This is a short hike at around 3 miles round trip. The trail is all gradual incline, at some point follows an old jeep trail for a short distance. It is an enjoyable hike meandering through conifer and hardwoods until coming to Mud Pond itself.
Derek and I headed out by the St Huberts trailhead where it looked like spring was arriving quickly. we got my stuff together and headed down the road to the Adirondack Club at 8:20 AM. There were just patches of snow around but brought crampons and microspikes.
After signing in at the gate, we walked the 1.76 miles down Lake Road where things were looking more wintery. Here we crossed over the river by the Beaver Meadows Trail to the connection with the Wedge Brook Trail. I put on my microspikes further up the trail, just below the col between the Wolfjaws as the trail was finally covered in hard-packed snow with a light dusting on top. The trail had a nice steady grade up to the col between Upper and Lower Wolfjaw.
The steep descent...
A nice crisp morning started the day. I'm not sure what the temps were but everything was still frozen solid. We signed in at 7 am and tested the trail just beyond the sign-in, and decided it was a go-to use micro-spikes until Calamity Brook lean-to as it was a solid base. We switched over to our snowshoes to cross over Flowed lands and they would stay on the rest of the day. The trail up Marshall is well packed out and any false paths are obscure now. As the temps rose the layers shed and the snow bombs dropped. We arrived at the summit shortly after noon and were soon greeted by another hiker. Anyone out yesterday knew the views were superb. We relaxed on the summit for an hour having lunch and enjoying the views. We started back down...
This was a nice little hike with Cindy and Brian. It was a surprise hike so to speak as they packed in cupcakes for the summit, and sang happy birthday to me. A beautiful little hike that has some decent views.
Around 2.5 miles round trip
Elevation gain of 713 feet.
On January 6, 2013, Derek, Mark, Adam, myself, and a friend of Adams set out to hike Gothics. All 3 of us needed it for some list (regular or winter season), or another.
We parked at the traditional Saint Huberts parking lot, where we began our hike around 5 am and hiked up to the Ausable Club gate. The Ausable Club allows hikers and outdoor enthusiasts access to the peaks through their property (no dogs or bicycles allowed). This is an agreement in place with New York State. It is a fortunate agreement because it allows closer access to several high peaks of the Adirondacks. Without this access, there would be a lot longer approaches to several peaks.
The infamous Lake Road walk is always described as a slog. I too have learned not...