timmus
Well-known member
Memorial week-end is never a good time to go up on Marcy, that, I knew. I decided to go anyway, and I thought the uncertain weather would discourage the crowds. I left South Meadows at 7:00am, with at least 5000 black flies around my head, but not a single human. The climb up went pretty fast, so I took time to check on Indian Falls. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see for more than 10 feet ahead of me because it was too foggy. The Van Ho Tr is in very good shape, thanks to trailcrew. Very wet though.
Up Marcy, still foggy. Down to Lake Tear of the Clouds : foggy. Gray ? You guess right. But I enjoyed Gray’s summit a lot, I took time to stare at the summit sign (there was nothing else to look at). I felt good mostly because I was alone, on a ‘‘remote’’ trailless summit. Did I mention how happy I was to be by myself today ? All winter I had to hike with people because it’s safer, but truly, there’s nothing like solo hiking.
I bang my head twice on stupid blowdowns coming down Gray. The herd path needs a little clean-up, but in my opinion herd paths shouldn’t be too maintained. I had fun doing the (very little) routefinding, and clearing the path would take away the satisfaction of finding the summit.
Back to Four Corners. I kept Skylight for the last because the sky was supposed to clear up. It was now 1:30pm and I was still in the fog. I went up Skylight with angry face (I was really pissed off, I mean, summiting Skylight without views ??!!) I stayed there for at least 45 minutes, and lucky me, the sun pierced briefly through the fog… And finally, I saw. I saw Haystack, Panther Gorge…Redfield and Cliff…the MacIntyres…Marcy ? Still in the fog.
I didn’t know at that point if I would come back by Lake Arnold or over Marcy again. I wanted to avoid the crowds, but I didn’t know how the crossings would be. And what if the trail is really bad and it takes me 6 hours to get back to South Meadows ? I chose Marcy, and maybe the summit will be out of the clouds. It wasn’t too bad going up, but the last 200 feet were hard on the legs. Once there, I couldn’t see crap. Well, I’ll come back another time.
At 4:00pm, I was ready to run down the hill. Well, walking really fast. That trail is so easy to travel, it’s like driving on the highway : Cruise Control. So at 6:00 I was at Marcy Dam, and I met again with the balck flies on the way to South Meadows. It was a great hike, despite the fact that I have been surrounded by some white thick and cold stuff all the time (clouds, not snow).
Oh, I forgot to mention that there is still snow around Four Corners, sometimes 2 feet deep. Mostly on the Skylight Trail. But the Memorial week-end traffic will probably turn it into some slushy stuff.
Up Marcy, still foggy. Down to Lake Tear of the Clouds : foggy. Gray ? You guess right. But I enjoyed Gray’s summit a lot, I took time to stare at the summit sign (there was nothing else to look at). I felt good mostly because I was alone, on a ‘‘remote’’ trailless summit. Did I mention how happy I was to be by myself today ? All winter I had to hike with people because it’s safer, but truly, there’s nothing like solo hiking.
I bang my head twice on stupid blowdowns coming down Gray. The herd path needs a little clean-up, but in my opinion herd paths shouldn’t be too maintained. I had fun doing the (very little) routefinding, and clearing the path would take away the satisfaction of finding the summit.
Back to Four Corners. I kept Skylight for the last because the sky was supposed to clear up. It was now 1:30pm and I was still in the fog. I went up Skylight with angry face (I was really pissed off, I mean, summiting Skylight without views ??!!) I stayed there for at least 45 minutes, and lucky me, the sun pierced briefly through the fog… And finally, I saw. I saw Haystack, Panther Gorge…Redfield and Cliff…the MacIntyres…Marcy ? Still in the fog.
I didn’t know at that point if I would come back by Lake Arnold or over Marcy again. I wanted to avoid the crowds, but I didn’t know how the crossings would be. And what if the trail is really bad and it takes me 6 hours to get back to South Meadows ? I chose Marcy, and maybe the summit will be out of the clouds. It wasn’t too bad going up, but the last 200 feet were hard on the legs. Once there, I couldn’t see crap. Well, I’ll come back another time.
At 4:00pm, I was ready to run down the hill. Well, walking really fast. That trail is so easy to travel, it’s like driving on the highway : Cruise Control. So at 6:00 I was at Marcy Dam, and I met again with the balck flies on the way to South Meadows. It was a great hike, despite the fact that I have been surrounded by some white thick and cold stuff all the time (clouds, not snow).
Oh, I forgot to mention that there is still snow around Four Corners, sometimes 2 feet deep. Mostly on the Skylight Trail. But the Memorial week-end traffic will probably turn it into some slushy stuff.
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We left for Skylight shortly thereafter. Definately go back to Skylight, you will not regret it.
