skidoc22
New member
So close and yet...What a perfect day for a stroll in the high peaks. Full out sun, high in the thirties. Reasonably good snow conditions. We shunned the more straight forward route to Marshall for a hike through Indian Pass to Cold Brook pass. Never having been through IP we planned what seemed a reasonable amount of time - the trail register indicated someone had been through since the last storm. The trail was skied and shoed for about 2 miles.
Soon thereafter we found the trail was not broken past the second lean-to nor up through the pass. The ladders were totally iced over and the going slowed. My partner changed into crampons as his snowshoe crampons were no match for the ice. Unfortunately he broke through the snow in one spot and sprained his knee and foot causing him a good deal of pain. My MSRs allowed me to negotiate all but the steepest area which I was able to skirt around. As we were right near the top of the pass we continued on.
Once down the other side we stopped for lunch and decided to continue up Cold Brook pass to Marshall. Again the going was slow due to the injuries and steepness of the trail. The views back to Street and Nye and especially Iroquois were awe inspiring. As we made the pass we looked for the cairn to the Marshall herd path. It did not appear so we took a previously travelled path into the woods following snowshoe tracks.
It became apparent after a while that this was not the correct herd path, but it continued on and unfortunately so did we. After about 45 minutes the path ended at a small cliff and we tried to make our way around it. We got to a rise and unfortunately saw we had some distance to the top and even to the Herbert Brook drainage. Looking at the time and the level of difficulty of the terrain we realized there was a very good possibility we would end up watching the sunset before we made the summit. With that sinking feeling in the pits of our stomachs we followed our tracks back to Cold Brook pass. We marked the false herd path with an X of sticks to try to alert others not to follow it.
The Lake Colden side of the Cold Brook pass was not broken at all but it was almost fun ski/shoeing down the steep areas. Unfortunately my partner was hurting from his twisted knee earlier and didn't relish this part much at all. We watched the sunset colors on Colden and Marcy fade just as we reached the bottom and quickly made our way to the Lake and across Flowed Lands to the Calamity Brook trail.
We regrouped at the lean-to and had a powerbar and a sandwich to get a boost for the walk out. Despite the frustration of the missed summit we had a beautiful day and great views all along the way. The peak will still be there tomorrow.
Moral of the story - never underestimate the difficulty of a less frequented route and a bushwack in the winter. We took "the Road less travelled and that made all the difference."
