Backpacking High Peaks between Lodges

[Joe]

A week from tonight I'll be getting off the bus from Manhattan in Keene Valley and hiking to JBL to spend a night before hiking up the Wolfjaw Col to West River Trail to crossover to the Gill Brook Trail to set up camp at Elk Pass. Depending on how I feel and the amount of light left, I will then go up Elk Pass to Nippletop and then tag Dial and return to my camp for the night (bringing headlamp in summit pack if need be). The next day I will head back to JBL via a stop at Fishhawk Cliffs and pick up the rest of my food and the next day traverse Marcy to Four Corners and camp at Uphill. Depending on how I feel and the amount of daylight left, I will then head up Redfield, or wait until the next morning before doing Cliff. I then will move camp to the campground just north of the herd path to Allen and the next morning head up to the top of Allen. I will then move camp to either Flowed Lands, Lake Colden, Uphill or Feldspar Camps. The next day I will either a) hike up Marshall and then head up to ADK Loj via Lake Colden Trail, or b) hike up to the Loj by way of bagging Tabletop and maybe Phelps, or c) just head up to the Loj to rest a bit (depending onhow I feel). I will then have two days of dayhikes fromthere, and on the first day head up to Algonquin and Iroquois and back, and on day two do the Colden Loop. The following day I will had abck to JBL via Klondike Notch and the following day head out to Noonmark Inn to catch my bus back to Manhattan.

This is my plan and I am flexible with it. Last year Irene greatly changed my plans. Whatever happens, I'm going to just be very happy to be up in the High Peaks region. I'll be heading up there a week from today on Aug. 6 and leaving on the 16th.

[DSettahr]

Klondike Notch is a neat area. That lean-to gets very little use... have you though about staying there instead of JBL for your last night?

[Joe]

That sounds like a great idea now, but I'm already booked for that night at JBL and planning to eat dinner there that night and breakfast there the next morning. I'm already thinking about next year and I'm planning to come up for several shorter three day trips completely on my own to do the Dix range and another trip to do Giant and RPR for instance. Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing that part of the area (Klondike Notch).

[DackerDan]

Joe,

That sounds like a great trip. If you have never been to the campsite at Elk pass you may find it rather dank and your water supply will most likely be the pond. If on the other hand you set up camp at one of the first two campsites on the Gill Brook trail (the first one being only about 100 yards above the start of DEC land on the left and not on the ADK map but designated with a disc) you will have a dryer campsite with Gill Brook as your water source. These are right near the trail to Fish Hawk cliffs so you will not need to do any more back tracking.

My apologies if you have already thought all this through.

[Joe]

Thanks Dan. By no means are my plans written in stone. I keep trying to get a good idea of what that campsite is like at the Elk Pass ponds, although I tend to just read negative things about it. I stayed at the last Gill Brook Trail Campsite before the turnoff for Nippletop last year and I really liked it. I even found my way down into Gill Brook from there to water up. I read one post on here from several years ago that gave directions between the two Elk Pass ponds back into the woodline where there was a spring or stream entering. I wrote down the directions. Here is what the post said,

"...There is also some running water in the area. Specifically, the trail coming down from the ridge heads first NW, then W, then S. Right as you flatten off, and turn W after heading S, you'll be entering the area that has the 3 small ponds. Right at this turn from S to W, you'll pass over a series of the erosion-control log "bridges". Right at the last one before you really head into the pond area, look to the S. You'll see a small "path" heading into the woods. If you follow this to its end in about 50 feet, and bushwhack another 50 feet, you'll come to a small stream which has good running water. You can fill up there. I've attached a map which roughly shows where I am talking about."

Unfortunately the poster (I don't recall who it was) forgot to post the attachment and no one pointed it out to him.

I think I'm going to have to see it for myself and just backtrack if need be. I really appreciate your input.

[DSettahr]

Yeah, from what I remember of the Elk Pass tent site (the one time I actually bothered to find it, it's not the easiest to locate), it wasn't the nicest site.

[Joe]

Yeow! No one seems to have anything good to say about that site! I like the idea of setting up at the base of Elk Pass, and I think I just might leave most of my stuff there when I go up to Nippletop and Dial, and if I get back there early enough, I'll move everything to one of the Gill Brook camps which are pretty nice. I'm going to have to see that area for myself. From the photos I see when I google "Elk Pass, ADK" and click on images, it looks like an intriguing place.

[ScAtTeRbOnE]

Sounds like a great adventure, as far as Elk Pass goes...
I found the area to be quite muddy and damp when I went through in 2010. I Found this description on another forum from May 2011.

"...Trail around Elk Pass is extremely muddy and wet. No significant mud on the Gill Brook Trail or the trail to Colvin. We found the designated campsite [Elk Pass] but most tent spots are quite wet and muddy. There were more people looking for sites than there were available."

Sounds like the site(s) at Elk Pass might be in high demand in the summer as well, be aware.
Happy Hiking!

[DSettahr]

Originally Posted by Joe

Yeow! No one seems to have anything good to say about that site! I like the idea of setting up at the base of Elk Pass, and I think I just might leave most of my stuff there when I go up to Nippletop and Dial, and if I get back there early enough, I'll move everything to one of the Gill Brook camps which are pretty nice. I'm going to have to see that area for myself. From the photos I see when I google "Elk Pass, ADK" and click on images, it looks like an intriguing place.

Yeah, the pass itself is cool. Because of the beaver ponds, the views open up quite a bit and you get to see the steep slopes of Nippletop on one side and Colvin on the other. The campsite itself is just kind of lackluster, though.

[The Fireman]

I just camped in elk pass on a trip over dial nipple top Colvin and Blake back in late June. I can see it getting quite muddy but with all the dry weather this year we were high and dry. Was a real nice night out in the woods and there wasn't a sole in the pass except for me and my hiking partner.

Water could have been better but we were low and it was getting late so no time to get down to gill brook. We filtered water from a area between the ponds that was flowing and clear. Not the best water in the mountains but I'm still here with no I'll effects.

All in all I'll probably return to elk pass at some point fir another night down the road.

[Joe]

Thanks Fireman. I just may have to look for that flowing water between ponds. I'll be up there on Tuesday night. Although we need rain, I hope it will stay dry until then. For some reason I'm really drawn to spending a night there, at the bottom of Elk Pass.

[whistlerbrk]

Joe, if I may ask, which bus are you taking up from Manhattan? All I've seen is Adirondack Trailways which is relatively cheap but quite the journey with possible multi-hour layovers in Albany.

[Joe]

That is it! I just got back tonight and will hopefully post my Trip Reports tomorrow, but Adirondack Trailways is the only way I know to bus into Keene Valley from Manhattan. They dropped me off in front of Noonmark Inn at 5:10 on August 6, and I was at JBL by 7:10. IT took me exactly 2 hours with a full backpack. The next evening I was on Nippletop and camped at Elk Pass. Today the bus picked me up at 12 noon in front of Noonmark Inn, and got me to the Port authority in Manhattan by 7:45.

[DackerDan]

I was wondering how your trip turned out - waiting the reports.

[HPHikingMoo]

Great to meet you (twice) on the Trail, Joe. You looked like you were having an awesome time. I saw you conversed with "The Fireman" before your trip; he is my son. Maybe the 2 of you can connect next year; he's at about the same point as you are in his quest and loves to do the whole camping thing. We are more of day hikers, although we are going to have to suck it up and do a couple overnights next summer to complete some of the harder ones. Looking forward to your TRs! Hope my voice isn't in your video

[Joe]

Thanks H.P. Hiking Moo. I played that back on my bus ride home and couldn't tell. I haven't yet played it back on my desktop computer though. I hope to start my trip report tonight after I get home from work, but probably won't have it posted for a couple more days. It was nice meeting you two on Tabletop and then Marcy Dam.

[Gerard01]

Originally Posted by Joe

That is it! I just got back tonight and will hopefully post my Trip Reports tomorrow, but Adirondack Trailways is the only way I know to bus into Keene Valley from Manhattan. They dropped me off in front of Noonmark Inn at 5:10 on August 6, and I was at JBL by 7:10. IT took me exactly 2 hours with a full backpack. The next evening I was on Nippletop and camped at Elk Pass. Today the bus picked me up at 12 noon in front of Noonmark Inn, and got me to the Port authority in Manhattan by 7:45.

Congrats on your trip, Joe. I never thought Adirondack Trailways went there. Something to think about if I do not have my car. Although, my canceled trip ate up all of my trip money. Would not have had enough to get out of Manhattan. I'll check out their schedule. Good Job!