On April 17, 2005, we set out to hike these two peaks, on a very nice day.
This was another great day of hiking. It's funny how some days we describe as "epic" and others were just great hikes. This was one of those "epic" day hikes as we all felt strong all day.
The 4 of us hiked these two beauties on a weekday, which has many advantages compared to a weekend. We would not see another soul until we returned back to Algonquin from Iroquois peak. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the exact start time or ending time, but I do know it was done entirely in daylight hours.
The trail is well-traveled and is a popular hike, so naturally, it sees a lot of traffic. It is a steady uphill once you get past the junction where the trail goes to...
We arrived at the garden around 7:00 am, paid for our parking, did our stretches, and signed in; it was my son Derek, and I. We were on the trail for Big Slide by 7:15 am. We took the trail over the Brothers; I really liked this approach, with the many outlooks along the way it gave a lot of inspiration. We arrived at the first Brother around 8:50 am I was surprised at all the nooks and crannies along the way, we passed a huge outcropping that looks as if people use it as a shelter. The one thing I did notice was this trail seemed to be in the sun a lot along the way, this would be a big problem for someone who may not have taken enough water, albeit there were several areas to get water along the way once you crossed over the last...
We left the apartment at 445am so as to get a good head start. We arrived at the ADK Loj parking lot at around 6:50 am, there were a few cars already there, and in fact, it looked like they had spent the night in the woods somewhere because of the frost on the windshields. We did our stretches, signed in, and headed off for Marcy Dam. It was a cool morning with lots of frozen mud holes along the way.
The air was nice and crisp; I love this time of the day. We arrived at Marcy dam at 7:50 am to enjoy beautiful views as the sun came up. We signed into the interior outpost and set off for Tabletop. We had to take the footbridge over from Marcy Dam, not because of high water, but due to ice-covered rocks, dealing with this would be our...
On Saturday, Sept 4, 2004, we set out to climb Mount Colden, our original intent was to stay at the Marcy Brook lean-to, however, we could not, our climbing companions (Mark and Chris) had hiked into that lean-to the previous day and spent the night, we met up with them this morning. We left my apartment in Peru at 430 am, it was my son Derek, our friend Justin, and I.
We arrived at the ADK Loj parking lot at 6 am, did our stretching, and set off for Marcy Dam. It was an overcast morning of heavy fog, kind of cool looking. Arriving at Marcy Dam at 7 am, we were met by a few hungry hikers cooking their breakfast. We donned some bug dope and took a few pictures that turned out awesome because of the mist in the air; it looked like halos...
We had previously hiked this on April 8, 2004. It was a nice warm spring day, but still some snow and ice on the ground. It was Mark, Justin, Derek, and myself. The trail is a fairly easy trail that meanders upward, with not much for views for a while. There is a nice waterfall that looks absolutely stunning when it is frozen. There were a few steeper sections just before the junction with the trail to Wright Peak, and the trail that continues to Algonquin and beyond.
There are remnants of a plane wreck on Wright along with a plaque that memorializes the crew that crashed on the summit. None of us had found it, nor seen any remnants from a plane. So, looks like we will climb it again and do a little more exploring.