Gray to Marcy Bushwhack

[bachand]

Wondering how the trail/path is from Gray's summit to Marcy. Is it a well defind path or a maze of heard paths. I have good route finding skills but do not want to be walking in circles if there are many paths left and right. Is it better to hike to Gray and back to Lake Tear then on to Marcy or try for Marcy from Gray?

Marc Bachand

 

[Rivet]

I was on Gray Sunday.
Once you past the summit (there is a sign), you get a visual of Marcy. I followed the path a little ways, but it became "thick" and I had a dog with me. So I opted to return to Four Corners and climb from there. This adds 500 feet more climbing.
I don't think it would be hard to bushwack to Marcy from Gray as you have a visual reference point, and once you reach around 5000 feet it is open rock.

 

[Rik]

From a route finding perspective this is pretty easy because you can walk towards the cone of Marcy. It is a little tight and will scratch you up pretty good. Don't wear shorts. I found that when you start to get frustrated with it is about the same time you come out into the open. In winter you walk over the top of the scrub.

 

[teleskier]

I did this route about a year and a half ago, and found it pretty easy to follow, actually. The path is very well defined with no branching, it's just pretty thick and scratchy, that's all. At times you have to hunt for it, but that's only in the places where the growth is thick enough that you have trouble seeing the ground. Anyway, it was a nice route, and soon enough you're on the rocks of the summit cone - definitely better than going all the way back down to four corners and up.

 

[percious]

Yep, you need pants for this whack... Long sleeve shirt wouldnt hurt either. Expect to have stinging pine tree scratches. Its pretty easy to follow though. Just thick.

-percious

 

[ken]

went last year - it took 45 minutes - wasn't too bad - it was raining so i couldn't see marcy... and my new gore-tex rainsuit had no holes in it when i was done so the brush must have been pretty soft (now i have lots of holes in the pants).

 

[hillman1]

I did it a few months ago. The brush was thick enough to catch on my zipper tag on my bag, open it up, and I lost my glasses somewhere between half way and treeline on Marcy. It's a blue case with brand new glasses in it. There is no way to find them, but if you see them, please email me...