Colden Mountain hike – A day with good views on top 5-24-20

[Jim Kennard]

It was another day with an overcast sky but with a lower probability that it would rain. The cloud ceiling was much higher and it looked like we just might have some clear views from Colden Mountain. TFR (Tom), Laurie, and I set off from the Loj a little before 9AM and headed out to Colden via the trail to Lake Arnold.


Colden Mountain from Marcy Dam

At Marcy Dam we chatted with the ADK crew that was doing trail maintenance all the way to the summit of Colden Mountain. All the rain that the area had received in the past weeks created several mud traps along the way but otherwise we found the trail in pretty much good condition. Past the dam we hiked along Marcy Brook which was flowing very briskly from all the runoff. For the first couple of miles there is not much of an elevation gain. At the junction of this trail and that to Avalanche Pass is where you begin to climb at a gentle slope for the next 1 ½ miles to Arnold Lake.

Don’t know much about Arnold Lake except that we believe that it was named after a man named Arnold! The lake looks very shallow but I expect that it is at it’s high water stage right now. We kept going and stopped on our way back to check it out a little more.


Arnold Lake

From Arnold Lake to the Colden summit it is 1.4 miles. The ascent becomes steeper from here on. At times we felt a few drops of rain but nothing more than that. There are a couple of places above 3200 feet where there are still some snow splines on the trail but not enough to bother with microspikes.


Snow spline on trail to Colden Mountain

As we were nearing the summit we met a solo hiker from the Watertown area who was returning.


Nearing summit of Colden Mountain

Arriving at the summit of Colden Mountain it was a treat to see that the cloud ceiling was above us. It was just touching the peak of Marcy. We walked along the summit of Colden checking out the various views and trying to determine which mini peak was the actual summit. The one with the small cairn was also confirmed by the Garmin GPS. I took a bunch of pics and including a telephoto shot of the “hitch up, Matilda” structures along Avalanche Lake. The wind was blowing at probably over +30 mph and I had to hang on to my hat .…finally I just took it off an stuffed it in a pocket.


MacIntyre Range & Avalanche Lake



“hitch up, Matilda" along Avalanche Lake

Just as we were coming off of the summit we met the ADK crew coming up and chatted with them for minute and then continued back on our return route. We stopped for a few minutes at Arnold Lake to poke around. We made it back in good time and then headed off to the Lake Placid Pub & Brewery as we were all hungry for a good meal. Another great hike day with friends in the 46’s. Cheers, Jim

Colden Mountain hike pics: https://picasaweb.google.com/1068902...NfU05yY5POGHw#

[Cliff House]

Thanks for the report. Great pictures - especially enjoyed the telephoto shot of the hitch ups.

What time did you finish up at the loj?

[Jim Kennard]

Hi Cliff,
We were back at the Loj at 6PM.