Tabletop & Colden

[MEssig]

Sometimes I like to string together a couple of odd peaks to get me into new places. Does anyone know anything about the trail that crosses over from Indian Falls to the Lake Arnold trail to Colden? It's labeled as trail 63 in the guidebook and is described as wet. I have the 13th edition so it's a bit out of date. Is this stretch a nightmare? I can't imagine it sees a lot of traffic.

[Earthworm]

I have been through there a few times. I don't remember it being any wet or rockier than any other section of trail. I don't remember it being a nightmare at all.

[MEssig]

This is the response I was expecting/hoping for. Thanks!

[NJTom]

I’m planning a Phelps, Table Top, Colden loop for sometime next week. Will be using the crossover trail from Indian Falls to Lake Arnold for sure.
Haven’t decided whether to come back down to Lake Arnold and out, or go over Colden and exit via Avalanche Pass. May depend on what time I am on the summit.

[MEssig]

I'm considering doing something similar in the opposite direction. Through Avalanche pass, over Colden, take the crossover and hit Tabletop, maybe Phelps depending on time and how I'm feeling.

[Inko]

I did Colden and TT as a loop from the Loj via Avalanche Pass back in Aug 2017. My notes say “Trail 63 is very nice and seems hardly used.”

[Yury]

Sometimes I like to string together a couple of odd peaks to get me into new places. Does anyone know anything about the trail that crosses over from Indian Falls to the Lake Arnold trail to Colden? It's labeled as trail 63 in the guidebook and is described as wet. I have the 13th edition so it's a bit out of date. Is this stretch a nightmare? I can't imagine it sees a lot of traffic.

Quite a few people combine Tabletop with Colden.
About 10 years ago I found this trail without any issue.
However on July 1st this year I missed this trail and bushwhacked to Lake Arnold trail. It's not a bad bushwhack, but I lost about 40 minutes because of this.
The key is not to mix up a trail that goes to the bottom of the Indian Falls with Lake Arnold Crossover trail. :(

[NJTom]

I went through this trail today, as part of a loop for Phelps, Table Top, and Colden, in that order. Thus I traveled this trail from Indian Falls to the Lake Arnold Trail.

Crossover trail did indeed need a double check to make sure I was on it. It drops a fair amount, maybe even 150 or 200 feet from Indian Falls before the dogleg south that is evident on the map. That section from Indian Falls west to the dogleg was unremarkable. Sort of standard ADK trail as I remember it now. Once it made the hard left south, it climbed back up again pretty quickly. The first segment after the bend was quite wet. I was basically walking in a flat, bedrocky brook with the water running down it. Then, it leveled out a bit and then was just muddy with quite a few old, very soft and decaying log walkways.
Got the job done.

The section of the Lake Arnold Trail from the intersection with the crossover up to Lake Arnold was awesome. Climbed up a ton, all along and even in the creek coming out of Lake Arnold. Several really cool waterfalls and cascades. Really neat.