Marcy Phelps Cascade and Porter 1/7/2005

[percious]

My friend and I met up Thursday night to head up to the adirondacks for the weekend. After an easy 3:15 ride up to The Hostel in Keene, we slumbered for a few hours. I brought back breakfast from Noonmark in the morning, and the smell of bacon managed to lure my bud out of bed.

After stopping at the adk hut to gather forgotten nalgenes and maps, we launched ourselves with heavy packs towards Marcy Dam. It was 930. By 11 am we had reached the dam, where we met a couple intent on climbing Marcy. It was a beautiful cloudless sunny day, with deep blue skys. Our original plan was to hike into Lake Colden, set up base camp and go for Marcy the next day via Opalescent. We also contemplated hiking to Feldspar, and basing there... Well, after some deliberation, Will and I both had the same idea to dump the heavy packs, and shoot for Marcy today. Besides, it was going to snow tomorrow, and we wanted a view from Marcy.

At 11:40 we left for Marcy, our camp ready for our return. By 2:30 we had reached treeline, having passed the couple who had turned back. We advised them to check out Indian Falls on the way down, and to be careful on their descent. We made it as far as possible with snowshoes, then deciding to switch over to crampons late in the game. We summited at 3:30. I practiced self arrest a tad on the way up and the way down, coming away with a few bruises, but some more confidence.

The summit was spectacular. We could see a front moving in from the east, and in fact there were clouds above us. Below us flew a Cesna 140, and the sky was a beautiful crimson. All peaks east were visable. The lights of Lake Placid started to come alive as we descended.

The hike back was long. We arrived back at camp around 730, after stopping for some water on the way. We boiled a bunch of water, and ate till we could eat no more. By 10pm we were sleeping.

 

[percious]

The next day we slept in untill 10am, then decided to hike Phelps. Tabletop would have to wait. We decided to leave our crampons behind, and go light. About 4/5ths of the way up, we wished we had left our snowshoes behind, and brought crampons. There were some tough icy patches. We summited in a white-out, and stopped for a bite to eat. After the icy sections I got rid of my snowshoes, and donned my sled. I slid down much of the way, catching up to my bud who had decided it was best just to hike down in his snowshoes. I bear-booted back to the dam.

We packed up, and hiked out, arriving at the car at 230. A pleasant day of hiking. After a coupla showers at the Hut, we headed over to the High Peaks Hostel to check out accomodations for the night. Apon arrival we smelled freshe bread, and learned that breakfast was included, and so was the bread! It was hard to pass up, and the host, John was very friendly. We then set off for the pub, had a few pints, and called it a night.

 

[percious]

Porter and Cascade

Sunday we decided to hike Porter, then Cascade, and then head home. We ditched our snowshoes early on, favoring crampon laiden boots. There just wasnt enough snow for shoes, and crampons made travel fast and light. We made it to the junction with ease, and decided Porter would be our first victim. We arrived at Porter in a fog-out. I decided it would be best to chill on the summit for a while, since it wasnt too cold, and we probably would have to share Cascade with people. I took out my Reflctix, and my sleeping bag, and we at some summer sausage while enjoying our accomplishment.

Suddenly the sky opened up. Will spotted Giant off in the distance, and soon Marcy and Phelps made themselves evident. It was great seeing our two previous summits in conjunction above the clouds! Haystack made itself obvious along with some other summits, and soon we shared the summit with 9 other souls. We packed up our stuff, exchanged picture takingwith the ADK glens falls chapter, and headed off for Cascade.

Cascade's summit was very exposed, and I was expecting the same kind of ice we found on Marcy. This was not the case. The summit was covered in about 2 inches of fluff, with bare rock below. This was difficult for Crampons, but we made it to the summit, and had it to ourselves for a few minutes. We took the usual summit pictures, and then headed down.

At the junction we ran into a 46er with a really neat set of snowshoes. The crampons were self-made, and the wooden frame had some kind of polyurathane decking. After a short chat with the hiker, we set off on our way, returning to the car around 230. I almost forgot my shoes along the way.

I will post some pictures later in the day.

-percious

 

[percious]

Pictures are up.

www.percious.com/hiking

enjoy.

-percious

 

[1ADAM12]

Very Nice

Very nice report. Thats your first Marcy Summit in winter right? The other times you had to abort if I recall....Anyways great job!!!!!

 

[hillman1]

I met you guys for a second on my way from porter to cascade. You guys were at the junction sign. Nice to sort of meet you!I had little to no views up there that day, but it was sunny when I got to my car. I knew someone was getting views up there. I saw that group of 46ers with the guy with the snowshoes when I set out from my car. I did phelps yesterday and the views were incredible. Perfect bluebird day.

 

[percious]

That was you! You were booking! I actually thought of you on Porter, and how you had *just* missed the spectacular views. If you want Hi-res pictures of the views let me know, I'll get them scanned for you.

-percious

 

[percious]

Thanks Adam. Yes it was our first successful summit. Yes it was our second attempt. Interestingly, this year we left our self with some options, and it made a big difference in summiting. First off, we decided to drop our packs at Marcy Dam. Our original plan was to hike into Lake Colden and go up the opalescent. Due to the weather this year, we were uneasy about hiking over the lakes, and unsure about possibly having to break trail to Feldspar, so we just dropped our packs and went for it. We also figured the blue skys wouldn't hold out, and summiting Marcy with views is superior to summiting in a cloud. I think our flexibility, and preparedness made a huge difference in summiting. The weather helped a tad too. 5 degrees on the summit is much better then -25 in the valley.

-percious