MtDews
New member
Mt. Colden - March 19, 2011 W19
With the exception of the six peaks we did climb, this winter’s hiking season was less than we had hoped and planned for. Last winter my wife and I climbed 10 peaks as a couple and had planned on 16 this winter. We thought it would be safer to go with some groups of local hikers, especially for the more remote summits. With ALL due respect to the Group Leaders who volunteer to lead these trips, THANK YOU! The problem was that out of the seven Saturday trips we signed up for, all but three did not happen due to weather or some other reason. It seemed that we were always seeing the sunny calm days on Wednesday or Thursday and we ended up sitting around the house to save our legs for the weekend group trips. We did substitute two single peaks for trips that took a hit. Today was a day that we were supposed to be climbing the Santanoni’s with a group. We climbed Mt. Colden as a replacement when that trip was cancelled. We had hoped to be at W29 or W30 but will have to do a cannonball run in 2012 to finish our winter round.
Our trip to Colden started at 8am with a flurry of activity in the Loj parking lot amid a cold snow shower and a crowd of hikers. The hike to Marcy Dam is always fun to do and oddly, we had the trail mostly to ourselves. The snowpack was crisp and we moved easily on our MSRs. Turning up the lake Arnold trail, the snow had stopped and the sun was now streaming through the trees! As we broke over the top to Lake Arnold the wind picked up so we added some layers and started up the L.Morgan Porter Trail towards the several bumps that precede the summit. All around us the sky was a brilliant blue, but Marcy’s summit was still obscured by clouds. As we climbed the final summit approach the wind began to intensify and became unbearable, so we had to pull on the balaclavas before continuing. The summit was awesome with pristine white snow against deep blue sky and the views were unlimited in every direction as the clouds around Marcy had vanished. Our only other time we were on Colden, we were in a summer rain storm with no views. What a dramatic improvement! That time in 1976 was also a hike made with my Mom and Dad… their last hike. We chatted with a couple who had come up via the trap dike and then began our decent to Lake Arnold for lunch. The sun was melting the surface now and the snow was getting sticky. Arriving at the Loj through now slushy snow, we said goodbye to our abbreviated winter 2011 hiking season.
Took microspikes, crampons and ice ax but only needed MSRs with poles the whole way.
With the exception of the six peaks we did climb, this winter’s hiking season was less than we had hoped and planned for. Last winter my wife and I climbed 10 peaks as a couple and had planned on 16 this winter. We thought it would be safer to go with some groups of local hikers, especially for the more remote summits. With ALL due respect to the Group Leaders who volunteer to lead these trips, THANK YOU! The problem was that out of the seven Saturday trips we signed up for, all but three did not happen due to weather or some other reason. It seemed that we were always seeing the sunny calm days on Wednesday or Thursday and we ended up sitting around the house to save our legs for the weekend group trips. We did substitute two single peaks for trips that took a hit. Today was a day that we were supposed to be climbing the Santanoni’s with a group. We climbed Mt. Colden as a replacement when that trip was cancelled. We had hoped to be at W29 or W30 but will have to do a cannonball run in 2012 to finish our winter round.
Our trip to Colden started at 8am with a flurry of activity in the Loj parking lot amid a cold snow shower and a crowd of hikers. The hike to Marcy Dam is always fun to do and oddly, we had the trail mostly to ourselves. The snowpack was crisp and we moved easily on our MSRs. Turning up the lake Arnold trail, the snow had stopped and the sun was now streaming through the trees! As we broke over the top to Lake Arnold the wind picked up so we added some layers and started up the L.Morgan Porter Trail towards the several bumps that precede the summit. All around us the sky was a brilliant blue, but Marcy’s summit was still obscured by clouds. As we climbed the final summit approach the wind began to intensify and became unbearable, so we had to pull on the balaclavas before continuing. The summit was awesome with pristine white snow against deep blue sky and the views were unlimited in every direction as the clouds around Marcy had vanished. Our only other time we were on Colden, we were in a summer rain storm with no views. What a dramatic improvement! That time in 1976 was also a hike made with my Mom and Dad… their last hike. We chatted with a couple who had come up via the trap dike and then began our decent to Lake Arnold for lunch. The sun was melting the surface now and the snow was getting sticky. Arriving at the Loj through now slushy snow, we said goodbye to our abbreviated winter 2011 hiking season.
Took microspikes, crampons and ice ax but only needed MSRs with poles the whole way.
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