Eastern High Peaks: 8/17 - 8/19

So after deciding to end work a bit early to have some fun before school, I decided to go on a few adventures. August 15th, 16th were spend on sites 29 and 30 on Long Island of Lake George for a last shebang with a few friends before heading off to school. A whole lot of cleaning up and some car troubles later (crankshaft position sensor, FUN!), I was back home packing up the car to head out again.

The original plan was to do 7 different peaks in 4 days at about 12 miles a day. I think it totaled to be 32 miles or something like that. Our friend, Dan, who planned the trip, forgot to account for fatigue. We ended with 3 peaks done in 3 days, and a total of maybe 18 miles.

We started off from the trailhead on Upper works road, 2.5 hours behind schedule. Grabbed our packs and went! The plan for the day was to go in past Henderson Pond, the Upper and Lower Flowed Lands, over Colden mountain and camp at the site at Lake Arnold. 

Jay, Laura, and Dan at the trailhead

What's hiking without a DUEL?

Henderson Memorial

Since we were behind schedule, we got to Colden Dam around 5 PM. We figured we had about 2.5 hours of light left and weren't too sure what to too. We pondered over some snacks and water. 

Avalanche Pass (L), Colden Lake, and Mount Colden(R)

Dan pumping some water

We realized that there were no opening in any lean to's and most of the campsites were taken up, so we started walking. It was only about half a mile to the ascent and 1.6 miles to the peak from there. How long could it take?

Onward March!

Turns out it was really steep, with a consistent pitch the whole way up. We ended up almost completely running out of water on the way up. Jay, my brother, was really dehydrated and weak. We just below the alpine zone about 20 minutes before sunset, so we started looking for a campsite. Going down to Arnold wasn't really an option at this point.

Laura and Dan scrambling up Colden

 We found a spot that had a bunch of pine needles on the ground so the ground was fairly soft. It was in the trees next to a small cliff, so we were pretty protected from the winds (they were probably around 30mph that night). It was on about a slight pitch with the lowest tree branches about 3 feet above our face. There was no room to set up a tent, so we just slept in sleeping bags. 

Campsite

We decided not to eat dinner that night because bratwurst without water would just suck us out more. We had a few Nature Valley bars and that was it to hold us over for the night. When we set up camp I headed up a bit more to take some snapshots. 

I headed back down and called it a night. I really wanted to get out and get a long exposure shot of the starts, but I wasn't sure where my headlamp was, it was windy, and I didn't want to wake the others up. Oh well, I'll get it next time.

Our "campsite" was just below a cliff, at the top of which was officially the "alpine zone".  The climate and vegetation there is very endangered, and is similar to what's found in the arctic. If I remember right, it's also been there a very long time. Stepping on or sitting on the plants there will kill them. 

We woke up right at sunrise, about 6:10 AM and I scrambled up a bit to get some sunrise pictures.

Sunrise Panoramic

We all got up and headed over Colden down towards Lake Arnold for some water and breakfast. The sun was up over the clouds so it made for some good photography lighting. There was another couple up on the lower peak, and they had some McDonald's breakfast sandwiches. I wonder if they slept up top or just got up really early.

Colden Summit

Iroquois (Left) and Algonquin (Right)

Jay

Dan and Laura

We headed down to Lake Arnold, which was a lot easier than going up Colden. We got our water and cooked up our Bratwurst. It was nice to have some real food. In fact, it was probably the best meal I've ever had. Being hydrated was nice too.

We were off again. The plan was to go down to Marcy Dam, up and over Algonquin back to the Colden Dam area. In order to make it in time, we would have had to skip Wright and Iroquois. Instead, we stopped about half way up Algonquin at a pretty remote campsite. There was a nice waterfall (that was pretty much dry) where we ate and hung out. It was a nice evening just to hang out and relax.

Dan and Laura's Tent

Jay and my tent

Dan coming off the waterfall

Bear Bag

We ate some pasta and tuna on the falls (with the help of our neighbors, our grill ran out of gas and they let us use theirs.), played some cards and called it a night.

In the morning two summit stewards came by and informed us that bear bags are actually illegal in the Eastern High Peaks region. The bears have learned to associate bags with food and will do just about anything to get them. They'll trace the rope back to the knot and cut the knot. If the bag is close enough to the trunk, they'll one-arm it and slash the bag a la pinata style. If it's a small tree, they will push it over. There is one style of bear canisters that are now illegal because one bear (her name is yellow-yellow because she has a yellow tag in each ear) can pop them right open, and is teaching her cubs the same thing. 

Bears are typically afraid of people, and it's getting to the point where they will just walk right up and take a pack. The Steward was telling us that it was raining and a father/son ran into a lean to for refuge and she (yellow-yellow) walked right in, grabbed their bags, and walked right back. We ran into a kid from PA who was doing a 12 day solo and he said she came and took bags from 2 lean to's that he was in. In one, everyone was screaming, yelling, banging pots and pans, and she walked right in, looked at them, took the bag, and walked out. She tore it open, ripped everything out, took the food out, folded the clothes up, put them back, and stitched the bag up and put it back. Er... some of that may have been made up. Anyhooters, the Steward said she wouldn't do anything about it, but if a ranger came in and saw you are using a bear bag they will walk you right out of the park. They rent bear canisters from the ADK Loj (at the Mount Marcy entrance) for $3 a night.

Back on track.... We got the bag down, ate breakfast, and headed on our way to Algonquin. 

Getting down the bear bag

Jay and his Pop Tarts

Off to the trail!

Cliffs across the ravine

Laura climbing some rocks

GO!

Wright peak is only 0.4 miles up off the trail to Algonquin. We dropped our packs in the woods and ran up it. 

Which Way?

Jay and Dan

Dan and a Cairn

It has an awesome view, and this is where we ran into the Summit Steward again. Her job is to hike the mountain in the morning, inform people of the ADK's, make sure they stay off of the Vegetation, and show them around a bit. She pointed out the other 45 high peaks to us, took our picture, and showed us the plane wreck. I don't remember much about it other than it was a big cargo plane that was off track, crashed, and it took a long time to find them. Parts were everywhere on the top of the mountain, and quite a few of them are still up there. 

Looking North of Wright

Whiteface is out there somewhere, the ski jumps are middle left.

Memorial Plaque

Landing gear

Engine

Summit Steward having a chat

Hooligans!

Back en route to Algonquin!

Summit of Wright from Algonquin

Dan and Laura coming up Algonquin

Hazaa!

Iroquois from Algonquin

Colden from Algonquin

The plan was to get Iroquois too, but we had a pokey who thought she couldn't make it. We hiked back to the parking lot, pretty desperately, and headed home. 

With a stop at Five Guys, of course. 

Unfortunately, our stomachs didn't exactly agree with all the grease. 

This was definitely a live-and-learn experience. Next time we do it, we're definitely planning out a feasible amount of hiking in a day; coming in from the Marcy welcome center entrance (less walking and bear canisters), setting up a base camp with a claimed lean to, and bringing a smaller core pack for the hiking, while leaving the rest at camp. The most tiring part of the hike was probably having a 45lb pack on. I felt like I was one the moon once I took it off to go up Wright. I've already been talking to some kids out here in school about doing it next summer. In the mean time, let's go skiing.