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Started at the trailhead about 7:00 A.M. Two couple were starting their hikes around the same time. One couple was skiing and said their goal was Cliff from Flowed Lands if broken out (as a side note, I've heard this ascent route is nice and will be my route when I attempt Cliff). The other couple, Rich and Tori, were aiming for Skylight and Grey with the possibility of doing Marshall as well.
The hike to Flowed Lands went less smoothly than expected. Less than 1/4 mile in, I started experiencing pain on the top of my feet. I attributed it to the sock liners I had on and went back to the car to quickly remove them. Then about a mile in, my camelback hose froze because I did not blow hard enough to clear all the water out. I removed the bladder from my pack and put it under my softshell to thaw out. The hose was thawed in 15 minutes and I was back in business. About two miles in, I ran into Rich and Tori, stopped with a snowshoe problem. The rivets attaching the binding to Rich's snowshoe had broken off. I gave him some zip ties and continued on. We ended up crossing paths a few more times before the flowed lands and I found out they were bailing on S&G and just going for Marshall.
The hike across the ice at the Flowed Lands was chilly and beautiful. I saw tracks heading to Cliff, which would make the other couple happy. The herd path up Herbert Brook was well defined, thanks to all the previous hikers over the last week. It's quite nice hiking up the open brook. There was plenty of snow up there. Following the tracks made me realize my mistake in my failed attempt last last year (http://www.adkhighpeaks.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=16693). I reached the summit with Rich and Tori a little after 11. We got some nice views of the Santinonis, Colden, and Marcy. After about 15 minutes, we started to get chilly and made our way back down.
The hike to the HB lean-to went smoothly. About a third of the way down, we ran into a group coming up. Tori later told me that Andrew Lavigne was in the group. If I would have known that, I would have thanked him and offered him a beer afterward. He has helped me through many of my journeys in the high peaks through his website.
After crossing the Flowed Lands, the trip back to the car turned into a crawl. The foot pain I had experienced earlier came back with a vengeance. By the time I got back to the car, I was practically limping. The boots I have are relatively new. What I find strange is that this problem did not exist on two previous hikes, one of which was Dix and Hough with snowshoes on the whole time.
Besides the foot pain and a couple small equipment issues, the hike was great. Total trip time was 8 hrs 8 minutes.
--On a side note - Rich and Tori found the bottom half of a pole at the summit of Marshall. They carried it out and left it by the register at the trailhead.
The hike to Flowed Lands went less smoothly than expected. Less than 1/4 mile in, I started experiencing pain on the top of my feet. I attributed it to the sock liners I had on and went back to the car to quickly remove them. Then about a mile in, my camelback hose froze because I did not blow hard enough to clear all the water out. I removed the bladder from my pack and put it under my softshell to thaw out. The hose was thawed in 15 minutes and I was back in business. About two miles in, I ran into Rich and Tori, stopped with a snowshoe problem. The rivets attaching the binding to Rich's snowshoe had broken off. I gave him some zip ties and continued on. We ended up crossing paths a few more times before the flowed lands and I found out they were bailing on S&G and just going for Marshall.
The hike across the ice at the Flowed Lands was chilly and beautiful. I saw tracks heading to Cliff, which would make the other couple happy. The herd path up Herbert Brook was well defined, thanks to all the previous hikers over the last week. It's quite nice hiking up the open brook. There was plenty of snow up there. Following the tracks made me realize my mistake in my failed attempt last last year (http://www.adkhighpeaks.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=16693). I reached the summit with Rich and Tori a little after 11. We got some nice views of the Santinonis, Colden, and Marcy. After about 15 minutes, we started to get chilly and made our way back down.
The hike to the HB lean-to went smoothly. About a third of the way down, we ran into a group coming up. Tori later told me that Andrew Lavigne was in the group. If I would have known that, I would have thanked him and offered him a beer afterward. He has helped me through many of my journeys in the high peaks through his website.
After crossing the Flowed Lands, the trip back to the car turned into a crawl. The foot pain I had experienced earlier came back with a vengeance. By the time I got back to the car, I was practically limping. The boots I have are relatively new. What I find strange is that this problem did not exist on two previous hikes, one of which was Dix and Hough with snowshoes on the whole time.
Besides the foot pain and a couple small equipment issues, the hike was great. Total trip time was 8 hrs 8 minutes.
--On a side note - Rich and Tori found the bottom half of a pole at the summit of Marshall. They carried it out and left it by the register at the trailhead.
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