una_dogger
Well-known member
I set out on the road at 6:00 am on a foggy, wednesday morning in Vermont, headed for the ADK Log -- to meet up with HighonLIfe for the first time to hike Colden and Tabletop.
Somewhere between Whitehall and Fort Ann, NY; I missed a turn and aimlessly drove forth on the misty country roads for about twenty miles before realizing my mistake. My VT Gazeteer's New York margins had exhuasted thier limits by this point, and I had no idea what to do besides head back the way I came and correct my mistake. HighonLife's words "I like an early start" echoed in my mind............
<enter long gap of anxiety riddled driving where I realized I'd be SUPER late but sure didn't want another "en route to Daks" speeding ticket>
I rounded the corner off 73 headed down to the Loj and during a miraculous nanosecond of cell reception, my phone rang -- it was HighonLife, and I was about 45 minutes late. (Gulp). Never having met HOL, I offered up my sincere apologies and hoped we'd still be hiking together. As many of you here already know, HOL is an amazingly positive thinking and honest person , and she was flexible enough to not only wait for me but also to modify our plans for the day due to lost time. PHEW!
I laced up my boots and we hit the trail, headed for Colden. I was really grateful that the day was off to a great start despite my tardiness, and that we were hitting it off. HOL's energy and enthusiasm is inspiring and contagious, and I knew we'd be good hiking friends. We cruised up the trail to the Dam, pausing to take in the views. It was a GORGEOUS sunny day, slightly cooler than the day I hiked Big Slide just four days earlier, with very low humidity and just a few bugs.
We turned toward Avalanche Camp and within what seemed like a few minutes we were heading up the rocky lake Arnold Trail. We paused at Lake Arnold for a snack in preparation for the climb up Colden. I had never been to Lake Arnold before, and its someplace I'd love to revisit and perhaps camp.
The climb up Colden was steady. We reached the first false summit and the views were outstanding! I looked over to the true summit and wondered, "gee, I wonder if that's really Colden?". False summits nearly always bring that thought to my mind...hee hee. HOL assured me that it "really just looks farther away than it is" and sure enough, after a quick descent and rocky scramble up, we were climbing through the lemon squeezer created by the big rock below Colden's summit. Total time to reach it was about 3.5 hours? Good swift hike and a GREAT workout!!!!
HOL pointed out the true summit to me, and took a great shot of Terra and I bagging our 12th ADK46 peak! Yay!
We then explored the slabs on the summit and took in the *amazing views*. Colden is a beautiful place!
We turned to head back, and above us were some really menancing dark clouds. We hotfooted it back down to Lake Arnold, thinking we were about to be in a thunderstorm, but pleasantly the storm drifted past, and it never rained where we were. We headed back down the trail and then took the right hand side trail headed to Indian Falls. It was a first time for both of us on this trail. Its a rocky trail not unlike the Lake Arnold Trail, but as we climbed the sounds of the falls got closer and we got a glimpse of the falls through the trees.
We had a super lunch break at Indian Falls. I thought, "its really nice to meet someone who's got more energy than I do, for a change". We hung out and enjoyed the view of Algonquin while Terra cooled herself in water.
We never did get to Tabletop this fine day, but enjoyed a wonderful day of hiking in the Daks. On our way back down to the Dam, we are pretty sure we spooked a bear in the woods. The stream was on our left, separated from the trail by a thin strip of forest. Suddenly and immediately in the woods to our left, we heard some of the loudest and most powerful thrashing in the woods I have ever experienced. The air was alive with energy and we both looked at eachother wide eyed and exclaimed "BEAR!", I instinctively called to to Terra, who was one foot into the woods alerted by the sounds, and she came right to us. Good dog!
Need I say we exerted our briskest hiking pace of the day from this point onward ??? While crossing Marcy Dam we took one last look, soaking in the incredible vista. As with most hikes, the last mile seemed bittersweet to me and went by too fast. I slowed down and tried to savor every step. Soon enough, though, we were back at the Loj.
What a great day of hiking!!! A big thank you to HighonLife for being such a great trail guide and hiking partner. It was a great day in the woods (as if there is any-such-thing to the contrary!) and as usual as I was driving home, my thoughts centered on the question, "When can I come back and do this again!".
Somewhere between Whitehall and Fort Ann, NY; I missed a turn and aimlessly drove forth on the misty country roads for about twenty miles before realizing my mistake. My VT Gazeteer's New York margins had exhuasted thier limits by this point, and I had no idea what to do besides head back the way I came and correct my mistake. HighonLife's words "I like an early start" echoed in my mind............
<enter long gap of anxiety riddled driving where I realized I'd be SUPER late but sure didn't want another "en route to Daks" speeding ticket>
I rounded the corner off 73 headed down to the Loj and during a miraculous nanosecond of cell reception, my phone rang -- it was HighonLife, and I was about 45 minutes late. (Gulp). Never having met HOL, I offered up my sincere apologies and hoped we'd still be hiking together. As many of you here already know, HOL is an amazingly positive thinking and honest person , and she was flexible enough to not only wait for me but also to modify our plans for the day due to lost time. PHEW!
I laced up my boots and we hit the trail, headed for Colden. I was really grateful that the day was off to a great start despite my tardiness, and that we were hitting it off. HOL's energy and enthusiasm is inspiring and contagious, and I knew we'd be good hiking friends. We cruised up the trail to the Dam, pausing to take in the views. It was a GORGEOUS sunny day, slightly cooler than the day I hiked Big Slide just four days earlier, with very low humidity and just a few bugs.
We turned toward Avalanche Camp and within what seemed like a few minutes we were heading up the rocky lake Arnold Trail. We paused at Lake Arnold for a snack in preparation for the climb up Colden. I had never been to Lake Arnold before, and its someplace I'd love to revisit and perhaps camp.
The climb up Colden was steady. We reached the first false summit and the views were outstanding! I looked over to the true summit and wondered, "gee, I wonder if that's really Colden?". False summits nearly always bring that thought to my mind...hee hee. HOL assured me that it "really just looks farther away than it is" and sure enough, after a quick descent and rocky scramble up, we were climbing through the lemon squeezer created by the big rock below Colden's summit. Total time to reach it was about 3.5 hours? Good swift hike and a GREAT workout!!!!
HOL pointed out the true summit to me, and took a great shot of Terra and I bagging our 12th ADK46 peak! Yay!
We then explored the slabs on the summit and took in the *amazing views*. Colden is a beautiful place!
We turned to head back, and above us were some really menancing dark clouds. We hotfooted it back down to Lake Arnold, thinking we were about to be in a thunderstorm, but pleasantly the storm drifted past, and it never rained where we were. We headed back down the trail and then took the right hand side trail headed to Indian Falls. It was a first time for both of us on this trail. Its a rocky trail not unlike the Lake Arnold Trail, but as we climbed the sounds of the falls got closer and we got a glimpse of the falls through the trees.
We had a super lunch break at Indian Falls. I thought, "its really nice to meet someone who's got more energy than I do, for a change". We hung out and enjoyed the view of Algonquin while Terra cooled herself in water.
We never did get to Tabletop this fine day, but enjoyed a wonderful day of hiking in the Daks. On our way back down to the Dam, we are pretty sure we spooked a bear in the woods. The stream was on our left, separated from the trail by a thin strip of forest. Suddenly and immediately in the woods to our left, we heard some of the loudest and most powerful thrashing in the woods I have ever experienced. The air was alive with energy and we both looked at eachother wide eyed and exclaimed "BEAR!", I instinctively called to to Terra, who was one foot into the woods alerted by the sounds, and she came right to us. Good dog!
Need I say we exerted our briskest hiking pace of the day from this point onward ??? While crossing Marcy Dam we took one last look, soaking in the incredible vista. As with most hikes, the last mile seemed bittersweet to me and went by too fast. I slowed down and tried to savor every step. Soon enough, though, we were back at the Loj.
What a great day of hiking!!! A big thank you to HighonLife for being such a great trail guide and hiking partner. It was a great day in the woods (as if there is any-such-thing to the contrary!) and as usual as I was driving home, my thoughts centered on the question, "When can I come back and do this again!".
