Tom Rankin
Well-known member
We left at 7:00 from the Loj, allowing ourselves an extra hour to sleep in on this short hike! (read my other TR's and you'll understand). The trail was hard packed all the way to tree line, by hikers and skiers. The weather was almost perfect. It was a tad chilly, -2F when we started, but it was sunny and the wind was almost calm. We wore snowshoes all day, but dare I say it, stabilicers might have sufficed for the entire climb. 
The way points seemed to go by quickly: Marcy Dam, Phelps Jct., Tabletop Jct., Indian Falls, the turn off to JBL, and eventually, we were approaching tree line. The wind was still not a factor, so we continued on. Eventually, I felt the need to put my jacket on, so I stopped for a quick break. The area above tree line could be described as 'occasional gusts with a few calm periods'. The snow changed from windblown, to tiny fern like structures, to almost icy as we ascended. The MSRs gripped it all, as we slowly made our way to the top. When I summited, the wind was almost still. I took off my hats and just looked around in awe. The views went on forever! We could see almost every other high peak. We could see Vermont for sure, and maybe a few other states, it was hard to tell. We spent some time taking photos and picking out peaks, amazed that we were able to stand here and take it all in.
Soon, a man with a dog approached the summit. The dog was short haired and had no booties on, but it seemed very happy. They took off before we did and we never saw them again.
We made our way back down slowly, just enjoying the day. We stopped at Indian Falls, which I had never seen. We spent 15 minutes just sitting there, watching Algonquin and his buddies, and we even saw some kind of squirrel hopping towards us in the trees.
We made it back to the Loj a little after 3:00. It seemed like it was too early to be ending a hike! We only saw 10 other people on the way to Marcy, which was very surprising. It was a perfect day to be above tree line! We saw a few people we recognized in the trail register, including a Pink Rabbit!
The way points seemed to go by quickly: Marcy Dam, Phelps Jct., Tabletop Jct., Indian Falls, the turn off to JBL, and eventually, we were approaching tree line. The wind was still not a factor, so we continued on. Eventually, I felt the need to put my jacket on, so I stopped for a quick break. The area above tree line could be described as 'occasional gusts with a few calm periods'. The snow changed from windblown, to tiny fern like structures, to almost icy as we ascended. The MSRs gripped it all, as we slowly made our way to the top. When I summited, the wind was almost still. I took off my hats and just looked around in awe. The views went on forever! We could see almost every other high peak. We could see Vermont for sure, and maybe a few other states, it was hard to tell. We spent some time taking photos and picking out peaks, amazed that we were able to stand here and take it all in.
Soon, a man with a dog approached the summit. The dog was short haired and had no booties on, but it seemed very happy. They took off before we did and we never saw them again.
We made our way back down slowly, just enjoying the day. We stopped at Indian Falls, which I had never seen. We spent 15 minutes just sitting there, watching Algonquin and his buddies, and we even saw some kind of squirrel hopping towards us in the trees.
We made it back to the Loj a little after 3:00. It seemed like it was too early to be ending a hike!
We only saw 10 other people on the way to Marcy, which was very surprising. It was a perfect day to be above tree line! We saw a few people we recognized in the trail register, including a Pink Rabbit! 
