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 biggest hazard throughout the day, at least until it warmed up enough to melt.
We arrived at the junction with the Phelps Trail at 8:50 am, had a short break with drinks and snacks, and continued onto Tabletop. The trail up to Table Top was an adventure, it was a small brook all the way up, some frozen and some thawed if it was in the sun. The short col just before the summit was kind of neat, a place I would like to camp at but unable to due to the regulation.
Arriving at the summit of Tabletop at 11:45 am and enjoyed our lunch and took some picks, unfortunately not very good views, but again enjoyed the clean crisp air along with the sweet smell of balsam, awesome.
We headed back to the main trail and managed on the way down to have a boot fall apart at the sole and poked a hole in my eardrum with a twig. We arrived back at the Vanhovenberg trail at 1:45 pm and passed the Phelps trail at 2:45. Arriving at Marcy dam at 3:45, with not a soul in sight so we continued on to the Loj arriving at 4:30 pm.
Tabletop mountain was an enjoyable hike, short and without a view, but got us in the woods for the day.
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