DSettahr
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- Apr 23, 2005
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After staying at Heart Lake for a few days, I headed back south to my car, which I'd left at Upper Works when I hiked in over Marcy (see this thread for trip report). My original plan had been to hike south through Indian Pass, but I decided to give Algonquin a try with a full pack so that I'd have the opportunity to also hike out to Iroquois Peak, which I'd not done yet.
Left Heart Lake at about 8 am and made it to the summit of Algonquin at about 10:45- not bad for doing it with a full pack on my back. I passed one hiker who was one his way down, and a few other day hikers slowly making their way up, but I was alone when I made it to the summit- a rarity for a summer friday. May have had something to do with the fact that it was pouring rain and the wind was about 20-30 mph at the summit. It was a lot tougher making my way down the southside to the col on the wet rocks with my pack, but I did it without any mishaps.
Dropped my pack at the junction with the herd path and headed south along the ridge. The herd path to Iroquois is very muddy in spots- almost a foot deep if you aren't carefull and take a wrong step. When I got to Boundary, the rain stopped and the clouds lifted somewhat, but came back in and obscured the view by the time I made it to Iroquois. For what is technically a herd path, the trail was well marked and easy to follow- just make sure you don't miss the junction. There is a tiny yellow marker on a tree that says "Iroquois" right where the trail down from Algonquin makes a sharp turn to the left.
The trail back down to Lake Colden is extremely steep, and had water running down the middle of it for its entire length. When there wasnt a stream running down the trail, the trail was in the middle of a stream. Definately not a trail to attempt if there has been a lot of rain.
All of the lean tos I passed on my way out through flowed lands were empty, but I passed about 5 groups of hikers on their way in, and every single group stopped to ask me about lean to availability. By the time I made it back to my car, the sun had of course decided to come out and I drove out of the parking lot under clear skies. Figures.
Left Heart Lake at about 8 am and made it to the summit of Algonquin at about 10:45- not bad for doing it with a full pack on my back. I passed one hiker who was one his way down, and a few other day hikers slowly making their way up, but I was alone when I made it to the summit- a rarity for a summer friday. May have had something to do with the fact that it was pouring rain and the wind was about 20-30 mph at the summit. It was a lot tougher making my way down the southside to the col on the wet rocks with my pack, but I did it without any mishaps.
Dropped my pack at the junction with the herd path and headed south along the ridge. The herd path to Iroquois is very muddy in spots- almost a foot deep if you aren't carefull and take a wrong step. When I got to Boundary, the rain stopped and the clouds lifted somewhat, but came back in and obscured the view by the time I made it to Iroquois. For what is technically a herd path, the trail was well marked and easy to follow- just make sure you don't miss the junction. There is a tiny yellow marker on a tree that says "Iroquois" right where the trail down from Algonquin makes a sharp turn to the left.
The trail back down to Lake Colden is extremely steep, and had water running down the middle of it for its entire length. When there wasnt a stream running down the trail, the trail was in the middle of a stream. Definately not a trail to attempt if there has been a lot of rain.
All of the lean tos I passed on my way out through flowed lands were empty, but I passed about 5 groups of hikers on their way in, and every single group stopped to ask me about lean to availability. By the time I made it back to my car, the sun had of course decided to come out and I drove out of the parking lot under clear skies. Figures.
