First Adirondack Adventure

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imarchant

Active member
Joined
Mar 29, 2004
Messages
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Location
Hudson Valley Avitar: North Dome
DAY ONE

Our trip began early Monday morning, July 11, 2005. We left the Dunkin
Donut’s parking lot in Red Hook, NY about 6:40 AM. After a 3-hr drive, we
arrived in Newcomb. We went to the Visitors Information Center to pick up
one additional bear canister to make five. We had been planing this trip since
the beginning of the year. This trip was to be a scouting high-adventure trek
into the wilderness of the Adirondacks High Peaks Area, the plan was to
complete the requirements for the B.S.A. 50 miler award. This would be the
first time to this area for all of us. We had experience hiking and camping in
the Catskills, but this was to be adventure of a larger scale than we had done
before, but we had worked hard and were well prepared. The group consisted
of four boys and two adult leaders Tim and his son Brandon, Jimmy, Andy,
myself and my son Mike. We had worked planning and preparing our meals.
Most of the cooked meals we dehydrated and packaged ourselves. We also
had volunteer work planned with the D.E.C. Interior Caretaker to meet the
10-hr. service project requirement of the award. We were finally able to begin
our much-anticipated adventure.

Our first stop was a short visit to explore the old Tahawus Mine blast furnace.
We explored the area for about ½ an hr. We explored inside and outside
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of the furnace. We also found the old water powered air blower for the
furnace. Next we drove to the end of the road and parked. We spent another
½ hr looking at the old ghost town.

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Jimmy spoted a garter snake.

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We ate a quick lunch at the cars and prepared to depart.
We started our hike just before noon.

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Dispite all our planning and preparation our packs were heavier than we
had hoped for, but they were still tolerable. The hike began along a gravel
road, soon crosing the Hudson River just yards from its source of Henderson
Lake. After ½ a mile of hiking the woods opened up into overgrown fiels and
brush. The sun was gaining strength and the humidty was increasing. Soon
we caught our fist views of the High Peaks.


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We could see Mt. Colden about five miles in the distance. The path was
lined with black berry bushes, but unfortunatly the berries looked like they
would not begin to ripen for several weeks. The sun was beating down and
sweat starting streaming down my face, just as I was beginning to resent
the heat the trail renenter the woods. Shortly we came to a well constucted
cable bridge across Calamity Brook.

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After this crossing the trail became a little more rugged. Soon the incline
started to increase as well. After Some time we crossed Calamity Brook
second time.

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We stopped and took our first break to eat some energy bars. From here
on the trail began to increase in ruggedness. Erosion has taken its toll on the
trail, so much soil is missing that large rocks and roots are all that remains.
The slope also was increasing. With the increase in effort required our paced
slowed slightly and frequent drinks were required. We took another break as
we crossed Calamity Brook one more time. We were half way to our
desitination and it was 2:00 PM. We continued on for another hour, stopping
again at Calamity Pond. By now the heat was beginning to increase, but we
were making progress. In about fifeteen minutes we reached Flowed Lands.
Tim had not caught up with us, but we decided to continue and let him catch
up with us later. I signed the register and we continued towards Lake
Colden. I had been warned that this stretch of trail was difficult. The terrain
was definitely more rough, but was not as difficult as I expected. As we
reached the crest of the first climb we met a group of boys from another Boy
Scout Troop. They were from the Buffalo area. This group was one half of
their whole troop. The group was so large that the were required to split into
two groups per the DEC rules. It was obvious that some of the younger
boys were having a difficult time. They deserve credit for doing a trip with an
entire troop instead of just the older boys, even though their plans were not
as rigouros as ours. Before we knew it we had reached Colden dam.


We found a large ground site near the intersection of th trail to Marcy and
end of the Avalanche pass trail. My plan originally was to camp at the beaver
point leanto’s, but we soon found out that these were already occupied.
Tim had still not arrived so we started to set up camp. We returned to the
Dam and left a note for Tim, so he would not miss the unplanned turned. As
it was starting to get late we started to prepare dinner,

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unfortunatly Tim had some of the required items for the dinner. Just as I
was starting to wonder when if we would need to change our plans for dinner
Tim showed up. We continued the dinner preparation and soon ate a filling
and delicious meal of Chicken Cream with Vegitables and Dumplings. The
dinner tasted even better knowing that we had prepared it ourselves. As it
was getting late, we quickly cleaned up.


We then left to meet with the Interior Caretaker to arrange our volunteer
work for the week. We met Nate Jeffries, who was very eager and thankful
for us to do any work. He told us about picking up garbage left behind from
when bears had raided unprepared campers food. He also should us a project
to create tent platforms by filling a a log frame with rocks and sand from a
nearby stream bed. The site that need this work was occupied by the other
half of the scout troop we had met earlier in the day. We had a plesant
conversation with them. Daylight was beginning to wane, so we hurried back
to camp. So we were in our tents and sleeping. I had the best sleep I ever
had on the first night of a campout.


SUMMARY - DAY 1: PACK-IN UPPER WORKS TO COLDEN DAM

DISTANCE: 7.44 MILES
TIME: 06:02 HH:MM
SPEED 1.2 MPH
ASCENT 1,500’
 
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Day 2

We awoke early at 6:00 AM and prepared a breakfast. We ate individually
purchase meals of each person choice. After clean up we started hiking just
minutes later than the planned start time of 7:30 AM. After heading back
along the shores of Lake Colden. Shortly after passing the Interior Outpost
we took the trail toward Algonquin. Very soon the trail began its steep
ascent. The trail parallels a stream for most of the way up. This created
some beautiful scenery.

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The only change from steep is steeper. This trail is very rugged, rocks and
roots are prominent. Footing can be precarious in spots where each step
needed to be calculated. By 9:00 am the heat was already becoming very
noticeable. By 10:00 AM we caught the first glimpse on Mt. Marcy peaking
out from behind Mt. Colden.

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At this point we were well over 4,000 feet. This was the highest elevation I
had ever hiked to. We stopped to refill our water, as we would soon be
above tree line, without a water source for some time. I was surprised about
how fast the terrain changed at tree line. Soon we were plodding up bare
rock with the sun beating down on us. After what seem like an eternity we
reached the peak of Algonquin. Our first Adirondack and 5,000’ peak!

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We were the first to arrive at the peak for the day, around 10:45 AM, besides
the Summit Stewart. He gave us a short talk on the Alpine zone and the
uniqueness and fragility of the flora in these areas.

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Even though the humidity created some haze the views were amazing in all
directions.

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What a great peak to begin on!

After quite a long rest at the summit we started down the north side of
the mountain. We soon began to pass several groups of people making there
way up from the Loj. We made our way down the steep trail to the junction
of the Wright trail. We began our ascent to Wright.

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This trail is typical of a lot of trailS we climbed, up bare rock grades at a
steep pitch. We reached the summit around noon. We spent a half hr. of
eating lunch and looking for evidence of the 1962 bomber crash to no avail.
We started back, retracing our footsteps back towards Algonquin. We passed
many of the same people coming don as we huffed and puffed our way back
up the 1,000’ ascent. Two hrs. Later we reached the summit for the second
time. This time we only took a short break before heading back to the col. At
the col it to some convincing to get the boys to continue over Boundary Peak
to Iroquois, but eventually we started on the trip through the thick tree
branches and mud wallows. It did not take long to reach boundary peak and
not much longer to reach the summit. It had taken about 1 hr. from the
summit of Algonquin.

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We soon heard thunder in the distance and the sky was darkening to the SW.
We decided to leave. We headed back towards camp. The return trip did not
go as quickly as I had hoped. That was probably due to the fatigue after
over 4,500’ of ascent for the day and the steep rocky terrain. In just over
two hrs. we were back in camp, tired but with feelings of great accomplishment.

We ate dinners that had been individually purchased. Everyone was tired, but
we managed a little bit of our service project, scouring the hill just to the
east of our camp for the remains of the bear raids of the previous months,
before it became dark. We prepared a Oreo pie and ate it with much
enjoyment. We enjoyed relaxing and they boys played cards for awhile before
hitting the sack. Another successful day!


SUMMARY - DAY 2: COLDEN DAM, ALGONQUIN, WRIGHT, ALGONQUIN, IROQUOIS, COLDEN DAM

DISTANCE: 10.0 MILES
TIME: 10:37 HH:MM
SPEED 0.95 MPH
ASCENT 4,700’
 
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Day Three

Wednesday was planned as a recovery day. We slept a little later than
the day before. We prepared a breakfast of eggs, mushrooms and sour
cream. Along with trail milkshakes. We headed out for Mt. Colden just after
the planned start time of 8:30 AM. After skirting the east bank of Lake
Colden we came to the trail intersection to Mount Colden. This trail is fairly
steep, but not as steep as the previous day’s ascent. Many sections of this
trail are on bare slabs of rock, where the soil has been worn away. Overall
the footing was much easier to find. We took several short breaks on the
way up to catch our breath. On break was at the 3,500’ mark.

After 2 hrs of hiking we reached the alpine zone. From here on the we
were ascending diagonally across the southwest rock face towards the
summit. We reached the summit around 10:45. We took a nice long break to
enjoy the views at a viewpoint near summit

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and marvel profile our previous days traverse of the McIntyre Range.

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We began our descent rejuvenated. The next mile and a half was the
descent towards Lake Arnold. This seemed easy and was completed in less than an hr. We ate our lunch at Lake Arnold.

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As we ate we wondered why this was considered a lake when it is more
like a pond. From here on we took the Lake Arnold trail towards Avalanche Camp,
this trail descends relatively gradually dropping just over 1,000’ in about 1.5
miles. The trail follows a stream most of the way When we arrived at the
leanto we took a break and refilled our water bottles. We also talked to
several passers-by. As we started again we followed the Avalanche pass trail.
This is a very well constructed trail with lots of manmade stairs, this was an
outdoor version of a Stairmaster

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We reached the top of the pass and marveled at the gigantic pile of
rubble left from the 1999 landslide. Pictures do not capture the size of the
large pile of rubble.

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The trail then descends gently. Soon the trees open and Avalanche Lake
rapidly appeared in front of us. The cliffs and views are awesome.

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From this point on the trail becomes rugged as it traverses the rocky base
of the cliffs. The trail goes up and over many large rocks, with several
ladders and planks to aid the hiker. I was glad we were not carrying packs.
We reached the boardwalks along the section where the cliffs meet the water.

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From the walkway we took in the views of Mount Colden and the Trap Dike

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After we left the lake we came to a trail junction. We followed the trail
along the banks of the lake. We came to the junction we had taken in the
morning. Soon we were back at camp. It had gotten increasingly hot as the
day progressed. We enjoyed a swim in the Opalescent River at the
suspension bridge. The water was cold but very refreshing. It was still early,
but we used the time to relax awhile.

We prepared our dinner. Dinner consisted of homemade Venison Stroganoff. It was a little salty, but delicious and filling. This evening we had
plenty of time to continue our service work. We started by picking up more bear debris behind the Beaver and Cedar Point Lean-tos. We carried the
large bags of garbage back to the outpost. Then we brought buckets and
shovels to the nearby camp to start work on the tent platform. We carried
large rocks from the streambed to the campsite. We enjoyed frequent breaks
talking to the other Boy Scout troop staying at that site. We found out that
they had the breakfast for the next day stolen by bears, but ensured us they
had enough extra food. After we had filled the tent platform frame with large
rocks we returned the tools and headed back to camp. We prepared a
Banana Cream pudding pie and devoured it. Shortly we retired. I had some
difficulty falling asleep. Just as I started to doze off I was woken by the
sound of a branch breaking three feet from my head. I quickly grabbed a
flashlight got out of my tent. Tim had done the same. We soon spotted a
medium sized bear climbing a tree to reach a backpack that had been hung by
another camper. We shouted at the bear, he looked as us and continued to
open the pack until a bag dropped out. He dashed down the tree and into
the nearby brush. We could hear the sounds of the bear opening the food.
Soon the bear was back up the tree. This time we knew our attempts to
chase it off were of no avail. I attempted to take some pictures in the dark.
I went back to bed and fell asleep after the adrenaline rush has subsided.
About 2:30 AM I was awoke by the sound of rain. I arose and checked the
campsite to ensure everything was covered. I then went back to bed.



SUMMARY - DAY 3 COLDEN DAM, MT COLDEN, AVALANCHE PASS, COLDEN DAM

DISTANCE: 9.67 MILES
TIME: 06:31 HH: MM
SPEED 1.48 MPH
ASCENT 2,388’
 
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day four

In the morning it was raining very lightly, but soon stopped. We prepared
scrambled eggs for breakfast. Soon we started out for Mount Marcy. The
trail was the easiest we had taken yet. but there were so very nice scenery along the Opalescent River

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It was a long steady climb. We could hear some thunder to the south. I
kept my eye on the clouds as we traveled.
In a few hours we reached Lake Tear-in-the–Clouds.

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We took a break and ate our energy bars. The plan was to ascend Grey from here, but the boys
had lost interest in this smaller peak and had their minds on Marcy. We
continued and soon reached Four Corners. From here the trail became
steeper and we continued a steady climb. The thunder in the to the south
was becoming a little more frequent, but not coming any closer. The travel
time to tree line went by quickly. Once the open expanse of rock of the
alpine zone was reached it seemed like the paced slowed, it seemed like an
eternity to reach the summit.

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I think part of the reason is without any trees
it is difficult to gauge your progress and also the near 1 mile elevation starts
to take its toll on your respiratory system. I was the last to reach the
summit. There were already quite large quantities of people at the summit.
The views to the west were mostly obscured, to the west the views were
quite good, but that all changed very quickly. Before we could even get fully
rested and eat some lunch a thick fog started to build. Within a mater of
minutes we were socked in and the rain started. Suddenly we heard some
thunder to our west. We made a rapid departure. It took us a little time to
find the trail back down. I can understand how it is possible for someone to
get lost above tree line in the low visibility conditions. We could not see
much more than a few hundred feet.

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It was not long before we reached tree line again. There was still
occasional thunder, but we felt much safer. As we continued the rain started to increase, we donned our rain gear
and continued down. We passed a group making their way up. We wished
them luck and continued down. We reached Four Corners, what had taken
an hour to ascend had taken less than a ½ hr of descent. The rain was still
falling steadily. Our plans had called to attempt a climb of Skylight. The boys
were not interested in continuing in the rain. We headed back towards
camp, by the time we reached Lake Tear in the Clouds the rain had slowed
enough to make it comfortable enough to stop and eat our lunch. After a
while we continued the rain had almost stopped, but the trees and brush
were still wet, so I kept my rain gear on. The trail back down to camp was
covered at a moderately fast pace. We reached camp by mid-afternoon.

we relaxed at camp for a while. We enjoyed feeding the chipmunks at
the camp.

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It was obvious they were accustomed to campers! Then we prepared
dinner a little earlier than usual. This evening we ate home prepared Macaroni
and Venison supper, once again very satisfying. The general consensus was
that the meals we had de-hydrated and prepared ourselves were better than
the commercially freeze-dried variety. We later headed back to the Interior
Outpost to continue our service project. The campsite where we were
working was now empty. We continued by carrying buckets of fist sized
rocks and then gravel to fill the timber frame, completing the tent platform.
We headed back to camp and prepared and enjoyed a chocolate pudding pie
before we turned in for the night.

SUMMARY - DAY 4 COLDEN DAM, MARCY, COLDEN DAM

DISTANCE: 9.27 MILES
TIME: 06:40 HH:MM
SPEED 1.4 MPH
ASCENT 2,577’
 
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Final Day

Friday morning we rose early to squeeze in one final hike. We headed
back around Lake Colden. This time we headed up cold brook pass. This trail
parrallels the trail we had taken up Algonquin on or first day, though it is not
quite as steep. Our primary goal was to find the plane crash at the col. As
we neared the col the slope decreased. We crossed a swampy area with
planks in place. Then the trail became more rocky for a few hundred feet.
We came to a large rock in the middle of the trail about 50 feet past that
rock there was another large rock, about 10 feet tall, to the left of the trail.
The plane crash

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was found several yards in the woods behind the rock. I had hopped to
ascend Marshall from this col, but once again the boys had no interest in
bushwhacking and it was a little later than I had hoped, so we headed back
to camp. Once we reached camp we packed up our tents and gear. We
headed out at noon. I could not believe the time we made on the trip out.
We covered the six-mile distance in three hours. We relaxed for a while at
the cars. I took a quick swim in the Hudson River and changed into a set of
clean clothes. We drove back into Newcomb to return the bear canister. We
stopped for ice cream in town, then headed towards Lake George. When we
reached Lake George we stopped for pizza. We were all tired and took our
time eating and relaxing. We then headed for home, stopping once again in
Albany. We reached home around 10:00PM. It was good to be back home.
This ended a wonderful first trip to the Adirondacks. It definitely won’t be the
last!


entire picture album

SUMMARY - DAY 5 COLDEN DAM, MARSHALL PLANE CRASH, COLDEN DAM, UPPER WORKS

DISTANCE: 9.52 MILES
TIME: 06:09 HH:MM
SPEED 1.55 MPH
ASCENT 1,100’

TRIP SUMMARY - HIKES ONLY TOTALS

DISTANCE: 45.9 MILES
TIME: 35:59 HH:MM
SPEED 1.275 MPH
ASCENT 12,265’

SERVICE PROJECT ESTIMATED MILEAGE: 4.75
 
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Excellent trip report, I especially like the addition of the photos. As a scout leader myself, this type of endeavor can be tough but worth every minute. Getting these guys (and you) their 50 miler award is an awesome achievement.

Tony
 
Nice trip report it is obvious you had a great time. Hurry back as your efforts to improve the area are very welcome. Thank you for cleaning the trash left behind by the thoughtless. Yes it was mentioned their food was ripped off by Yogi and the gang but they should have picked up the remains. Another thank you for contibuting by building a tent platform. I am sure many will enjoy it.
 
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