Iroquois to Marshall Bushwhack

[Paradox]

Question to the Bushwhackers out there. Is a bushwhack from Iroquois to Marshall doable? The downslope to the col looks rather steep to me. However, has anyone ever done it and is it a reasonable proposition for someone with lots of hiking experience, some bushwhacking experience but little technical climbing knowledge? What say you?

 

[John H Swanson]

Yes it is doable. I have personally done the bushwhack from the col to Marshall over the fasle bump. It could best be described as somewhat thick is a few places. We chose this route over the std brook route in winter as we still lacked a hard freeze and did not want to posthole into a pool of water.

I know several others that have done the bushwhack down from Iroquois to the col and it is steep but still qualifies as steep hiking - worse case is probably class 3. I would not think it to be any steeper that the west side of saddleback.....now that's steep! (if you didn't catch on, that was a joke)

 

[Tom Rankin]

Yes it is doable. I have personally done the bushwhack from the col to Marshall over the fasle bump. It could best be described as somewhat thick is a few places. We chose this route over the std brook route in winter as we still lacked a hard freeze and did not want to posthole into a pool of water.

I know several others that have done the bushwhack down from Iroquois to the col and it is steep but still qualifies as steep hiking - worse case is probably class 3. I would not think it to be any steeper that the west side of saddleback.....now that's steep! (if you didn't catch on, that was a joke)

Paradox, are you branching out to the ADKs?

And, starting with a whack, nice! Don't forget Shepherd's tooth!

For those not familiar with the 'Swanson' scale of bushwhacking, 1 is an easy whack, 3 is a moderate whack, and 5 is the whack from hell, also known as Leavitt, if you go the wrong way!

 

[Neil]

Me too, I done her (in 2005 or thereabouts) and I have precious info on how to avoid those pesky cliffs near the col.

Send me your email address and I'll give you what I have.

 

[BlackSpruce]

There is a very define herdpath once at tree line with a spur "trail" up steeply up the Tooth. Once on Iroquois summit, walk past summit cairn, then take a small left steeply down to tree line and you will find a path which goes quickly to short col with Tooth in front, to go to Cold Brook col take a right, herdpath curves around the Tooth before heading down. Path is extremely eroded, near col when standing above steep cliffs, take a sharp left walked across small drainage, goes up very slightly before down steeply into col between large boulders/ledges.

 

[Neil]

All I have to add to Black Spruce's post is that after we hit the cliffs and made a hard right turn we found a down-ramp that was very gentle (as in less than 30 degrees) that led us to the trail. There we turned right and walked for less than 5 minutes whereupon we spied the herd path that led to our left up to Marshall.

Even though it wasn't all that long ago (October, 2004) the way down from the Tooth was no herd path. True, there was a barely visible path, but nothing that could called an eroded herd trail.

It would appear that the Iroquois-Marshall route is becoming popular.

 

[woodstrider]

Yes, you can there from here

There is a way to bushwhack from Iroquios to Marshall. I have gone up to Shepherds Tooth from Indian Pass- it is steep and thick with spruce and we stayed to the east of the cliffs in the pass and were able to get up and down without any trouble. From the pass to Marshall there is an old herd-path that goes over a low summit before climbing up to Marshall. The herdpath in up in the top of the pass, not far from a large refrigerator shaped boulder (on south side of the trail). There are some "false" trails, and one will lead you to an old plane crash.

 

[Paradox]

Thank you all very much for the information.

Sincerely,
John

 

[BlackSpruce]

Neil, you must have gone further to the right when going by and around the Tooth, as the herdpath has been very define for years, even decades. In the sixties and before that was the main route to Marshall before the Cold Brook trail was cut and the Herbert Brook approach became the most popular.

 

[escapee]

Iroquois to Marshall

Hello, Paradox,

I've done this route twice, in early fall and winter. The section going up from the high point of the Iroquois Pass trail (connecting Indian Pass trail and Lake Colden) to Marshall has a well-defined herdpath, easy to follow in summer. In winter, we picked the best looking line and broke trail all the way.
The section going down from Iroquois to the top of the pass is a challenge. There is something of a herdpath to Shepherd's Tooth, which is definitely worth a visit.

Here is an account of one of the trips, in September 1999, which appeared in Adirondac magazine. We started down the steep, mostly bare rock southwest flank of Iroquois, guided by a few cairns. Below timberline, a well-defined path led us to the bare rock knob called Shepherd's Tooth. A cairn on top of the knob led us to believe that the trail went over it. From this cairn, a path led down to the left, but dead-ended at a ten-foot headwall dropping into dense spruce. Scouting the slope from the top of the knob, I saw a line going downhill on the right that looked like a break in the vegetation. We could see the line of the herdpath on Marshall, and knew that they should meet at the top of Iroquois Pass. We climbed down off Shepherd's Tooth the way we had ascended, cast about a little bit, and picked up the herdpath descending on the right of Shepherd's Tooth, and leading down into Iroquois Pass, between Marshall and Iroquois.

For the most part we were able to stay with the lightly used path below Shepherd's Tooth, which follows the drainage. At times, the trail was easy to lose and hard to follow. There were several scrambles on steep rock ledges requiring judicious use of handholds, footholds, and what some climbers of my acquaintance call "buttholds", the latter being the technique of last resort where cold water is running over the rock. The facing side of Marshall grew closer as we neared the top of the pass. Taking the streambed for the path, I suddenly was at the top of a forty-foot waterfall overlooking the pass. It did not appear that it could be descended in reasonable safety without a rope, anchors and technical climbing skills. We looked for a way around, and found a diagonal cleft in the wall to the right. Most of it could be descended like a narrow staircase. At the bottom of this was a "lemon squeezer". In order to pass through, I had to remove my pack, slither through, and find secure handholds to grip while searching with my feet for good footing on the small landing below, which sloped towards a fifteen-foot drop. Once established on the landing, I took packs handed down by the next expedition member waiting to descend, and all followed suit.

A few steps down the sloping landing led to another downclimb where two sets of handholds and footholds put us on the deck at the top of the Pass about fifty yards northwest of the bottom of the waterfall. We went a lesser distance through the woods, and hit the Iroquois Pass Trail about fifteen feet southeast of the cairn marking the start of the Marshall herdpath. The last two pitches approached the level of difficulty of the rock ledges on the west face of Saddleback and the crux of the Trap Dike, both of which require the same kinds of moves, but more of them. It had taken us two and a half hours to cover a straight-line distance of about a half mile.

I apparently took a slightly different route in March 2004 trying to follow the drainage. I found myself at the top of a cliff, probably not the same one as the 40 foot waterfall from 1999. On the 1999 trip, we went down to the right (facing downhill) of the waterfall. Descending in 2004, we were near the bottom, could see some of Marshall across the pass, and could hear a waterfall on the right. We found our cleft and route down toward the left-hand side of the drainage, next to higher vertical and overhanging rock walls farther left. My conclusion is that the waterfall I found in September 1999 is not the same one we heard in March 2004. Aside from seasonal changes, it should be noted that the 1999 trip was two days after Hurricane Floyd dumped a few inches of rain, and water was likely running and falling in more places than usual. So the trick is, follow the drainage down from the right side (facing downhill) of Shepherd’s Tooth, bear left towards the bottom, but not so far left that one climbs the high rock wall defining the left side of the drainage, look for the chimney-like cleft, and descend it like a narrow staircase. Do not try to down-climb any 40 foot cliffs or waterfalls, There is a way around. The snow pack made the ledges at the bottom easier to descend than when they were bare. It had taken us two and a half hours to go the last 3/4 mile.

Good luck. Let me know how you make out.

 

[mountainfrank]

From Iroquois, I gather the herd path does not go over the Tooth but that one should instead turn right and contour it?

Did it last year with week-end packs. Easy path to follow from Iroquois to the Tooth. We then followed a path down from the Tooth, negotiated a few 6ft or so cliffs where people had obviously been before but eventually we lost that path... which looks like it may have been the wrong one...

Since we had a sense of adventure (or that we were too lazy to go back up and try to find the path back), we ended up dropping down along the "east branch of cold brook" -in order to avoid the larger cliffs- then contouring around the knob at around 3800-3900' to reach the Cold brook trail. Although doable, it was very very thick in spots which made for some pretty slow going over that short distance (and days of fun removing needles from clothes and pack).

This thick...

The herdpath to Marshall looked quite luxurious after that!

 

[rup]

How 'clear' is the herd path up Marshall? that up Table Top is an erosion ditch 3' deep. Can't miss it.

 

[ALGonquin Bob]

Descended Iroquois to the Tooth and down into the pass once - similar experience in finding an eroded path once descending the Tooth toward the west (if you find a little Pentax digital camera in a case on that path, it's mine!). In August '05, I 'whacked my way UP from the pass to Shepherd's Tooth while looking for the camera. THAT was some climb . I didn't find a path until I was on the Tooth (no lie), and descended back into the pass via the eroded herd path. It seems that if you bushwhack to the left (east) when reaching the cliff band on your descent from ST, you might find an easier grade into Cold Brook pass (aka MacIntyre pass, aka Iroquois pass). Haven't yet been up from the pass to Marshall, but a cairn shows the way from the height of land.

It is a reasonable climb for most, and not technical if you avoid the 30 to 40-foot vertical cliffs and look for the more moderate slopes to the east (to the left on descending from the Tooth).

 

[Raymond]

Doesn’t PinPin climb Wright-Algonquin-Iroquois-Marshall-and onward every month or so? (Ending with -Marcy-TableTop-Phelps, last I knew.)

 

[ColdRiverRun]

Doesn’t PinPin climb Wright-Algonquin-Iroquois-Marshall-and onward every month or so? (Ending with -Marcy-TableTop-Phelps, last I knew.)

That isn't his usual climbing style, especially through the winter and shoulder seasons. He is more a model of consistency hiking almost 4 days every week than going out and doing real big hikes. Well, big hikes in relative terms. He is more efficient about what he hits and his groupings to maximize rounds, he doesn't leave stragglers. We did Giant and Rocky on 3/21 and he said it was his 95th time doing them and he did them both 94 of those times for example. In winter he does Marshall from the loj, many times by itself crossing the lakes since he stays in LP. He said that he has never done it in winter from Tahawus and he has done it with the other Mac's (Iro-Wri) a few times but the work wasn't worth it, the Mac's are to easy of a hike from the loj. He will of course add other things to it on nice winter days like Redfield and Cliff crossing via Flowed Lands. I can't imagine him adding Marcy, TT and Phelps, they are not really connected. Well, at least not without doing Gray and Skylight since you always do Gray and Skylinght with Marcy if your a self respecting round hunter.

 

[Raymond]

I think I remember reading an itinerary like the one I described (with either Colden or Gray in there as well, or maybe both of them) written up in the Table Top canister register when we signed into that one back in 1999. He had the time he arrived on each peak and everything. Maybe it was a one-time feat, not his usual. We'd only then recently learned of his existence, so it was something remarkable to discover and read.

I wish I'd taken a picture of it, now, to refresh my memory.

More recently, on this Web site, he has written about hiking all four of the Sewards on one hike; he had even set a personal record for the trip, but I don't remember now what the time was. I wish I knew more details of his shortcut from Seymour to Seward, although I would never attempt it myself. I just want to know.

 

[bubba]

dox, Go for it! The big point being that Shephard's Tooth is the prize and you can get a new patch!

Also note the plane crash site... a bit off the herd path but the reason that I will someday do this route.

 

[tjanson]

I whacked down from Iroquois last August. I lost my way on the herdpath after getting into the trees. Followed a drainageish thing instead of the herd path. Ended up doing a full-on ADK style whack down with a compass, you know, constantly being manhandled by the branches and falling through leafy holes. This was on the first day of a 4-day too. Ended up taking 1.5hr to descend.
Just warning you, stay on the herdpath!