Cliff and Redfield? And Marshall?

[spotter]

Not sure what the current status of the paths to these two "trailless" peaks is? Who can enlighten me? Hiked past where they start last week en route to Skylight. Saw two cairns along the right side of the trail as I was inbound. Which would I have come to first, Cliff path or Redfield?

Also saw a cairn on the left (inbound) a bit earlier. I assume this is the newly designated path to Marshall?

Anyone ever hiked all three as a day hike from Upper Works? Or would I be insane to try it? (I did Skylight and Gray this way last week: 22 miles. OUCH!)

 

[albee]

It's absolutely possible. I did them about 3 weeks ago. Marshall takes less than an hour to get up and the trail was easy to follow. Same with Redfield. Cliff took me a little less than 45 minutes to climb. It is possible to do all 3 in a day but you'd better be strong. I would say it is 15 to 20% more difficult to do these 3 peaks in a day from UW than your trip to Skylight and Gray. I'd guess 27 miles total... (?)

As for your other question about which herd path would come first - if you can't look at a map and figure that one out, you probably shouldn't be going up there without someone that knows what they're doing. Last time I checked, there weren't any places where the herdpaths would cross over each other and then go to different mountains. (Unless Pete Hickey is building overpasses and secret tunnels in his spare time!) Heck, if you need them both and you still can't figure it out - go follow the trail and see where it comes out - and then go follow the trail to the other peak afterwards!

I'd recommend doing the Cliff/Redfield combo first, and seeing if you have the energy to do Marshall on your way back. And maybe check out a website like Adirondackjourney.com

 

[Rejean]

[
Anyone ever hiked all three as a day hike from Upper Works? Or would I be insane to try it? (I did Skylight and Gray this way last week: 22 miles. OUCH!)[/QUOTE]

I hike both of them in a day from UW in winter, but we had a good
snowshoes track from Pin Pin and Jeff. And we sleep at Beaver Lean-tos.
Couple of week ago Pin Pin done Colden-Cliff-Redfield-Gray-Marcy and
Marshall in a day from Adk loj in 11 hours. So it is possible to do
Cliff-redfield-marshall in a day if you start early or if you are a bit crazy
like I am about very long hike.

 

[1ADAM12]

Before you get to Lake Colden there will be a small bridge crossing Herbert Brook. Just after the bridge is the herdpath to Marshall. (Small log bridge with one railing)

When you approach uphill Lean-to where you saw the cairns on the right are the herdpaths to Cliff and Redfield. The first one is Cliff and the 2nd one is Redfield. Also, if you start out at Redfield you can also pick up the Cliff Herdpath from here. This way you avoid a very swampy section that you will hit from the first set of cairns.

I agree with Albee! Get your topo map out and study it

 

[five_head]

Before you get to Lake Colden there will be a small bridge crossing Herbert Brook. Just after the bridge is the herdpath to Marshall. (Small log bridge with one railing)

When you approach uphill Lean-to where you saw the cairns on the right are the herdpaths to Cliff and Redfield. The first one is Cliff and the 2nd one is Redfield. Also, if you start out at Redfield you can also pick up the Cliff Herdpath from here. This way you avoid a very swampy section that you will hit from the first set of cairns.

I agree with Albee! Get your topo map out and study it

1ADAM12 has it right on.
The Marshall herd path is at Herbert Brook between Flowed Lands and Lake Colden dam.
The second cairn at Uphill lean-to is the start of the Redfield path and can be used for both Redfield and Cliff. For Cliff, follow the Redfield path for about 5 minutes or so. Shortly after passing a large boulder look for a small cairn marking a path to the right for Cliff. The early part of the Cliff herd path from here was very muddy in early July. The upper portions of Cliff have been cleared nicely though. It was much better last month that it was 3 years ago when I was last up there.