Mount Marcy, Adirondack State Park, New York

“Has anyone hiked up Mt. Marcy on the Van Hoevenberg Trail? In one day? I'm wondering how vigorous this hike is, this time of year. Its 7 miles up and 7 miles? I'd love to hear from people who have done this hike in one late spring day.

Thanks!”

“Okay all you tt'ers, who mounted Marcy?”

“And what was Adir doing on Dack?”

“I mounted Marcy last June with MsKB & BHo. That's right...all three of us mounted her together!

juliezing ~ we went from South Meadows camping area (adding 2 miles in each direction) to Marcy Dam and then took the Van Hoevenberg Trail up and back - roughly 16 miles RT. Ir was early June-ish. Not very vigorous at all as far as Daks standards go, IMO. YMMV.

Here's the TR if you are interested:
http://www.adventurematters.com/trnesbt5.htm”

“lilmountaingirl, "taking in the porn"??”

“Depends largely what kind of shape you're in. As LMG said, by Adirondack standards it's not very vigorous. But Adirondack standards are a lot higher than most Eastern trails.

My rule of thumb is that if you can do 12 miles in Virginia you will get about 8 in the Daks. If you can do 20 in Virginia, 14 in the Daks is not vigorous. But there are trails in the Daks were six is good progress. Van Hoevenberg is not one of those.”

“lilmountaingirl, "taking in the porn"??”
hikenman
9:23:48 AM

Yah...Backpacking Porn. ;)”

“Good TT, LMG, brings back memories.”

“I hiked up Mt Marcy once, from someplace in the 'dacks, up some trail I don't remember the name of.
:)”

“A lot of help you are, Twigeater.

>8^]”

“More likely than not she was blinded by all the beauty around her and lost track of where she was.”

“Dang good report, LMG!

That redhead does have the best smile........................and you are a close second!!”

“That redhead does have the best smile........................and you are a close second!!”
MarkO
2:37:16 PM

Which redhead? Katie or Brad? LOL ;)

How you doin' anyway? Janet? The kids? I miss y'all out there in the East!”

“If you're planning on going this year, be ready for snow above 3500 feet. I've heard reports that there is still 2-3 feet of snow up high.

Under normal conditions, Marcy is quite doable in a day.”

“Considering the number of people who have mounted her, I'm certain that Marcy is doable in a day.”

“I hiked up Mt Marcy once, from someplace in the 'dacks, up some trail I don't remember the name of.
:)”
twigeater

I remember that.”

“You all do realize that Marcy is a dude?”

“Even more incriminating for you, "he" being doable in a day:)”

“No help here, I hiked up Marcy from the Marcy/Skylight col.
Up the steep side.”

“Okay, let me see if I can dig more info out of my failing memory...

A buttkicker trip in summer 2003 (or 2004?, camped at...John's Brook maybe? (parked at the garden) and the name of the trail - Van Hoevenberg - sounds familiar, LOL...I remember an easy trail, lots of time to spend on the peak, took a different way down...”

“Ummm, that's the Johns Brook trail twiggy. The Van Hoevenberg trail goes up to Marcy from Marcy Dam.

Both of those trails are fairly moderate. Manuka took the harder trail from wherever. From Four Corners (the col between Marcy and Skylight - there used to be a lean-to there before they took out all the lean-tos above 4,000 feet) the trail is steeper, but pretty spectacular with views to Haystack on one side and Colden and Algonquin on the other side. How you get to Four Corners is also a test. The trail up from Lake Colden follows The Flume and then climbs to Lake Tear before reaching Four Corners. From the other side it comes up out of Panther Gorge even more steeply.

However you get to Marcy it is good. I liked the photo of the beer bottle and lime in the feet looking toward Lake Placid.

My best time on top was when a cloud was blowing over the mountain and it would blot out the view in fog and then open up to reveal the view, then close in again. Very eerie!

For my money, the view from Algonquin is better than March, and the view from Gothics is the best in the Daks. Gothics is not for the faint of heart or the weak, but the view is well worth the effort. Hint: blazes point straight up. And when you get to the steep part, don't pull on the cripplebrush to climb or you might come up with a handful of brush and roots and see the mountain going by at a high rate of speed. It's not all that well rooted.”

“the view from Gothics is the best in the Daks.
Geobeet
9:57:41 AM
5/22/08

I have to disagree with you Geo. You can't see Gothics if you're standing on it. ;-)

Although the view from Pyramid Peak, Gothic's sub-peak, is simply amazing.”

“I wanna go to the Daks. I've never been. One day when I make it up there, i will plan on very looooow mileage :)”

““the view from Gothics is the best in the Daks.
Geobeet
9:57:41 AM
5/22/08

I have to disagree with you Geo. You can't see Gothics if you're standing on it. ;-)

lumberzac
8:05:57 AM

There is no view from Gothics! You liars!

”

“Enjoyed the trip report. Great Pics :)”

“Well no, there's no view from Gothics on a day when a cloud is sitting on top. And there's no view from Katahdin or Mt. Washington on days when clouds are sitting on top. Or Everest, or McKinley, or Rainier. Shoot, there are days when people are standing on Dolly Sods and can't see Dolly Sods when a cloud is sitting there.”

“Here's what you missed LMG:


”

“View from Pyramid


View from Gothics
”

“Dang...those are nice pics Geo & LZ...I gotta get back there. Last summer was my 4th trip up Marcy and the first time I wasn't socked in.”

“I still have yet to get a picture from Haystack. First time up, you couldn't see far through the smoky haze from a Canadian Forest Fire. Second time, my camera broke. The other times I never made the summit due to bad weather.”

“BTW LMG, the trip we did when we went over Gothics was a clearer day than the first time I summited it.”

“I think I vaguely remember that peak now. I had come over Gothics, which took a good amount of stuffing out of me as I recall. I think I just turned around, took a look, and kept working my way down the ridge. I know I didn't take a photo from that peak. But your photo looks nice.

I took a photo with a disposable panoramic camera from Gothics. Blew it up to 30x10, had it framed, and it hangs over the foot of my bed. You might want to do the same with your shot from Pyramid.

Haystack is a bear. Coming up from Panther Gorge the trail is about the steepest I've seen over two-thirds of a mile.

Can't remember now if it was Saddleback or Basin, but I think Saddleback. I was climbing up a rock face that was getting pretty near vertical, turned around to look down, and hugged that mountain for all it was worth.”

“Geo, that first pic looks like any place on the AT in New Hampshire or Maine. Gotta get back there. Anyone wanna buy a farm?”

“Haystack is a bear. Coming up from Panther Gorge the trail is about the steepest I've seen over two-thirds of a mile.

Can't remember now if it was Saddleback or Basin, but I think Saddleback. I was climbing up a rock face that was getting pretty near vertical, turned around to look down, and hugged that mountain for all it was worth.”
Geobeet
11:43:04 AM
5/22/08

Yeah Haystack from the gorge is on my to-do list. Saddleback is the peak with the cliff. Both time I've done it, I've gone down that "trail".

Fun times, can't wait to hike the Range again.”

“Ummm, that's the Johns Brook trail twiggy. The Van Hoevenberg trail goes up to Marcy from Marcy Dam

see, I know nothing...”

“Jah!”

“OMG! Thanks a bunch, now I'm gonna have to move above the mason dixon line so I can be closer to thooooooose mountains in the pictures.”

“It will make you a better person.

/s/ a Virginia survivor”

“Sounds like we're close to a convert. Come on move. There aren't enough TTers that live in Upstate NY.”

“My favorite times in the Daks have been in late September when people have been largely absent during the week. On weekends they come out in force for the fall color, but from Monday to Friday I had the place almost to myself. One year I got the last snow of summer and two days later the first snow of autumn. Met my first pine martin at a lean-to along Johns Brook and had a chipmunk lean on my boot while it begged for Gorp a few miles down that same trail. A berserk red squirrel used my tent as a slide one night and many other red squirrels slide down the food bag rope to help lighten my load.

The memories are vivid. I have vivid memories of scenes that never could be captured by a camera - the smell of balsam breaking out on the timberline, a snow squall coming in and swirling around me while on the summit of Colden, looking down from Colden to Avalanche Lake below, the view westward from Algonquin of ridges and peaks stretching to infinity, water rushing down the flume of Feldspar Brook, a beaver bog near the divide between Marcy and Colden, tiny Lake Arnold in the fog, picturesque Lake Tear appearing pretty much the same as it did for a geological survey party a hundred years earlier, a white birch forest on the Klondike Trail and many other wonderful little places, critters, and events. And all that comes from just four trips over about 25 years, only one of which was for more than a week.”

“That gives me an idea Geo. Balsam impregnated photo paper.”

“I tried mightily to take the balsam smell home. I bought balsam pillows in Lake Placid. They lasted less than a week. I tried snipping balsam twigs from a friend's Christmas tree when it came down. That lasted even less time. I bought balsam scented candles when I could find them, then decided I really didn't want to burn candles no matter what they smell like. Short of having fresh balsam greens shipped down every week, I just give up. But yeah, the thought crossed my mind more than once. Throw in a balsam scent, stir up a stiff bit of wind, and that photo would jump to life in a flash.”

“This has been a wonderful reverie. Thanks lilmountaingirl for stirring the pot.”

“Glad I could help :) I heart the Daks!

Except now I want to go find some balsam to smell...”

“I know, I know.

Sometimes when I get too homesick for the Daks, it helps to remember those skeeters that come out in August and have FAA numbers on their wings. I came back home one summer with what had been a white tee shirt at the start of the trip. It was then a gray tee shirt with brown polka dots where blood had coagulated from the skeeter bites. I was like a human pin cushion and it itched like mad. That's why I started going there after Labor Day when the skeeters had gone.”

“I have climbed Mount Marcy twice. The first time made camp for the night on the way down. The second time went up and back the same day.”

“We've trained the skeeters to only go after tourists. ;-)

It's the deer flies that don't play by the rules. They are also known to carry off pets and children.”

“The reason there aren't enough TTers in Upstate NY is that there aren't enough JOBS in Upstate NY! :)

I have good memories of my trips to the Adirondacks. Thanks for the observations in this thread that have helped me to recall them. Hope to get back someday and make more.”

““The reason there aren't enough TTers in Upstate NY is that there aren't enough JOBS in Upstate NY! :)

ki0eh
7:55:09 AM
5/23/08

Quiet you. I'm trying to attract the TT ladies to my area. ;-)”

“Hey Zac, is the Noonmark Diner still serving up lumberjack-sized breakfasts?”