Archives for 27 July, 2012

Peaks #4 and #5

Mt. Marshall and Colden

5/26/12

The second day of hiking was interesting. I woke up a little stiff from the previous days hike but nothing that a little Aleve couldn’t help with.  It was mainly my quads that hurt…. guess I should do more squats at the gym!

After a delicious oatmeal and coffee breakfast, Dave and I headed out to tackle Mt. Marshall. Mt. Marshall is the 25th highest peak (4360 ft) in the Adirondack’s and is the last peak in the MacIntyre Range. The trailhead was literally right next to where we slept.  Since we would be hiking down the same way we went up, we left our packs in the lean-to.  It was nice to hike with no weight on my back.  This trail was really fun.  It was rocky like Algonquin but there were still some pretty steep parts.  Along the trail, you could still see snow and ice from winter.  Most of the trail is tree covered, so we had shade the entire time.  We kept crossing over little creeks and streams.  When hiking this trail, you need to be on the lookout for the cairns otherwise it’s easy to get off track!.  Because we were probably the first ones on this trail that day, we had to walk through a lot of cobwebs.  Yuck!    On top we could see Indian Pass, Iroquois, and Colden.  Here’s a quick video from the top!

Once we got back to the lean-to, picked up the packs and headed to the stream to pump water before moving on.  It was soooo nice in the sun that we decided to hang out at the stream for a little bit and take a nap. After about an hour I was ready to get going.  We changed our hiking plan a little bit and decided to hike up to the summit of Colden.  Mount Colden, at 4714 feet, is the eleventh highest peak in the ADK.  The mountain is known for its distinctive Trap Dyke, a large crevice running up the center of the mountain.

This was my favorite hike of the trip.  We left our packs down at the trailhead by the lake.  Since most of the trail was rock sheets, I was slipping all over the place. NEED NEW SHOES!! This must be a popular trail because it was packed with people going up and hanging out at the top.  I wish I had taken some pictures along the way.  One family we saw had a dog with them that they had to carry down because parts of the trail were too steep for him to climb down.  Dave and I sat at the top for twenty minutes or so before heading back down.  The way down was much quicker.  I basically did the crab walk the entire way down…I guess what you learn in kindergarten gym class is helpful!

Once we got our packs, we headed towards the Mt. Marcy Dam to find a lean-to to spend the night in.  Along this trail there were a lot of parts that had wooden planks for us to walk on.  Once at the lean-to, we did the usual end of the night routine- food, water, change clothes, and of course drank some wine!  I must say wine is a **necessity** after a long day of hiking.  Once again, Dave did most of the work but hey it was my first time hiking I needed to relax 🙂

We got up early the next morning, ate breakfast and set off towards the Adirondack Lodge.

We walked by the dam and saw some of the damage on the dam.  Must have been one big storm that wiped parts of the dam out! The hike out was pretty short.  I think we were at the lodge by 9:30am.  We were both incredibly stinky!  After purchasing my peak patches, we headed into Lake Placid to meet my sister and her husband at 46 Sandwiches (soooo good!!).