Adirondack High Peaks

“My 10 year old son and I are planning on becoming 46ers. Can anyone reccommend a peak to begin with, as far as being easiest and shortest and one of the 46 of course.
thanks”

“jr - there are alot of great threads on this site you should check out. Run a search using the keywords adirondack and adk.

Your choice as to which high peak to first conquer will depend on a number of variables, firstly - dayhike or overnight?

Good Luck and watch out for dem bears!”

“I see you signed up for the Marcy trip (Welcome aboard); I thought that would be a good place to start for me (at the top).

I don't know if you're planning to bring your 10-year-old son along though. Not that I wouldn't want him along, but that trip will be covering a lot of distance for a weekend overnighter, even though most of it is along relatively mild terrain. I know for myself that when I was at that age, if I hiked 10 miles on completely flat terrain, I was just about done hiking for like the next month. Anyway, just some food for thought....”

“do it soon, I hear Marcy is sinking 9 1/2 inches every year”

“PhantomSoul
I did not realize I had signed up for a Marcy Trip? If you can inform whoever necessary of the error I would greatly appreciate it. In the future I'll make sure my son is around to keep me from getting lost. We are planning a trip to Mt.Marcy though. I planned on about 3 miles in, set up a base camp, on day one. Day two, Mt. Marcy, at a leisurely pace. Day three get up, break camp and head home.(Van Hoevenberg Trail)
Everyone, thanks for the input.”

“jrdubois20 invest in a bear canister if you don't already have one.”

“Cascade is a good first. A short hike yet with some challenging elevation gain and a rocky summit with 360 views.”

“My advice is essentially your plan. Starting at the Adirondack Loj, hike up the Lake Colden past the interior outpost. Set up camp, eat, sleep, wake, day hike the Opalescent through Lake Tear of the Clouds and get to Marcy. If you've got more energy and you are making good time (if you've never hiked before, probably not) on your way back down Marcy you can hit up Mt Skylight, which is a very short detour. Hike back into Colden.

Rent a bear canister at the High Peaks Information Center, they're very cheap, bring a backpacking stove (no fires allowed in the Eastern High Peaks Region), a water filter (Lake Colden is heavily trafficked), some good food for dinner (first nights dinner doesn't need to be packed in the canister because you're eating it the same day before you sleep), all your usual gear.

This may be a good estimate of your hiking capability: if you don't need to rest before you reach Marcy Dam on the first day.

For future trips, I would suggest leaving from HPIC/ADK Loj again, start at Van Hoevenberg trail, but bear right, head up Wright Peak, Algonquin Peak, Boundary & Iroquois Mt all on the same day, and then camp at Colden. For this you'll need to get an early start, so I suggest driving up the night before and setting up camp at South Meadow (which is free, and can be done in the dark if you come in late), wake up early the next day and head up.

If you don't have time, don't do Boundary/Iroquois. Boundary doesn't count as a 46'er anyway. With that option, this is a very very doable route up.

From Colden you can do Mt. Colden (not as high as Marcy but almost as tough if you come up from the lake side). You can either hang out at the Lake the rest of the day, or go with your packs and set up camp somewhere else. Of if you had a lot of energy when you woke up, do Mt. Marshall first (herd path, get the guide, not just the map at the HPIC) and then do Colden.”

“Whistlerny
Thanks for the great info. I'm getting the maps out and studying!
Thanks again”

“Best 46er to hike first would be Couchsacrgaga!

Coochie! ... Yeah!!!

;-)”