bignslow
Active member
Trail Conditions: Mud down low, ice/packed snow as elevation increases, deeper snow the higher you get.
Equipment Required: Traction devices, snowshoes carried but not used
Trip Report: Left the Loj @ 6:15, frozen mud and a dusting of snow past Marcy Dam all the way to the avalanche camp. Climbing up to Lake Arnold we decided to put on microspikes after roughly 15 minutes of climbing. Increasing snow and ice from Lake Arnold trail all the way to the summit of Colden (some unconsolidated snow near the summit, but snowshoes not necessary yet). Crampons would not have been overkill for this section (but they weren't absolutely needed).
Descended back to Lake Arnold, and back to the junction with the Indian Falls cutoff. Coming across to Indian Falls had the expected amounts of snow and ice with more frequent blowdowns (nothing terrible).
The climb of tabletop was a little icy but easily handled by microspikes. The Van Hovenburg had a handful of blowdowns (worst trail of the day) but still was passable without difficulty. Microspikes stayed on until a few hundred vertical feet below the junction to Phelps.
Frozen Marcy Dam trail had turned to mud by the time we hiked out
Equipment Required: Traction devices, snowshoes carried but not used
Trip Report: Left the Loj @ 6:15, frozen mud and a dusting of snow past Marcy Dam all the way to the avalanche camp. Climbing up to Lake Arnold we decided to put on microspikes after roughly 15 minutes of climbing. Increasing snow and ice from Lake Arnold trail all the way to the summit of Colden (some unconsolidated snow near the summit, but snowshoes not necessary yet). Crampons would not have been overkill for this section (but they weren't absolutely needed).
Descended back to Lake Arnold, and back to the junction with the Indian Falls cutoff. Coming across to Indian Falls had the expected amounts of snow and ice with more frequent blowdowns (nothing terrible).
The climb of tabletop was a little icy but easily handled by microspikes. The Van Hovenburg had a handful of blowdowns (worst trail of the day) but still was passable without difficulty. Microspikes stayed on until a few hundred vertical feet below the junction to Phelps.
Frozen Marcy Dam trail had turned to mud by the time we hiked out
