ALGonquin Bob
Well-known member
The last time I hiked, in March, I made it only as far as Marcy Dam and had to turn back. Those damn kidney stones aggravated me beyond my ability to tolerate. What a pitiful thing to be a Winter 46er that can barely make it to friggin’ Marcy DAM! April brought a resolution to the stones issue, and extremely mild weather brought an early beginning to paddling season. Several canoe and kayak trips later, summer is over, and thoughts return to the trail. My goal in March was to hike up Cliff Mtn. and reach #45 in my second round of 46. Last weekend, I was in Lake George for an Adirondack Mountain Club board meeting, and extended my weekend to try this hiking thing again. One of my friends, Manon, was in Lake Placid to participate in a fundraising event called “Peaks for Progress”, so we met up at my friends Terri and David’s place, TMAX & TOPOS HOSTEL (formerly The Jackrabbit) Saturday night. After a restful night in the bunks, we arose early and headed over to ADK’s North Country property, the HPIC at Heart Lake. My hiking companion had all of 5 peaks knocked off the list of 46 (she hiked up Wright the day before), and was uncertain as to whether she could hike all the way up to the Feldspar Brook area with a full pack. This lady paddles her canoe (2 canoes, and going on 3) and sea kayak locally and on back country trips, hikes quite a lot, and is a member of our local WNY SAR team, so I encouraged Manon to come with me on my second try at lowly Cliff Mountain. I brought my big Mountainsmith pack with me (needs repair after only 18 months) and carried a bear-resistant canister for both of our food. We signed the register and left from the High Peaks Information Center at the Van Hoevenberg trail head in cool temps and a light mist. At Marcy Dam (I‘m a bit chilly, but otherwise still feeling good!), we turned onto the trail toward Avalanche Camp as the sun came out, dried up all the rain an eensie-weensie bit, and made it all better. I think it was the huge group lean-to at Marcy Dam that lay dismantled with a sign indicating the site was closed; not sure what’s happening there.
PHOTOS http://tinyurl.com/Cliff-Redfield-Sept2010
As we hiked uphill, I narrated and told tales up to Lake Arnold, then descended a trail that was at first very rough, then quite nice. We saw several hikers on their way out, so were encouraged about getting a lean-to for ourselves. When we approached the Feldspar LT, we heard voices and continued to the Uphill Brook lean-to. Upon reaching that LT, we found it empty. The adjacent tent sites were quite muddy, so I was happy to be in the shelter. There is a DEC bear-resistant food barrel near the camping area by the lean-to, and we used that for food storage. After dropping off our sleeping and cooking gear, we crossed the trail and began walking on the very easy to follow herd path. The Cliff and Redfield paths coincide for a few minutes, until we reached a large cairn in the middle of the trail. The Redfield path continues straight along the brook, whereas the path to Cliff turns right and heads along a muddy path, soon joining the original herd path and old corduroy that intermittently lines the trail. The only previous time I had reached the top of Cliff was a winter trek directly up from Flowed Land. My first attempt at Cliff was by this muddy route, but back then, there was no well-defined path and I turned back after getting disoriented on the false summit. My only memories of this route were the initial cliff face and the jumble of trees on top of the false summit.
We soon reached that cliff face and climbed up. Then we came to another steep rocky face, then another, then another, and another, and another. I didn’t remember that! Cliff certainly earns it name. Manon, who was uncertain as to whether she could hike up to the lean-to, was having a wonderful time on the challenging faces of Cliff! We finally reached the point where I had turned back in ‘02, and descended briefly into the shallow col before our final climb to glory…. errr…. the top of Cliff - not quite 4000 feet. It was great to hit #45 on my second round, and my friend ticked off peak #6 while thoroughly enjoying herself. After a rest on top, snacks, and “hero” photos, we climbed back down, using a length of lightweight line in Manon’s pack to assist us on a couple of the steeper descents. Once we hit the woods again, we made a quick exit to the lean-to and a well-earned rest. We had discussed doing Redfield, but it was late, and we had done enough for a day (and I’m old). We had dinner, and I hit the sack at 7 o’clock. Because I had set my alarm for 5AM, I was quite surprised to open my eyes in the morning to see daylight. It was 7AM and we had slept nearly 12 hours. Gotta love camping sleep. Nobody else around to make noise and disturb us. Well-rested now, we had a quick breakfast, packed up all our gear, and headed back up the herd path to Mt. Redfield with a light pack. I hadn’t planned on hiking up Redfield, and we both knew that the extra miles would cost us in the form of a very late return to Buffalo, but my friend wanted to top out on Redfield, so we went. We soon met a hiker, Paul, who had stopped by the LT the night before. Paul is from Ohio; he flew into Albany, drove to Upper Works, and hiked into Lake Colden to camp and work toward his 46. I think Redfield was to be his 36th peak. I can remember that excitement of getting close. I must say that the path along Uphill Brook to Redfield is one of my favorite hikes, so I enjoyed myself, and we both stopped to take photos of the beautiful fall colors that seemed to have peaked just days before. The climb want by fairly quickly, and we reached the summit table just after passing Paul on his way down (headed to Cliff). We had been hiking in a light mist - actually, we were inside a cloud or fog bank, depending on your perspective. We didn’t envy Paul’s hiking up Cliff in these extra wet conditions, but I think he was smiling all the way up. The fog was our only view from the top o’ Redfield, so after a brief stop for a snack and a photo, we headed back down.
I told Manon that I would lead her out to the Loj on a different, and very scenic route, so we grabbed our gear out of the LT and headed “down” (we had to climb up first) along the Opalescent toward Lake Colden. If you’ve never walked this trail, you should. There are two very impressive flumes in the Opalescent, and we paused by the edge to peer down into the deep rock cut to see the water falling into the chasm. Once we reached Lake Colden, we hiked along the shore with a view across the lake of the DEC Interior Outpost cabin. Next came Avalanche Lake. O…M…G! It’s another of my favorite places, and the slow climb along the shore gives one plenty of time to take in the view. We heard voices coming from within the trap dike, and I told Manon how I had climbed up there to the top of Mt. Colden back in ‘05, just 4 months after having major surgery for a serious condition (all better now). Because of the fog and low contrast, views into the dike were excellent, and I took a few photos to illustrate. My friend enjoyed the chutes & ladders along Avalanche Lake, before the rugged shoreline transitioned into a short climb up into Avalanche Pass. And guess what? Av Pass is another one of my favorite places. I think Manon likes it too, because of the beauty of the closed-in rock faces, the cool mossy shade, and that day, because of the 2 deer that stood on the trail facing us from about 50 feet away. The deer stepped off the trail and stood as far away as they could until we passed, than they came back up and continued along the trail. We both managed to get a couple photos of the anterless deer. The top of the pass is impressive in its own way, with all the dead trees and debris that remains after the side of Mt. Colden slid off and filled the pass in 1999. Soon, we were back at the junction of Avalanche Camp, and we made our exit on good fast trails. It was after 7PM when we started back to Buffalo, and we arrived back home at about 2AM on a work day. It was worth it. Manon told me that, before our hike, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to attempt doing all of the 46 high peaks. After our strenuous and very scenic hikes in beautiful, misty, fall weather and intense autumn color, she told me, “I’m hooked!”. We all know that feeling.
PHOTOS http://tinyurl.com/Cliff-Redfield-Sept2010
As we hiked uphill, I narrated and told tales up to Lake Arnold, then descended a trail that was at first very rough, then quite nice. We saw several hikers on their way out, so were encouraged about getting a lean-to for ourselves. When we approached the Feldspar LT, we heard voices and continued to the Uphill Brook lean-to. Upon reaching that LT, we found it empty. The adjacent tent sites were quite muddy, so I was happy to be in the shelter. There is a DEC bear-resistant food barrel near the camping area by the lean-to, and we used that for food storage. After dropping off our sleeping and cooking gear, we crossed the trail and began walking on the very easy to follow herd path. The Cliff and Redfield paths coincide for a few minutes, until we reached a large cairn in the middle of the trail. The Redfield path continues straight along the brook, whereas the path to Cliff turns right and heads along a muddy path, soon joining the original herd path and old corduroy that intermittently lines the trail. The only previous time I had reached the top of Cliff was a winter trek directly up from Flowed Land. My first attempt at Cliff was by this muddy route, but back then, there was no well-defined path and I turned back after getting disoriented on the false summit. My only memories of this route were the initial cliff face and the jumble of trees on top of the false summit.
We soon reached that cliff face and climbed up. Then we came to another steep rocky face, then another, then another, and another, and another. I didn’t remember that! Cliff certainly earns it name. Manon, who was uncertain as to whether she could hike up to the lean-to, was having a wonderful time on the challenging faces of Cliff! We finally reached the point where I had turned back in ‘02, and descended briefly into the shallow col before our final climb to glory…. errr…. the top of Cliff - not quite 4000 feet. It was great to hit #45 on my second round, and my friend ticked off peak #6 while thoroughly enjoying herself. After a rest on top, snacks, and “hero” photos, we climbed back down, using a length of lightweight line in Manon’s pack to assist us on a couple of the steeper descents. Once we hit the woods again, we made a quick exit to the lean-to and a well-earned rest. We had discussed doing Redfield, but it was late, and we had done enough for a day (and I’m old). We had dinner, and I hit the sack at 7 o’clock. Because I had set my alarm for 5AM, I was quite surprised to open my eyes in the morning to see daylight. It was 7AM and we had slept nearly 12 hours. Gotta love camping sleep. Nobody else around to make noise and disturb us. Well-rested now, we had a quick breakfast, packed up all our gear, and headed back up the herd path to Mt. Redfield with a light pack. I hadn’t planned on hiking up Redfield, and we both knew that the extra miles would cost us in the form of a very late return to Buffalo, but my friend wanted to top out on Redfield, so we went. We soon met a hiker, Paul, who had stopped by the LT the night before. Paul is from Ohio; he flew into Albany, drove to Upper Works, and hiked into Lake Colden to camp and work toward his 46. I think Redfield was to be his 36th peak. I can remember that excitement of getting close. I must say that the path along Uphill Brook to Redfield is one of my favorite hikes, so I enjoyed myself, and we both stopped to take photos of the beautiful fall colors that seemed to have peaked just days before. The climb want by fairly quickly, and we reached the summit table just after passing Paul on his way down (headed to Cliff). We had been hiking in a light mist - actually, we were inside a cloud or fog bank, depending on your perspective. We didn’t envy Paul’s hiking up Cliff in these extra wet conditions, but I think he was smiling all the way up. The fog was our only view from the top o’ Redfield, so after a brief stop for a snack and a photo, we headed back down.
I told Manon that I would lead her out to the Loj on a different, and very scenic route, so we grabbed our gear out of the LT and headed “down” (we had to climb up first) along the Opalescent toward Lake Colden. If you’ve never walked this trail, you should. There are two very impressive flumes in the Opalescent, and we paused by the edge to peer down into the deep rock cut to see the water falling into the chasm. Once we reached Lake Colden, we hiked along the shore with a view across the lake of the DEC Interior Outpost cabin. Next came Avalanche Lake. O…M…G! It’s another of my favorite places, and the slow climb along the shore gives one plenty of time to take in the view. We heard voices coming from within the trap dike, and I told Manon how I had climbed up there to the top of Mt. Colden back in ‘05, just 4 months after having major surgery for a serious condition (all better now). Because of the fog and low contrast, views into the dike were excellent, and I took a few photos to illustrate. My friend enjoyed the chutes & ladders along Avalanche Lake, before the rugged shoreline transitioned into a short climb up into Avalanche Pass. And guess what? Av Pass is another one of my favorite places. I think Manon likes it too, because of the beauty of the closed-in rock faces, the cool mossy shade, and that day, because of the 2 deer that stood on the trail facing us from about 50 feet away. The deer stepped off the trail and stood as far away as they could until we passed, than they came back up and continued along the trail. We both managed to get a couple photos of the anterless deer. The top of the pass is impressive in its own way, with all the dead trees and debris that remains after the side of Mt. Colden slid off and filled the pass in 1999. Soon, we were back at the junction of Avalanche Camp, and we made our exit on good fast trails. It was after 7PM when we started back to Buffalo, and we arrived back home at about 2AM on a work day. It was worth it. Manon told me that, before our hike, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to attempt doing all of the 46 high peaks. After our strenuous and very scenic hikes in beautiful, misty, fall weather and intense autumn color, she told me, “I’m hooked!”. We all know that feeling.
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