Climbing Mt. Marcy in the winter Questions

[EarthNsky]

I plan on climbing MT. Marcy next weekend and I am looking for the best way to do it. Everyone in my group is a strong hiker nad we will all be well geared for this trip. I think my group will be small with 4 people. We're starting at the Loj and we plan on camping at the Feldspar Leanto. I took off of work Friday for this trip, however, I am not yet sure everyone in the group will be able to get off friday. So we may need to do this as a two day one nighter. We could go to Feldspar via Avalanche Pass and drop packs at Feldspar and go up Marcy that way, but that will mean about 12-13 miles of hiking in limited daylight. The other idea is to take the Hovenberg trail up and over Phelps and then to Marcy and then down to Fledspar. The latter though would mean taking full packs up and over Marcy but shorter mileage at 10 miles. Which is the better option?

 

[oldfogie]

If you are all strong hikers, you can easily do this in one day. Just start out in the dark. You may return in the dark, but most of the climbing will be in daylight. I've done this solo in heavy snow in one day and I'm not an extreme climber by any means. You have the wonderful advantage of there being little or no snow as of now. This is rare for this time of year. Go for it. Take crampons and poles.

--Joe 3102w

 

[oldfogie]

One more thing ... if you do this as a dayhike, you won't need full packs of course and you can take either of the traditional routes. Personally I like the one from the Garden the best. It's the least used for one thing and affords views of the great range enroute. The Marcy Dam route has only one cool view enroute (Indian Falls) and the route from Upper Works has views only above Lake Colden on. Have your strongest hiker take along a 3-man tent, stove and one bag just in case. My $.02 anyway.

 

[daxegraphix]

Marcy

I would echo the other old guy's comments. The Van Hoevenberg trail is an easy 8 hour round trip. Definitely bring the crampons. A lot of people camp at the Dam and day hike from there. If you go up, for example, on Fri. night, you can hike into the dam, camp there and head up the hill early on Sat. am.
This time of year you'll be hiking in the dark--which is really no big deal with adequate headlampage, trail finding, and careful steps. The dark parts would be out to the Dam--an easy level trail, and the latter part of your return to the Dam on Sat. That last part is a little rocky and there's a water crossing but if you're experienced hikers with the right equipment it should not be a big problem. (Disclaimer: If you've never hiked at night and you don't have bright headlamps and extra batteries and you are unsure of the trail--this probably isn't a great solution to your problem).

 

[percious]

Just a thought

Marcy right now doesnt count as a winter peak. So if you are doing it for W46 you mind as well wait till after Dec 21st. Instead, you may consider taking a less daunting day-hike of Algonquin, or Giant. Just a thought. I'll be heading up tabletop on saturday as a day-hike, maybe we will bump into each other.

-percious

 

[jfb]

I did a similar trip on the first weekend of December a few years ago. We hiked from the Loj to a leanto at the south end of Avalanche Pass on a Friday afternoon. On Saturday, we hiked up to Feldspar Leanto and dropped our packs, then went up and down Marcy returning at about dusk. On Sunday we hiked around the east side of Colden and returned to the Loj by noontime.

I think you can do that route as a two-day trip if you plan on hiking through the pass to Feldspar Leanto on Saturday, then either go up and down Marcy on Sunday morning and return to the leanto to get your packs OR carry full packs over Marcy and down the Van Hoevenberg trail.