Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Not being satisfied with NY's highest peak the day before, Laurie and I started out at 7:00 from the Loj for the 2nd highest peak, Algonquin. But the ultimate goal was Iroquois. Having read a TR that said folks had gotten there the day before, we psyched ourselves up for a 2nd day in a row of peakbagging, something that we usually don't do. More on that later...
The wind was dead calm and it was cloudy, but the sun kept trying to poke through the clouds. To the North, the sun shone brightly on Whiteface all day long. A cloud line stretched all the way across the sky, just a few miles to the North.
The trails were all beaten down thanks to the multitude of skiers and hikers. We made good progress all the way to the Wright Junction. There was an occasional post hole, but it was rare. We wore snowshoes all day long, and they were sufficient (again thanks to the TR from the day before).
From the Wright junction, we climbed steadily. When we hit the tree line, we expected as least a little wind, but there was none. It was amazing! I never even had to put my jacket on. Eventually we topped out at the summit and it was still dead calm. We hung out for a few minutes and took some pictures. Then we found the trail down to the col.
The descent was a little tricky, but the MSRs bit and held. This side of the mountain is the iciest. It gets a lot more sun than the North side. We expected more wind over on this side, but again, zip! We made it up and over the Boundary bumps, without falling into any spruce traps. We did see that others before us had not been so lucky!
Finally at about 11:00, we were standing at the destination, Iroquois! We were able to hang out here too, as the wind was still calm. Laurie put her brace on while I took some more pics and went over and peaked down at Shepherd's Tooth. Then we started to retrace out steps. (In case anyone is curious, it looks like the trail to Lake Colden has been broken out).
The return trip was about the same, but I did fall into one spruce trap. Ok, the trip wasn't perfect, but it was close! Going back up Algonquin was not really all that bad. Part of the reason was that we went slowly....
Laurie's knee had bothered her the day before, and it was even worse today. It was especially bad going down hill, when I wanted to fly. So, I had to be patient with her.
When we started going back down Algonquin, we went slowly and carefully, due to the icy snow. But once we got near tree line, we started flying down the trail! The butt sliding was at least a 9! We had to 'self arrest' once for a group of skiers, but it was still a very fast descent, and it took some stress off of Laurie's knee.
We met Matt the Ranger, for the 4th time this Winter while heading back to the Loj. That guy really gets around! He said he had been over on the Lake Colden side filling in a ski trail that someone had postholed!
In spite of Laurie's painful knee, we made it back to the Loj by 2:15.
Finally, let me add, "To anyone who helped break the trail to Iroquois recently, I'm buying the beer"!
The wind was dead calm and it was cloudy, but the sun kept trying to poke through the clouds. To the North, the sun shone brightly on Whiteface all day long. A cloud line stretched all the way across the sky, just a few miles to the North.
The trails were all beaten down thanks to the multitude of skiers and hikers. We made good progress all the way to the Wright Junction. There was an occasional post hole, but it was rare. We wore snowshoes all day long, and they were sufficient (again thanks to the TR from the day before).
From the Wright junction, we climbed steadily. When we hit the tree line, we expected as least a little wind, but there was none. It was amazing! I never even had to put my jacket on. Eventually we topped out at the summit and it was still dead calm. We hung out for a few minutes and took some pictures. Then we found the trail down to the col.
The descent was a little tricky, but the MSRs bit and held. This side of the mountain is the iciest. It gets a lot more sun than the North side. We expected more wind over on this side, but again, zip! We made it up and over the Boundary bumps, without falling into any spruce traps. We did see that others before us had not been so lucky!
Finally at about 11:00, we were standing at the destination, Iroquois! We were able to hang out here too, as the wind was still calm. Laurie put her brace on while I took some more pics and went over and peaked down at Shepherd's Tooth. Then we started to retrace out steps. (In case anyone is curious, it looks like the trail to Lake Colden has been broken out).
The return trip was about the same, but I did fall into one spruce trap. Ok, the trip wasn't perfect, but it was close!
Going back up Algonquin was not really all that bad. Part of the reason was that we went slowly.... Laurie's knee had bothered her the day before, and it was even worse today. It was especially bad going down hill, when I wanted to fly. So, I had to be patient with her.
When we started going back down Algonquin, we went slowly and carefully, due to the icy snow. But once we got near tree line, we started flying down the trail! The butt sliding was at least a 9!
We had to 'self arrest' once for a group of skiers, but it was still a very fast descent, and it took some stress off of Laurie's knee. We met Matt the Ranger, for the 4th time this Winter while heading back to the Loj. That guy really gets around! He said he had been over on the Lake Colden side filling in a ski trail that someone had postholed!
In spite of Laurie's painful knee, we made it back to the Loj by 2:15.
Finally, let me add, "To anyone who helped break the trail to Iroquois recently, I'm buying the beer"!
