Npage148
New member
Date(s) Hiked: October 1 and second
Trails(s) Hiked: Adk loj to through Avalanache lake to Lake
Colen. Mt colden from Lake Colden and over to Lake Arnold. South to
the Feldspar camp. Feldspar to the 4 corners and Macy and Skylight.
Feldspar south to Lake Colden, Up and over Algonquin and out. Iroquios
peak Too
Total Distance: 25 total, 15 on day 1 and 10 on day 2
Difficulty: hard? Not really sure
Conditions: Muddy and hot
Special Required Equipment: Extra socks, gore-tex boots and some
thick skin
Trip Report:
Day: 0
I got home (saratoga) from buffalo about around 4 o'clock and spent the time packing and getting ready. I drug out the only tent my family has. A 3 person coleman. It was way heavier and bigger than I remeber but I would deal. Got my pack packed, it was pretty heavy due to the tent and bear can, so i was scared to weigh it. Spent about 4 hours listening to various family members trying to talk me out of going and calling me foolish. I get called foolish all the time for just about everything I do (Triathlons, marathons, snowboarding). I am pretty good at shrugging it off. Its strange, my dad and stepmom were drama llamas and fretted about the whole thing and my mom and stepdad are
very supportive and wanted me to be safe. Both families worried but it's very different types of worring. They both had route maps so they knew where they could find my body. I went to bed
Day 1:
I got up and left the house by 4:30 and it was pretty chilly out. I stopped at a truck stop to get gas and a breakfast sandwich to go (it was the only place open at 5am). Kept driving and got to the loj at about 6:45 paid my parking and started hiking at 7. The trail back to marcy dam was suprissing nice and well kept and i was moving pretty good. There was only like 5 people up around around at the time Ipassed. I was pretty impressed with avalanche lake and pass. The shear walls were so tall adn the sun cast some crazy shadows. I found the trail way less rough than the trail book stated but I enjoyed the
ladder's assistance. I couldn't imagine wading thought the water if the Hitch up's were not there. I finally got back to lake colden DEC outpost at around 9:30 and filled out a trip tic that i never got at the trailhead. The ranger was nice and made sure I had my bear can. He said there was only 3 bears in teh area so it should not be too much of a problem. I continued to walk around the northend of the lake, over the dam and headed south to the Mt colden trailhead.
Mt. Colden: The trail started steep and pretty much stayed that way the whole time. It was pretty and some of the big open faces where impressive and a little unnerving to walk up with a Full pack. The hike wasn't too long and some of the views from the open faces were nice. I get above tree line and end up at the balancing rock. I was expecting some nice quiet time seeing how it was only like 11am but there was a group of 5 teenagers running around and being rather obnoxius. One was yelling to his mom over a cell phone and one was bragging about peeing off the cliff. It was less than peaceful so i kept walking. I round the small bend at the top and was met by a guy who asked if i had pizza in my pack (which I did, for lunch). So, I said sure, maybe he wanted some pizza and im more than willing to share. He repsonded, doesn't surprise me with the size of your pack. Then he chastised me about it weighing 100 pounds. I was less than thrilled by this and walked passed him and his buddies and continued to desend the trail to lake arnold and stopped a few hundred feet down and ate lunch on a rock tucked back into the trees. After lunch I went down the trail, there was some mud but nothing too bad. Saw and increasing number of people, most of the french canadian and some of them friendly. The north bald dome of colden was rather unquie and i took some nice pictures. I got down to lake arnold (more like a pond) and talk to a nice group of college kids for a few minutes.
Lake arnold to camp: The trail from lake arnold to feldspar was less than steller. It can be described as a unkempt mudhole. The trail was rather rough and super slow gowing. It seemed like this flat trail was so much slower hiking up Colden. Nothing much happend. Fell off the bridges a few time and got wet and muddy. Finally i got to the bridge to cross the stream to get to the feldspar lean to and to my dismay, it was occupied by some rather unfriendly people. So, i found a tent spot and set up over large and heavy tent. It felt great to get the pack off after 10 miles of hiking. I got here at about 1pm. I ate some snacks and got my site situated.
Mt marcy/skylight: At about 2pm, i made up a daypack and made my way to the 4 corners. This trail was a little less muddy than the last and there was alot of people coming down it. Hiking without the full pack made me feel like i was flying Stopped at Lake Tear to talk to some folks and enjoy the top of the hudson River. At the 4 corners, i decided to check out skylight first. The trail up was the quickest half mile of my like and the top was amazing. The view was great, especially the point blank view of marcy. There was maybe 3 people at the top and i relaxed up there for a few minutes taking in the view before i headed down and up the last 0.8 miles to marcy. The peak was way less crowded than i imagined. It was a little chilly compared to the heat down in the woods, but nothing a fleece could'nt handle. I layed around the top for about 30 minutes and just took in the view from the top. I booked down the decent and got back to my camp at around 5pm. I boiled some water for dinner and coffee and ate my dinner and cleaned up. My mountain gourmet cajun chicken was rahter good and filling. I was sleeping before 730 and woke up a few times to put some more warm clothes on. The weather report predicted mid 40's but the low hit 35 and it was pretty chilly but nothing too bad.
Day 2: The next morning i woke up at 630 but i layed in the tent untill 730 hoping it would warm up a little bit, but never did. So I reluctantly got up and made a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, packed up and was hiking by 830. THe trail from camp south back to Lake Colden was the worse trail ever. It was nothing my mud and jumbled rocks. It was not a pleasent day to start my morning and i was rather annoyed by the time i reached lake. I was not too sore or tired from the day before but i was moving a little slower. In that 2 mile trail, i managed to fall a good 5 times and always into the mud. I decieded that I am a rather clumsy person. I walk south and cross lake colden dam again head north to Algonquin peak trailhead. I read this trail was one of the steepest contiunous trails in the area and i guess it wasn't lying. The this was relentless. With the pack, it was the hardest climb i have ever done. The workout was well worth it. The trail up gave some great views and walking up the rock slides next to the flowing stream was super cool. I passed 1 women flying down the trail. She was moving and assured me taht i was close to the treeline. A few hundred yards up the trail, i passed 2 guys that were having a lot of trouble adn moving rather slow. I sat and talked to them for a few minutes and he asked for some water. He was low and i had 2 liters so i gave him some, but he did not enjoy the iodine taste (I use the iodine tablets to clean my water casue i cant afford a pump yet). THey rested and i went on. Not more than 50 yeards past them, i broke out of the trees. I saw the side trail for iroquios, so i dropped my pack and made a day pack for the short out and back to the peak. Crossing over boundry and over to iroquios was a fun little side trip and there was litttle scrambling to do. I was glad i left the pack at the trail head. I got to the peak and ate a small snack. The view of algonquin, colden and walface was very impressive. Soon i headed back and made it to algonquin peak. I was the 49th person up there (according to the ranger) at about 12ish, so it wasnt too crowded. This was definatally the biggest crowd of my weekend. After some more hanging around, it was time to head down. For some reason, my body stiffened up while up there and my ankles were screaming the whole 4 miles down. It was this reason, i decided to skip Wright peak and just work on getting down without hurting myself. My worst fall happened on the way down, on a big sloping rock, my feet slipped out and i fell my butt and slid down and piled at the bottom. It didnt hurt but was a little scary. I really liked the big waterfall on teh way down. I finally got down and out of the woods at around 315. I gingerly walked to my car, drive home and showered.
Conclusion: Hiking alone is great and it was very relaxing and not scary at all. The trails were less crowded than I expected, but some were overly muddy and rough. I soaked my boots and hiked with wet feet most of both days. Like anywhere, some people are nice, some are indefferent and some are outright rude. One this that suprised me was how canadians outnumbered new yorkers and many of the canadian girls are rather attractive :wink: I am definately upgrading my hiking boots to something with more support and water proofness and getting a new backpacking tent. Besides that it was great. It helped me relieve alot of stress ive been dealing with involving college, money and internal issues ( I still need to work these out). Here are the pictures linky. Trailboss, your suggesting for a camera bag was great. I got the one you suggested and it was perfect.
PS: Sorry it took so long to get it posted and please excuse the gramatical errors. I will edit it when i get the chance. I'll probably add more as I think of it too
thanks for reading and all the adivce you guys have given me
NATE
Trails(s) Hiked: Adk loj to through Avalanache lake to Lake
Colen. Mt colden from Lake Colden and over to Lake Arnold. South to
the Feldspar camp. Feldspar to the 4 corners and Macy and Skylight.
Feldspar south to Lake Colden, Up and over Algonquin and out. Iroquios
peak Too
Total Distance: 25 total, 15 on day 1 and 10 on day 2
Difficulty: hard? Not really sure
Conditions: Muddy and hot
Special Required Equipment: Extra socks, gore-tex boots and some
thick skin
Trip Report:
Day: 0
I got home (saratoga) from buffalo about around 4 o'clock and spent the time packing and getting ready. I drug out the only tent my family has. A 3 person coleman. It was way heavier and bigger than I remeber but I would deal. Got my pack packed, it was pretty heavy due to the tent and bear can, so i was scared to weigh it. Spent about 4 hours listening to various family members trying to talk me out of going and calling me foolish. I get called foolish all the time for just about everything I do (Triathlons, marathons, snowboarding). I am pretty good at shrugging it off. Its strange, my dad and stepmom were drama llamas and fretted about the whole thing and my mom and stepdad are
very supportive and wanted me to be safe. Both families worried but it's very different types of worring. They both had route maps so they knew where they could find my body. I went to bed
Day 1:
I got up and left the house by 4:30 and it was pretty chilly out. I stopped at a truck stop to get gas and a breakfast sandwich to go (it was the only place open at 5am). Kept driving and got to the loj at about 6:45 paid my parking and started hiking at 7. The trail back to marcy dam was suprissing nice and well kept and i was moving pretty good. There was only like 5 people up around around at the time Ipassed. I was pretty impressed with avalanche lake and pass. The shear walls were so tall adn the sun cast some crazy shadows. I found the trail way less rough than the trail book stated but I enjoyed the
ladder's assistance. I couldn't imagine wading thought the water if the Hitch up's were not there. I finally got back to lake colden DEC outpost at around 9:30 and filled out a trip tic that i never got at the trailhead. The ranger was nice and made sure I had my bear can. He said there was only 3 bears in teh area so it should not be too much of a problem. I continued to walk around the northend of the lake, over the dam and headed south to the Mt colden trailhead.
Mt. Colden: The trail started steep and pretty much stayed that way the whole time. It was pretty and some of the big open faces where impressive and a little unnerving to walk up with a Full pack. The hike wasn't too long and some of the views from the open faces were nice. I get above tree line and end up at the balancing rock. I was expecting some nice quiet time seeing how it was only like 11am but there was a group of 5 teenagers running around and being rather obnoxius. One was yelling to his mom over a cell phone and one was bragging about peeing off the cliff. It was less than peaceful so i kept walking. I round the small bend at the top and was met by a guy who asked if i had pizza in my pack (which I did, for lunch). So, I said sure, maybe he wanted some pizza and im more than willing to share. He repsonded, doesn't surprise me with the size of your pack. Then he chastised me about it weighing 100 pounds. I was less than thrilled by this and walked passed him and his buddies and continued to desend the trail to lake arnold and stopped a few hundred feet down and ate lunch on a rock tucked back into the trees. After lunch I went down the trail, there was some mud but nothing too bad. Saw and increasing number of people, most of the french canadian and some of them friendly. The north bald dome of colden was rather unquie and i took some nice pictures. I got down to lake arnold (more like a pond) and talk to a nice group of college kids for a few minutes.
Lake arnold to camp: The trail from lake arnold to feldspar was less than steller. It can be described as a unkempt mudhole. The trail was rather rough and super slow gowing. It seemed like this flat trail was so much slower hiking up Colden. Nothing much happend. Fell off the bridges a few time and got wet and muddy. Finally i got to the bridge to cross the stream to get to the feldspar lean to and to my dismay, it was occupied by some rather unfriendly people. So, i found a tent spot and set up over large and heavy tent. It felt great to get the pack off after 10 miles of hiking. I got here at about 1pm. I ate some snacks and got my site situated.
Mt marcy/skylight: At about 2pm, i made up a daypack and made my way to the 4 corners. This trail was a little less muddy than the last and there was alot of people coming down it. Hiking without the full pack made me feel like i was flying Stopped at Lake Tear to talk to some folks and enjoy the top of the hudson River. At the 4 corners, i decided to check out skylight first. The trail up was the quickest half mile of my like and the top was amazing. The view was great, especially the point blank view of marcy. There was maybe 3 people at the top and i relaxed up there for a few minutes taking in the view before i headed down and up the last 0.8 miles to marcy. The peak was way less crowded than i imagined. It was a little chilly compared to the heat down in the woods, but nothing a fleece could'nt handle. I layed around the top for about 30 minutes and just took in the view from the top. I booked down the decent and got back to my camp at around 5pm. I boiled some water for dinner and coffee and ate my dinner and cleaned up. My mountain gourmet cajun chicken was rahter good and filling. I was sleeping before 730 and woke up a few times to put some more warm clothes on. The weather report predicted mid 40's but the low hit 35 and it was pretty chilly but nothing too bad.
Day 2: The next morning i woke up at 630 but i layed in the tent untill 730 hoping it would warm up a little bit, but never did. So I reluctantly got up and made a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, packed up and was hiking by 830. THe trail from camp south back to Lake Colden was the worse trail ever. It was nothing my mud and jumbled rocks. It was not a pleasent day to start my morning and i was rather annoyed by the time i reached lake. I was not too sore or tired from the day before but i was moving a little slower. In that 2 mile trail, i managed to fall a good 5 times and always into the mud. I decieded that I am a rather clumsy person. I walk south and cross lake colden dam again head north to Algonquin peak trailhead. I read this trail was one of the steepest contiunous trails in the area and i guess it wasn't lying. The this was relentless. With the pack, it was the hardest climb i have ever done. The workout was well worth it. The trail up gave some great views and walking up the rock slides next to the flowing stream was super cool. I passed 1 women flying down the trail. She was moving and assured me taht i was close to the treeline. A few hundred yards up the trail, i passed 2 guys that were having a lot of trouble adn moving rather slow. I sat and talked to them for a few minutes and he asked for some water. He was low and i had 2 liters so i gave him some, but he did not enjoy the iodine taste (I use the iodine tablets to clean my water casue i cant afford a pump yet). THey rested and i went on. Not more than 50 yeards past them, i broke out of the trees. I saw the side trail for iroquios, so i dropped my pack and made a day pack for the short out and back to the peak. Crossing over boundry and over to iroquios was a fun little side trip and there was litttle scrambling to do. I was glad i left the pack at the trail head. I got to the peak and ate a small snack. The view of algonquin, colden and walface was very impressive. Soon i headed back and made it to algonquin peak. I was the 49th person up there (according to the ranger) at about 12ish, so it wasnt too crowded. This was definatally the biggest crowd of my weekend. After some more hanging around, it was time to head down. For some reason, my body stiffened up while up there and my ankles were screaming the whole 4 miles down. It was this reason, i decided to skip Wright peak and just work on getting down without hurting myself. My worst fall happened on the way down, on a big sloping rock, my feet slipped out and i fell my butt and slid down and piled at the bottom. It didnt hurt but was a little scary. I really liked the big waterfall on teh way down. I finally got down and out of the woods at around 315. I gingerly walked to my car, drive home and showered.
Conclusion: Hiking alone is great and it was very relaxing and not scary at all. The trails were less crowded than I expected, but some were overly muddy and rough. I soaked my boots and hiked with wet feet most of both days. Like anywhere, some people are nice, some are indefferent and some are outright rude. One this that suprised me was how canadians outnumbered new yorkers and many of the canadian girls are rather attractive :wink: I am definately upgrading my hiking boots to something with more support and water proofness and getting a new backpacking tent. Besides that it was great. It helped me relieve alot of stress ive been dealing with involving college, money and internal issues ( I still need to work these out). Here are the pictures linky. Trailboss, your suggesting for a camera bag was great. I got the one you suggested and it was perfect.
PS: Sorry it took so long to get it posted and please excuse the gramatical errors. I will edit it when i get the chance. I'll probably add more as I think of it too
thanks for reading and all the adivce you guys have given me
NATE
