Gandalf
06-22-2005, 11:05 AM
A.K.A. "The Solstice Hike"
My brother Dan and I scared off a deer as we pulled into the Loj parking lot at 1:30 AM. I believe there was only one other car in the section closest to the trailhead.
The moon was already low in the sky as we made our way to Marcy Dam - at times it looked like some misplaced city streetlight off to the right in the woods. After the Dam, the trail became more difficult for us, totally inexperienced as we were at hiking with headlamps. It featured plenty of running water, but much less in the way of mud than we expected following the recent heavy rains in the area. As it was not very cold, we changed into shorts for the ascent to Indian Falls which we reached a bit after 3:30.
The sky was already beginning to lighten just a bit in the east, but not nearly enough to take pictures yet and we didn't want to linger. By the time we reached the junction with the Hopkins Trail we were able to stow away the headlamps and enjoy a few glimpses of Big Slide, Cascade, and lower regions to the north. The sun rose before we reached the Phelps Trail, an amazing sight to behold. We took many pictures, one of the Lake Placid Ski Jumps amid a sea of low valley fog, as we ascended to Marcy's summit which we reached at 5:40.
We bundled up against the chilly summit wind and ate breakfast while we surveyed the rest of our route. We watched in amusement as a cloud tried to summit Allen from the west, but failed and had to turn back. I hope that's not a foreshadow of my planned attempt there on the 4th of July!
Leaving Marcy, the wet rock made the descent to Schofield Cobble a bit trickier than when I did this (at a mid-day hour) last year. By 7:30 we reached the Four Corners and a decision had to be made. Dan was at least half inclined to proceed straight to Skylight, but I didn't want to push our luck quite that far as we still had a long day ahead of us. Therefore we turned east and proceeded along a trail I'd never hiked before down into Panther Gorge. We caught a few interesting views of Marcy's southern slides through the trees. We filled our bottles in the Gorge, a pleasant place with cool, refreshing breezes.
Now more heavily encumbered we climbed the trail up to Bartlett Ridge. Unlike the rest of today's paths, this one was muddy, buggy, and featured a good bit of blowdown particularly in its lower reaches. It was actually a relief to hit "the steepest trail in the Adirondacks" leading north to Haystack. Though this one is undoubtedly steep when averaged over its length, we found that the steepest pitches alternated very conveniently with brief sections of almost flat walking. There were one or two sections where I was compelled to use vegetation to propel myself upward, as much as I avoid doing this whenever physically possible. The views were spectacular above timberline, and we took many pictures on our way to the summit which we reached somewhat before 10 AM. Gothics was buried in clouds during our ascent, but these soon cleared as we had lunch. It was warm with only light winds, but visibility didn't suffer from any humidity to speak of. A few annoying bugs caused us to switch "camp" from the east to the windier west side. This was our second summit today on which roaring waters in Panther Gorge could be heard. I like the way that Colvin, Nippletop, and Dix look stacked up upon each other from this angle, not to mention their respective Ranges. We also wondered if a bushwhack to Basin's false northwestern summit would be fun (if survivable) someday - it looks as though there are open ledges down there.
After a half an hour or so we headed down to Little Haystack, now on familiar trail. The first pitch up this small knob let us know that we'd logged a respectable effort already today, and was our first hint of things to come. The view of Haystack from here will always be my favorite - seven years didn't cloud my memory of this in the least. After a short rest we descended, ascended, and descended again to the Phelps Trail. This was a section I had dreaded when planning this hike, and I'd even wondered whether a bushwhack westward along a 4100' contour line would be preferable. We sucked it up though, and climbed the 700 feet back onto Marcy's northeastern shoulder. The noon sun was pretty hot by now. I avoided blisters, but my brother hadn't and was going through bandaids and athletic tape in an effort to ameliorate their effects.
As we wearily trudged back down to Indian Falls, we exchanged greetings with two or three small parties intent on Marcy. We took a long break on the open ledge above the Falls to admire the view of the MacIntyres (yeah, that's why we spent so much time there). It would've been easy to fall asleep there and fry to a crisp in the sun before evening. For me, after refilling our bottles the next mile of VanHo trail down to the bridge over Phelps Brook was the most difficult of the day, rivaling experiences on the Lake Arnold trail for "Death March" intensity. Dan is a bit stronger than I on the downhill, as my natural pace is somewhat faster than his on the uphill. Many brief rests and snacks were had before the Dam. Too tired to take pictures, we trudged on in the knowledge that the last 2.3 miles would feature less decline and rock-hopping. I noted some recent improvement in the trail.
At 5:10 PM we collapsed into the car where we happily partook of cold, caffeinated beverages in the cooler and drove off in pursuit of a large Mr. Mike's pizza. Approx hike statistics: 15 2/3rds hours, 19.6 miles, 6100 feet of ascent. Dan (who can only get up to the ADK's once or twice a year) now has 3 of the 46 High Peaks, the other one being Gothics. In post-Solstice analysis we both agree that, though we may never make this sort of physical effort in a single day again, night, pre-dawn, and dawn hiking near and above timberline is an incredible experience and one certainly to repeat.
My brother Dan and I scared off a deer as we pulled into the Loj parking lot at 1:30 AM. I believe there was only one other car in the section closest to the trailhead.
The moon was already low in the sky as we made our way to Marcy Dam - at times it looked like some misplaced city streetlight off to the right in the woods. After the Dam, the trail became more difficult for us, totally inexperienced as we were at hiking with headlamps. It featured plenty of running water, but much less in the way of mud than we expected following the recent heavy rains in the area. As it was not very cold, we changed into shorts for the ascent to Indian Falls which we reached a bit after 3:30.
The sky was already beginning to lighten just a bit in the east, but not nearly enough to take pictures yet and we didn't want to linger. By the time we reached the junction with the Hopkins Trail we were able to stow away the headlamps and enjoy a few glimpses of Big Slide, Cascade, and lower regions to the north. The sun rose before we reached the Phelps Trail, an amazing sight to behold. We took many pictures, one of the Lake Placid Ski Jumps amid a sea of low valley fog, as we ascended to Marcy's summit which we reached at 5:40.
We bundled up against the chilly summit wind and ate breakfast while we surveyed the rest of our route. We watched in amusement as a cloud tried to summit Allen from the west, but failed and had to turn back. I hope that's not a foreshadow of my planned attempt there on the 4th of July!
Leaving Marcy, the wet rock made the descent to Schofield Cobble a bit trickier than when I did this (at a mid-day hour) last year. By 7:30 we reached the Four Corners and a decision had to be made. Dan was at least half inclined to proceed straight to Skylight, but I didn't want to push our luck quite that far as we still had a long day ahead of us. Therefore we turned east and proceeded along a trail I'd never hiked before down into Panther Gorge. We caught a few interesting views of Marcy's southern slides through the trees. We filled our bottles in the Gorge, a pleasant place with cool, refreshing breezes.
Now more heavily encumbered we climbed the trail up to Bartlett Ridge. Unlike the rest of today's paths, this one was muddy, buggy, and featured a good bit of blowdown particularly in its lower reaches. It was actually a relief to hit "the steepest trail in the Adirondacks" leading north to Haystack. Though this one is undoubtedly steep when averaged over its length, we found that the steepest pitches alternated very conveniently with brief sections of almost flat walking. There were one or two sections where I was compelled to use vegetation to propel myself upward, as much as I avoid doing this whenever physically possible. The views were spectacular above timberline, and we took many pictures on our way to the summit which we reached somewhat before 10 AM. Gothics was buried in clouds during our ascent, but these soon cleared as we had lunch. It was warm with only light winds, but visibility didn't suffer from any humidity to speak of. A few annoying bugs caused us to switch "camp" from the east to the windier west side. This was our second summit today on which roaring waters in Panther Gorge could be heard. I like the way that Colvin, Nippletop, and Dix look stacked up upon each other from this angle, not to mention their respective Ranges. We also wondered if a bushwhack to Basin's false northwestern summit would be fun (if survivable) someday - it looks as though there are open ledges down there.
After a half an hour or so we headed down to Little Haystack, now on familiar trail. The first pitch up this small knob let us know that we'd logged a respectable effort already today, and was our first hint of things to come. The view of Haystack from here will always be my favorite - seven years didn't cloud my memory of this in the least. After a short rest we descended, ascended, and descended again to the Phelps Trail. This was a section I had dreaded when planning this hike, and I'd even wondered whether a bushwhack westward along a 4100' contour line would be preferable. We sucked it up though, and climbed the 700 feet back onto Marcy's northeastern shoulder. The noon sun was pretty hot by now. I avoided blisters, but my brother hadn't and was going through bandaids and athletic tape in an effort to ameliorate their effects.
As we wearily trudged back down to Indian Falls, we exchanged greetings with two or three small parties intent on Marcy. We took a long break on the open ledge above the Falls to admire the view of the MacIntyres (yeah, that's why we spent so much time there). It would've been easy to fall asleep there and fry to a crisp in the sun before evening. For me, after refilling our bottles the next mile of VanHo trail down to the bridge over Phelps Brook was the most difficult of the day, rivaling experiences on the Lake Arnold trail for "Death March" intensity. Dan is a bit stronger than I on the downhill, as my natural pace is somewhat faster than his on the uphill. Many brief rests and snacks were had before the Dam. Too tired to take pictures, we trudged on in the knowledge that the last 2.3 miles would feature less decline and rock-hopping. I noted some recent improvement in the trail.
At 5:10 PM we collapsed into the car where we happily partook of cold, caffeinated beverages in the cooler and drove off in pursuit of a large Mr. Mike's pizza. Approx hike statistics: 15 2/3rds hours, 19.6 miles, 6100 feet of ascent. Dan (who can only get up to the ADK's once or twice a year) now has 3 of the 46 High Peaks, the other one being Gothics. In post-Solstice analysis we both agree that, though we may never make this sort of physical effort in a single day again, night, pre-dawn, and dawn hiking near and above timberline is an incredible experience and one certainly to repeat.