SNOW: An Adirondaks Butt Kicking

“This weekend's hike was an approximation of the hike that Pennsy, Artex, Fritz and Skiracer did under the Buttkickin Adirondak hike thread. With 3 inches to 4 FEET of snow added in strategic locations.


Friday night we drove up to the Adirondak Loj trailhead, just outside of Lake Placid, NY. We stopped in Keene Valley on the way to visit The Mountaineer, (a great gear shop) and have a burger and beer at the Ausable Inn. While at The Mountaineer we a discussion about Bears.

Apparently there are still two hanging out at Marcy Dam that have not taken to their dens for the winter and are using camper food for their layer of fat. The most aggressive bear was taken by hunters just two weeks ago (there had been three, now two). So we rented a Bear Canister for our food. Man those things are big and awkward. I unpacked my pack, stuffed all the food in it, and then had a tough time getting everything back together. I carry a smallish Mountainsmith Wizard (3500 cubic inches). So I had my bag of dry clothes, fleece and other crap strapped to the outside of my pack. Looked like a yard sale. We did not see a bear during the weekend, but met some hikers who had seen one on Algonquin (just as we were headed up), and saw small tracks in the snow on the far side coming off Algonquin.

Got underway from the Loj at 8:00pm. Mud and ice changing to slush and packed snow on the way up to Marcy Dam. The 2.3 miles took us about an hour. At the dam there was about 6 inches of snow. All the shelters were taken. Lots and lots of French Canadians. Headlamps dancing around in the woods. A bit of a zoo. We found a flat spot, pitched the tent and were in bed by 10.”

“Up at 6:15. Oatmeal by 7:00 (why does it take so friggin long to get things going in the morning?) and on the trail to Avalanche pass by 8:00 am. Turned around at 8:10 when a verbal equipment check revealed that I had forgotten the camera. Back on the trail at 8:15. Avalanche pass is spectacular. At the entrance the trail has literally been cut through a 20-30 foot tangle of avalanche debris pinned between the slopes of Mt Colden (from which it slid) and the rock face it came to rest against. Snow at this point is 10 inches. Trail has seen enough use to pack it, although it is very soft. Temperature is warm. 40 degrees or so. The trail around Avalanche Lake is just great. Circumnavigates the perimeter of the lake, over boulder debris via ladders, bridges, and in some cases, bridges bolted to the rock face suspended over the lake. This is where Pennsy et al saw the guy carrying a bike. What a trip!

Filtered water where the trail turned right to head up to Algonquin. 2350 feet of gain in 2.1 miles. The snow was 12 inches and increased with the elevation . Soft. Slushy. Lot of running water underneath it. I broke through the slush ice while filtering water. Couldn't get purchase to get my foot out until my friend got me by the armpits and dragged. The gaiters keep most of the water out, but my foot was submerged long enough so that the boot had filled up somewhat. Squish Squish. The climb up to the saddle between Algoinquin and Iroquois was everything Pennsy et al said. Buttkicking. The snow kept getting deeper. But also softer. With free flowing water underneath. Traffic had been very light ahead of us (one hiker and a dog), so we were working very hard. Every third step was up to your knee in snow, with the bottom 2 inches (your boot) in water. The trail criss-crossed and followed a streambed/gully the whole way . . .and it was a long, wet slog. Reached the intersection (left to Iroquois, right to Algonquin) at 12:45.”

“Had a snack and some gatorade and strapped on our crampons. The snow at this point was a couple of feet deep. We didn't need the crampons on the steep climb up because, although deep, the snow and ice were very soft. Our biggest problem had been collapsing foot holds (You step where someone else had stepped safely before, and instead of holding, the foot rest collapses sending you crashing through 2 feet of snow into water, or, better yet, on a steep slab, sliding back down). But the hikers we met at the intersection had just come from Iroquois. They broke trail on snowshoes, and said there were three hikers barebooting it. 1.1 miles out and back. In the three low spots (one before Boundary Peak, and two between Boundary and Iroquois) the snow was crotch deep or higher. Literally. For me, psychologically, when things get so difficult its ridiculous . . .it actually becomes fun. That is . . .when the trail is long and steep . . it can be a numbing grind. But, when it becomes and hand over hand scramble up boulders . . it can become fun. So . . .the snow up from Lake Colden was a long grind . . .this snow became fun. There were times where I simply could not get purchase after falling through. Ended up flopping around like trying to get out of quick sand. On the other hand, some of the rock slab ascent and descents were awesome. With the Grivel G10s it was just a matter of kicking the toes points in and climbing up.

The views from Iroquois were AWESOME. I haven't mentioned it . . .but the weather was AWESOME. 40 degrees (a bit too warm, 25 would have been better for snow conditions) SUNNY . . .great views. The top of Iroquois was WINDY. Steady breeze at 30- mph with gusts approaching 50 mph. It was hard to stand in gust on the precarious perch of crampons. They tend to skitter across bare rock, and with the wind pushing it was tough. You could really lean way into the wind and still get support. We stood there side by side, arms extended and lean forward as far as we could. The wind tore my pants off too. I had my wind pants unzipped for venting. The wind filled them up (think michelin man) and then popped the waist snaps . .it was pretty funny.”

“From the top of Iroquois we headed back to the junction to Algoinquin (note: we left our packs 1/3 of the way to Iroquois, on the top of Boundary peak . .it made the snow wallowing a lot easier). The trek up Algonquin sapped what was left of my energy. Playing in the snow had taken its toll, and I was tired. We didn't stay long on Algonquin, and headed off. It was about 3:15 pm and the sun was well into its fade. Just off the top of the peak my friend slowed way down . .and started to complain about shooting pains in his knee right knee. Then he stopped. He has a history of knee problems so this did not bode well. We were still in the wind, and well above tree line. We inched our way down into the first section of scrub hemlocks, I sat him down on a boulder, got his crampon, boot, and gaiter off, and then got his knee brace on. It's pretty heavy duty, hinged metal supports. Thankfully, the brace and 3 advil gave him enough to continue on. But it was getting late, and we couldn't trust his knee, so we had to leave Wright for another day. We saw bear tracks below the trail junction with Wright. After that we began to loose snow fast and pretty soon were in mud. Took off the crampons. Hit the flat ground, did outr impressions of Forest fairies, and skipped back up the trail to Marcy dam. Pulled into Marcy dam at 6:30 . . . .the French Canadians were EVERYWHERE. There were easily more than 100 people up there. On the dam alone there was a group of 25 cooing dinner. Headlamps crashing around in the woods. We said F-it and packed up camp, and hiked out. Back at the car at 8:15 pm. Long drive home. In bed by 2:30 am.

It was a great hike. Will have to go back and get Wright as a dayhike at another time.”

“dude, that's hard-core! 40 degrees sounds nice to me...even though it made the snow slushy, at least you weren't freezing to death.

"the wind," suuuuure, LOL! don't worry, i've used that one before too.”

“Lyra -

I was gratefull for the warmer temperatures for one reason . . .my foot was soaked from falling in while getting water.

But . . .if it had been colder, I wouldn't have ppunched through . . .oh well. By the time we got down . . .it was sooo wet and sooo muddy I could wring out both socks. If it had gotten dramatically cold before then . . my feet would have been toast (toast as in . . . not toasty) ;-)”

“nice report lee, sounds like a sood challange. BTW - who let the french-canadians in?”

“The wind blew your pants off? That's a pretty funny image!”

“that sounds awesome lee.”

“That is hard core hiking even in good weather. Those peaks will chew you up. The slushy conditions were better than skim snow that ices over. I went up Skylight on a day with no snow, but the skim that had fallen the day before had frozen over to slick ice. Had to watch every step for fear of sliding off the damn mountain, but finally made it to the summit for great views of Marcy et al. Added the obligatory rock to the cairn for good luck on the way down.

Forty degrees is still great hypothermia weather, which is a possibility on such a haul as you guys made. Ya done good in other words. Glad it turned out great.

BB, the French Canadians have almost taken over the Daks. Why not? More and more Americans are hiking in Canada.”

“i meant the whole trip/report, not just the pants in thing specific.”

“Sure baume.”

“well, it does explain alot violin. :)”

“Buddha Bear --

While recognizing your particular . . .uh . . ..obession with the French,

my comments were not directed at them as an insult. It just happens that as we walked through the dam area the were far far many more french speakers than english. Having made that observation, it is appropriate to note that the closest metropolitan areas are probably Quebec and Montreal. It is a closer and easier for them to get into the ADK than us.

ANY 100 people crashing through the woods and calling back and forth in ANY language would have been disturbing. Let alone the 4 inches of mud. Neither one of us were hungry (we had been snacking constantly) . . . it was threatenig to rain . . .there was no point in sleeping in the mud, packing in the rain . . .(okay . .and listening to the frogs croak in the woods.”

“At somewhere around 3200 feet in elevation . . . in a stream bed on our way up Algonquin . . .I saw a green spotted (I assume) leopard frog. It was S-L-O-W-L-Y kicking around in circles . . .

I yelled . . ."Mr Froggy Mr. Froggy . .run RUN the french are coming THE FRENCH ARE COMING!!!". . . he seemed to cold to care.

So . . .what the heck was he doing up there . . at this time of year???”

“Kicking around in circles?

The warm temps may have brought it temporarily out of hibernation. Just a guess.”

“That is a super trip report lee. Great reading during my lunch break.

Knowing the route makes me feel like I was there with you. I'm glad your friend got down okay with his knee. Saving Wright for another day was probably wise. It's one of the steepest trails I've been on, 650ft (approx) in only .4 of a mile.

I know Artex is going to spaz when he reads this because he wasn't there as well. Thanks for the report. Will there be pics??

btw - I'm surprised the bike guy wasn't still out there trying to get through. That is still one of my top 3 'trail moments.'”

“I just looked up the bear canisters again, and the Bearikade is 1 lb 15 oz while the Garcia is 2.7lbs. That doesn't seem to be a big enough diff to justify the Bearikade price. I thought that the Bearikade weighed closer to 1 lb.”

“And Lee, great trip report. I hope that next time, you have colder conditions.”

“SWEET! Haven't read the reports yet, I'm at work, but will check them out this evening. Just wanted to say awesome you went!! Look forward to reading your report when I get home! :-)

Buttkicking trips rule!!!”

“I'll bet orthopedic surgeons just love Algonquin, Boundary, and Iroquois, and the route up from Colden Lake. After remembering the route, I am trying to remember when I ever visited the Adirondacks and didn't come home with banged-up legs. Maybe back in '75 when I was a mere young'n.

Locations where I took spills: coming down from Algonquin to Colden, near Avalanche Lake, and coming down the cirque from Marcy. Places were I coulda but didn't for some inexplicable reason: Gothics and Indian Pass.

That run to Boundary and Iroquois, then up to Algonquin is a pretty fair day's work in any weather, especially going through Avalanche Pass and around the lake.

For steepness, try the climb of Haystack from Panther Gorge Lean-to. It's about a 66 percent grade and said to be the steepest in the Daks. But the views on the way up are out of this world, even if you are sitting on a rock huffing and puffing while you see them.”

“Geobeet --

Have hiked many times in the "Ice Skim of Death" conditions you described.

In fact, when my friend and I did Marcy six years ago, it was after some massive rain and flooding. We pitched a tent in the woods just before little Marcy, and when we got up the next morning everything had iced over. The trail was a mess. At one point, my friend was standing in front of a waist high rock step, contemplating his next move, he shifted his weight and went forehead down on the rock step. Thank god it didn't split the skin (foreheads are a bloody mess when they go) . . .it did raise a nice welt though. The trail off the other side (towards the col between Skylight and Marcy) was a sheet of ice too. We were easing our way down it when we heard some heavy breathing and grunting . . .two German guys came lunging/running up the trail. Freaking depressing!!! These guys were throwing themselves up this sheet of ice . .by comparison we must have looked like a couple of little old ladies (of course . . .we were carry 50 lb backpacks and they had hydration fanny packs on). (suuuuuure . ..that was the difference!!)”

“and did "the wind" blow your pants off that time too, lee? maybe they were running FROM you. LOL! ooookay, enough of that joke.

you know, the only time i wouldn't laugh my ass off at someone for wearing a fanny pack was if they were hiking...somehow, then, it's cool.”

“<whew>...I can relax now.”

“Pennsy/Artex!!

Glad you guys spotted this thread!! I specifically targeted this loop after seeing your report from this summer.

The trip over to Iroquois and back was a blast . .highlight of the trip playing the snow with crampons. It was hard to resist the urge to launch off some of the rocks into the snow drifts . . .although, after watching me do it twice, my friend reminded me that I had no idea what was under the snow (e.g. pointed stubby trees).

RE: Pictures. We carried a cheap-o CVS disposable camera. When it is developed I will stratch my head a bit and try to figure out what to do. I suppose snail mail to Phil or something. The views were spectacular (although this camera won't do it justice). We did try to get some shots showing snow depth and wind speed. I'll see what comes out.

I am seriously contemplating a hiking camera investment. I will not carry my Minolta 35 mm with lenses and crap . . .but need to do something better than the disposable. Maybe something digital with a good optical zoom.”

“Lyra --
Glad you could gain some chuckles at my expense. Under the windpants I was wearing poly pro long johns . . .so it was no great thrill!! I try not to expose myself tooo often at the tops of mountains.

It is a good thing I didn't lose them on the way in . . .because as Brooke used to say (perhaps before your time Lyra . . .were you around in 1979??) on Friday night "nothing was coming between me and my . .windpants"”

“I used a disposable panorama camera up there one year. I blew the view from Gothics up to 10x30 and had it framed. It hangs over the foot of my bed. Gotta get some balsam branches this winter to bring back the smell. The photo isn't too bad even at that much enlargment, although I would not want to take it up any farther. You may be surprised at what you get. The important thing is to hold the camera still because the shutter speed is not exactly the fastest in the world.

All I remember of Iroquois was about a thousand miles of cripplebrush with a thread of a trail wending through it. It was September and I was wearing shorts, so I got my legs scratched for free.”

“Geo --
We were above most of the brush you describe . . . at least until we fell through the snow.”

“Yeah, I suspected that was one "benefit" you had.

I do have to say I enjoy these Adirondacks threads. It is just about the most challenging hiking I've ever done, although the Knife Edge at Katahdin still awaits me. Gothics is just about primeval, as is Indian Pass. Even the ladders and cables they have in both places don't quite make the passage easy. Gothics took everything I had to give, but the view was worth every bit of it. It gets my vote as the best view in the Daks. There is no easy way up that mountain, or down for that matter.

After that I like Algonquin. Marcy is nice, but usually too crowded at the top. Haystack's views are nice. Colden looking down into Avalanche Lake is also primeval. Not a good place to get vertigo!

BTW, the Noonmark Diner on 73, if still open, is/was a great place for an AYCE breakfast. The nice thing about it was not having to worry about intake, having just shaved off a bunch of pounds on the trail for a week.

I hate the Mountaineer. I never have enough money for all the stuff I want to buy. It's too great a gear shop for my own good! I bought up some interesting Adirondack story books in there. The other neat book store is in Lake Placid: With Pipe and Book. They sell pipes, pipe tobacco, and Adirondacks books. It harkens back to the days of log camps and birch bark canoes. Last time I was there they had some interesting old prints on postcards and I snarfed up a bunch.”

“I can't wait to get up there again myself.

pssssst, Artex.... geobeet said 66 percent grade...

As far as pics go.. I don't know about the disposables, but I've heard many people have good luck getting pics put on CDs. Opening a free Webshots account and uploading photo albums is pretty easy.”

“Geo --

the Noonmark is our traditional post hike breakfast. We usually pack up camp and eat there on the way out of town.

We missed it this year because of the evening departure.


In fact . . .after getting only 4.5 hours of sleep and having my 4 year old crawl into bed with me . . .I was sitting at the breakfast table (after making everyone eggs, bacon and raisin toast) refereeing fights, making more toasts, making coffee, jumping up and down and generally letting my own eggs get cold and stale . . .

when I said to my wife . . ."HEY!!!!!!! I could be at the Noonmark diner having eggs Benedict right now!!!!!"


Family.”

“I know, I know. I remember sitting there pigging out on eggs, pancakes, sausage, OJ and coffee, thinking back on the trip and not wanting to leave. I hate the drive out 73 to the Northway!

I've taken to getting a motel room for the first and last nights of the trip to transition from a long drive up there. I usually like the evening meal of the last night at a place in Lake Placid that has the best steak and homemade bread. Then the Noonmark on the next morning. By the time I pass Cascade Lakes, the eyes start watering up.

Once I stopped at the Adirondacks Museum in Elizabeth on the way home. They had a lean-to and camp set up in one room. Everything but the shelter mice! But it wasn't as nice as the Orebed Brook lean-to.”

“We really are torturing ourselves with this thread.”

“Perhaps this is where I will spent my Thanksgiving weekend.....hummmm”

“Did somebody say 66 percent grade? Dude, I'm there!!

Awesome trip report, Lee. Very glad our Buttkickin' ADK trip thread was of some use to you and you were able to experience a lot of what we did, and then some with the snow! Sounds like an awesome adventure!!”

“Sounds very tempting Pete, don't it? However, I don't think it would be prudent if I backed out of my own PA trip that same weekend. *sigh*

quick off thread comment: Pete, you gonna do a trip report for this past weekend? I wanna see the pic of the Masked Marauder.”

“Yeah, I guess so I'm a little unmotivated right now. Long day ya know. I still haven't finished cleaning all my gear up. I've been trying to work up to it in the last few minutes. I think I'm getting closer, but I can't be sure...

Snowshoeing in the Dak's, Thant has a kinda nice ring to it. I think I am going to ponder that thought for awhile.”

“Given the choice between Haystack and Gothics, I'd have to say Gothics is more challenging and the views more rewarding. All the way up I kept wondering what the he11 I'd gotten myself into. Thought when I hit the ridge it would be easier. Ha! That was just the start of the REAL fun! Don't look down!”