Jim C
01-24-2010, 12:10 PM
I met Nancy at 6am at the Loj yesterday (Sat 1/23/10). My car’s thermometer said it was -1 degree F. The day’s high temperature would be somewhere around 30 degrees under perfect conditions. When we arrived at Marcy Dam, we opted to skip the wooden bridge and cut across the frozen water. Little did I know that would be the first of three bodies of water we’d walk on during this hike. I took some pictures in the dark of Colden and Wright – standing on the frozen water gives you a unique view.
Soon enough we were up to Lake Arnold, where we stopped to take a few pictures of Colden as the morning’s sunrise reflected off it. On the lake, Nancy found a snowcave / igloo. The people who built it and then slept in it must really be hardcore… Also, I should point out, that I was having a little trouble keeping my core warm when we stopped moving, but thankfully I realized I had the enormous pit-zips on my high-tech soft-shell jacket open wide. I never had this problem with my low-tech (“cheap”) fleeces… Not hardcore, I know
As we continued to the Feldspar lean-to, we stopped a few times to take more pictures of Colden as it was waking up in the morning light. Then we hit the Uphill lean-to and began our climbs for the day.
Before I forget, I want to thank Joe for breaking out Redfield and probably Cliff too from this side. I should also say that the only other time I did these two peaks was on a miserable day in June-08. We came in from Upper Works and the deep mud pits, on-and-off rain, and no-views led me to classify these peaks as some of my least favorite peaks. When I was planning my peaks for this winter, I put them at the top of my list, preferring to tackle some of my least enjoyable peaks sooner and saving some of my more favorable ones for the end. Little did I know that these peaks were going to dazzle me today and teach me a valuable lesson – peaks, like people, have good days and bad. Or maybe it’s don’t judge a peak by its first impression.
The climb up Redfield was a steady climb and we made good time and the views kept improving. When we hit the summit, I was completely in awe of the views. We could see for miles and miles on this perfect, blue-sky day. Just amazing. On the way down, we saw other people for the first time, include Badger from this forum.
Despite, Cliff’s lower summit and shorter length of trail, it took us about the same amount of time to climb Cliff as it did the taller Redfield. The cliffs had a lot of ice on them and Nancy opted to change to crampons. I carried mine, but continued up in my snowshoes. I think both of us were happy with our respective decisions. If I wore crampons, I believe I would have been post-holing on the flat sections between the cliffs (Nancy didn’t have that problem). Bottom-line, Cliff was a tougher climb than I remembered, but I loved it. As we neared the false summit, we were greeted by Oliver, a fun-loving pooch, and his owners and fellow forum members Alpine Lamb and Alpine 1, who had climbed Cliff from the Flowed Lands. After some chatting with them (congrats on #45), we made the last push to the summit sign and, again, were rewarded with spectacular views. I was really surprised to see this side of Colden, which was more angular and somewhat pyramid-like.
At the summit, I broke out some licorice, which I’ve been carrying on hikes for years. Nancy took some pictures of it on the sign for Rik. After some licorice, I ate a cliff bar on Cliff (corny, I know, but I didn’t plan it, honest).
Back at the Uphill lean-to, we made the decision to head back to the Loj via Avalanche Pass, which I had not yet seen in winter. We made good time to Lake Colden and started across the middle of it. We saw a bunch of skiers on the lake and it was cool to see the Interior Outpost building from the lake. I’ve never seen Shepherd’s Tooth / the Wart look so distinctive and we were treated to another viewpoint of Colden. Then we crossed to Avalanche Lake and walked across it. We saw even more skiers here, two of which had set up a small tent on the Lake across from the Hitch-ups (hardcore, right?). After some more pictures, we focused on cranking out the last few miles.
Once back at Marcy Dam, we opted to cross the water instead of the bridge and took our last few pictures of Colden, completing our loop around that amazing peak. Then it was just the final 2.3 mile slog back to the Loj, which was the toughest part of our day. Those rolling hills between the dam and the intersection with the trail to Algonquin just wore me out.
Overall, it was another awesome day in the high peaks. Thanks for joining me, Nancy :tup:
Here are the pictures. I started putting captions on them, but the website messed up the order on the first few...http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/576460912hhdoIA
Soon enough we were up to Lake Arnold, where we stopped to take a few pictures of Colden as the morning’s sunrise reflected off it. On the lake, Nancy found a snowcave / igloo. The people who built it and then slept in it must really be hardcore… Also, I should point out, that I was having a little trouble keeping my core warm when we stopped moving, but thankfully I realized I had the enormous pit-zips on my high-tech soft-shell jacket open wide. I never had this problem with my low-tech (“cheap”) fleeces… Not hardcore, I know
As we continued to the Feldspar lean-to, we stopped a few times to take more pictures of Colden as it was waking up in the morning light. Then we hit the Uphill lean-to and began our climbs for the day.
Before I forget, I want to thank Joe for breaking out Redfield and probably Cliff too from this side. I should also say that the only other time I did these two peaks was on a miserable day in June-08. We came in from Upper Works and the deep mud pits, on-and-off rain, and no-views led me to classify these peaks as some of my least favorite peaks. When I was planning my peaks for this winter, I put them at the top of my list, preferring to tackle some of my least enjoyable peaks sooner and saving some of my more favorable ones for the end. Little did I know that these peaks were going to dazzle me today and teach me a valuable lesson – peaks, like people, have good days and bad. Or maybe it’s don’t judge a peak by its first impression.
The climb up Redfield was a steady climb and we made good time and the views kept improving. When we hit the summit, I was completely in awe of the views. We could see for miles and miles on this perfect, blue-sky day. Just amazing. On the way down, we saw other people for the first time, include Badger from this forum.
Despite, Cliff’s lower summit and shorter length of trail, it took us about the same amount of time to climb Cliff as it did the taller Redfield. The cliffs had a lot of ice on them and Nancy opted to change to crampons. I carried mine, but continued up in my snowshoes. I think both of us were happy with our respective decisions. If I wore crampons, I believe I would have been post-holing on the flat sections between the cliffs (Nancy didn’t have that problem). Bottom-line, Cliff was a tougher climb than I remembered, but I loved it. As we neared the false summit, we were greeted by Oliver, a fun-loving pooch, and his owners and fellow forum members Alpine Lamb and Alpine 1, who had climbed Cliff from the Flowed Lands. After some chatting with them (congrats on #45), we made the last push to the summit sign and, again, were rewarded with spectacular views. I was really surprised to see this side of Colden, which was more angular and somewhat pyramid-like.
At the summit, I broke out some licorice, which I’ve been carrying on hikes for years. Nancy took some pictures of it on the sign for Rik. After some licorice, I ate a cliff bar on Cliff (corny, I know, but I didn’t plan it, honest).
Back at the Uphill lean-to, we made the decision to head back to the Loj via Avalanche Pass, which I had not yet seen in winter. We made good time to Lake Colden and started across the middle of it. We saw a bunch of skiers on the lake and it was cool to see the Interior Outpost building from the lake. I’ve never seen Shepherd’s Tooth / the Wart look so distinctive and we were treated to another viewpoint of Colden. Then we crossed to Avalanche Lake and walked across it. We saw even more skiers here, two of which had set up a small tent on the Lake across from the Hitch-ups (hardcore, right?). After some more pictures, we focused on cranking out the last few miles.
Once back at Marcy Dam, we opted to cross the water instead of the bridge and took our last few pictures of Colden, completing our loop around that amazing peak. Then it was just the final 2.3 mile slog back to the Loj, which was the toughest part of our day. Those rolling hills between the dam and the intersection with the trail to Algonquin just wore me out.
Overall, it was another awesome day in the high peaks. Thanks for joining me, Nancy :tup:
Here are the pictures. I started putting captions on them, but the website messed up the order on the first few...http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/576460912hhdoIA