock. I didn't want to do anything too strenuous on this arrival day, wanting to conserve my strength for the days to come.
Even though the cloud deck was low and there was no prospect of views I decided to check out Connery Pond first, which has a great view of Whiteface Mountain. As expected, Whiteface Mountain was a no-show, but it was still cool to soak in the serenity.
For me an overcast day usually means finding a waterfall to photograph. I decided to head over to Split Rock Falls. On the drive I stopped by Upper and Lower Cascade Lakes, which lay right beside the road.
After my photography stop at Cascade Lakes I continued onwards to the trailhead for Split Rock Falls. The waterfall was quite beautiful: a double drop into a large splash pool, and then a third drop down into an even larger pool.
GaliWalker at Split Rock Falls (selfie)
Sep 29: Avalanche Lake - Lake Colden - Algonquin Peak loop; Connery Pond
A couple of years ago I had hiked up Mount Colden via Avalanche Pass and gazed upon Algonquin Peak, across the valley and just a stone's throw away. On this trip Algonquin was my number one destination, so I decided to tackle it first. I arrived at the Adirondack Loj's extensive parking lot a little before 6:00am. Even though it was pitch dark, with sunrise about 50min away, the parking lot was already more than half-full! Even though I was anticipating the crowds on this weekend day I didn't think it would get this bad this early. The only saving grace was that numerous hiking destinations are accessed by the Adirondack Loj, including New York's highest point in Mount Marcy which I wasn't hiking to, so I would hopefully soon get a reprieve.
The first 2.2mi to the site of the Marcy Dam was on a nice, gently undulating trail, so I made quick progress. The super popular trail to Mount Marcy forked off from here, taking most of the crowds with it. That was the plus. The minus was that this was the end of easy hiking. A rocky, muddy, sometimes root strewn trail took me up and over the claustrophobic primordial gorge of Avalanche Pass and then slightly down to the shores of Avalanche Lake.
Site of Marcy Dam
Avalanche Lake lies nestled in a narrow cleft, walled by the cliffs of Avalanche Mountain to the right and Mount Colden to the left. The walls disappeared into thick mist, which formed a low ceiling not too far above me. For a while I was alone in this soundless chamber, so I relaxed and let the peace and quiet wash over me.
I tediously worked my way around the lake on extremely rugged terrain: ladders, huge boulders to scramble up and over, and finally the colorfully named "Hitch-up Matildas". The latter was a sequence of boardwalk bolted into the vertical cliff face of Avalanche Mountain.
Hitch-up Matildas
After crossing Avalanche Lake's outlet stream, I continued up the valley. The much larger Lake Colden lay within this valley, but for a while I only got peak-a-boo views of it through the trees, as I navigated its eastern shore. My aim was to walk almost all the way around the lake before leaving it for the climb up Algonquin Peak, which lay on the western shore. It was extremely slow going along the rugged trail. About halfway across, I began to get better views of the lake. The mist had finally begun to clear away, with blue skies making an appearance and Algonquin Peak now visible on the far side of the lake.
Eventually, I reached the far end of Lake Colden and my loop hike. Avalanche Mountain and Mount Colden basked in sunshine on the far side the lake. On slightly easier terrain, I continued to hike around the lake, now heading along its western shore. Nearly all the way around, I finally left the lake shore for the trail up to the saddle between Algonquin and Iroquois Peak.
There was no messing around now. Approximately 1900ft of elevation were to be gained in 1.7mi of extremely rugged hiking; a boulder strewn mess of a trail, interspersed with rock corridors, called slides, where the topsoil had eroded off the bedrock, the occasional scramble up some particularly steep part, and almost entirely in the woods, so without much in the way of views to raise one's spirits. And then…I reached the notch between Iroquois and Algonquin and broke out into the open. A magnificent garden of rock, painted with swatches of golden alpine sedge grasses and krummholz, rose like a magic carpet on either side of me; to the left was Iroquois, New York's eight highest peak, and to the right was Algonquin, New York's second highest spot. I took a right and floated up to the summit, not even noticing the 0.4mi and 400+ft of elevation gain.
The views from the summit were amazing, and possibly my favorite, as of today, in the Adirondacks. Iroquois Peak to the south, Lake Colden and the Flowed Lands to the southeast, Mounts Colden and Marcy to the east, Wright Peak with a sea of peaks behind it to the north, and the impressive cliff face of Wallface Mountain to the west...360° of mountain goodness.
Lake Colden (left) and the Flowed Lands (right)
GaliWalker on Algonquin (selfie)
The Flowed Lands
Mount Colden with slides, with Mount Marcy behind
GaliWalker looking at Iroquois Peak (selfie)
For my return, I took the standard northern trail back down to Adirondack Loj. I'd initially meant to do a quick side trip up and down Wright Mountain (0.8mi/400ft of elevation gain), but with the longer than expected time it had taken me to this point, as well as the state of my legs, I decided to skip that.
Round-trip stats: 12.6mi, 3500ft elevation gain, 11hrs
I ended the day with a second trip to Connery Pond. This time around, Whiteface Mountain was visible and the evening lightshow was spectacular.
The Adirondacks, in Upstate New York, are my favorite hiking destination on the east coast. Sparkling lakes nestle amidst the folds of a blanket of peaks. The views from the tops are sublime, although getting to experience them requires a bit of work, since the terrain is steep and rugged. The end of September through mid-October usually coincides with peak fall foliage; a riot of colors marches up and down the mountain slopes, enchanting one and all.
Sep 28: Arrival, Cascade Lakes; Split Rock Falls; Connery Pond
After leaving Pittsburgh around 3:00am I made the painstakingly long drive to upstate New York, to arrive in the pretty town of Lake Placid a little after noon. I checked into my motel, and home for the next four nights, and took stock. I didn't want to do anything too strenuous on this arrival day, wanting to conserve my strength for the days to come.
Even though the cloud deck was low and there was no prospect of views I decided to check out Connery Pond first, which has a great view of Whiteface Mountain. As expected, Whiteface Mountain was a no-show, but it was still cool to soak in the serenity.
For me an overcast day usually means finding a waterfall to photograph. I decided to head over to Split Rock Falls. On the drive I stopped by Upper and Lower Cascade Lakes, which lay right beside the road.
After my photography stop at Cascade Lakes I continued onwards to the trailhead for Split Rock Falls. The waterfall was quite beautiful: a double drop into a large splash pool, and then a third drop down into an even larger pool.
GaliWalker at Split Rock Falls (selfie)
Sep 29: Avalanche Lake - Lake Colden - Algonquin Peak loop; Connery Pond
A couple of years ago I had hiked up Mount Colden via Avalanche Pass and gazed upon Algonquin Peak, across the valley and just a stone's throw away. On this trip Algonquin was my number one destination, so I decided to tackle it first. I arrived at the Adirondack Loj's extensive parking lot a little before 6:00am. Even though it was pitch dark, with sunrise about 50min away, the parking lot was already more than half-full! Even though I was anticipating the crowds on this weekend day I didn't think it would get this bad this early. The only saving grace was that numerous hiking destinations are accessed by the Adirondack Loj, including New York's highest point in Mount Marcy which I wasn't hiking to, so I would hopefully soon get a reprieve.
The first 2.2mi to the site of the Marcy Dam was on a nice, gently undulating trail, so I made quick progress. The super popular trail to Mount Marcy forked off from here, taking most of the crowds with it. That was the plus. The minus was that this was the end of easy hiking. A rocky, muddy, sometimes root strewn trail took me up and over the claustrophobic primordial gorge of Avalanche Pass and then slightly down to the shores of Avalanche Lake.
Site of Marcy Dam
Avalanche Lake lies nestled in a narrow cleft, walled by the cliffs of Avalanche Mountain to the right and Mount Colden to the left. The walls disappeared into thick mist, which formed a low ceiling not too far above me. For a while I was alone in this soundless chamber, so I relaxed and let the peace and quiet wash over me.
I tediously worked my way around the lake on extremely rugged terrain: ladders, huge boulders to scramble up and over, and finally the colorfully named "Hitch-up Matildas". The latter was a sequence of boardwalk bolted into the vertical cliff face of Avalanche Mountain.
Hitch-up Matildas
After crossing Avalanche Lake's outlet stream, I continued up the valley. The much larger Lake Colden lay within this valley, but for a while I only got peak-a-boo views of it through the trees, as I navigated its eastern shore. My aim was to walk almost all the way around the lake before leaving it for the climb up Algonquin Peak, which lay on the western shore. It was extremely slow going along the rugged trail. About halfway across, I began to get better views of the lake. The mist had finally begun to clear away, with blue skies making an appearance and Algonquin Peak now visible on the far side of the lake.
Eventually, I reached the far end of Lake Colden and my loop hike. Avalanche Mountain and Mount Colden basked in sunshine on the far side the lake. On slightly easier terrain, I continued to hike around the lake, now heading along its western shore. Nearly all the way around, I finally left the lake shore for the trail up to the saddle between Algonquin and Iroquois Peak.
There was no messing around now. Approximately 1900ft of elevation were to be gained in 1.7mi of extremely rugged hiking; a boulder strewn mess of a trail, interspersed with rock corridors, called slides, where the topsoil had eroded off the bedrock, the occasional scramble up some particularly steep part, and almost entirely in the woods, so without much in the way of views to raise one's spirits. And then…I reached the notch between Iroquois and Algonquin and broke out into the open. A magnificent garden of rock, painted with swatches of golden alpine sedge grasses and krummholz, rose like a magic carpet on either side of me; to the left was Iroquois, New York's eight highest peak, and to the right was Algonquin, New York's second highest spot. I took a right and floated up to the summit, not even noticing the 0.4mi and 400+ft of elevation gain.
The views from the summit were amazing, and possibly my favorite, as of today, in the Adirondacks. Iroquois Peak to the south, Lake Colden and the Flowed Lands to the southeast, Mounts Colden and Marcy to the east, Wright Peak with a sea of peaks behind it to the north, and the impressive cliff face of Wallface Mountain to the west...360° of mountain goodness.
Lake Colden (left) and the Flowed Lands (right)
GaliWalker on Algonquin (selfie)
The Flowed Lands
Mount Colden with slides, with Mount Marcy behind
GaliWalker looking at Iroquois Peak (selfie)
For my return, I took the standard northern trail back down to Adirondack Loj. I'd initially meant to do a quick side trip up and down Wright Mountain (0.8mi/400ft of elevation gain), but with the longer than expected time it had taken me to this point, as well as the state of my legs, I decided to skip that.
Round-trip stats: 12.6mi, 3500ft elevation gain, 11hrs
I ended the day with a second trip to Connery Pond. This time around, Whiteface Mountain was visible and the evening lightshow was spectacular.
