dreamstream
New member
Thanks to all for the info I found on the site, The detailed trail info, trip reports and details like where to eat in town made it easy to have a great hiking vacation.
Day 1 (July22)
Drove to Lake Placid, and found a tent site off the gravel road near Heart Lake LOJ.
We took a short hike from the gate at the end of the road. There was an Iron man race starting up in town, so we checked out the event setup, replaced my old 2 person tent with a new Hubba Hubba (very happy, good deal) and had supper at Mikes (bad traffic). Lots of rain overnight.
Day 2
Packed up gear and Parked the car at the LOJ parking, clear sky.
Got on the trail by about 8:00am after chatting with the ranger, the plan had been to go up Indian Pass and then back east past Algonquin, Marcy… But the word was the trail from the Pass to Lake Colden was in poor shape. So we opted to go up Avalanche Pass to Colden then and go from there and leave Indian Pass for another time. Progress was a bit slow up to Marcy Dam 1:20 that’s hiking with a 5 year old. Got moving along better on the Avalanche Pass trail, until Avalanche pass. Met up with bear smack dab in the middle of the pass (50 feet away coming straight down the trail at us), backed off waited a couple minutes and walked ahead making a bit more noise. Bear simply vanished, how do you walk past a bear in a pass 100 feet wide and not see it? We took the west side of Avalanche Lake, slow going scrabbling over the broken rocks (with loaded packs). The very nice views of Mt Colden and the slides required a lunch break. The tent sites and lean-tos Near lake Colden were filled up so we pushed on to find a open lean-to across the Opalecent River. No more bear sightings, but the trail along Lake Colden had more bear prints than human prints. No Bugs! After supper we hiked along the river into a very scenic valley south of Lake Colden. Quiet night, No Bugs!
Day 3
Got an early start and decided to head over toward Marcy rather than spending the day and hiking up Algonquin, I loved the trail along the Opalecent River, with the suspension bridges and lookouts over the many falls. We dropped our gear and set our tent in a designated location at the Opalecent camp site, the lean-to and site was quite full with some tents pitched were they should not have been. Then off to Marcy, after a long and steep climb we made the summit at about 2:30pm. The weather was absolutely perfect and the visibility was likely in the 100 mile range. There were maybe only 6-8 other people on the summit, chatted with the Stewart for a while, my daughter decided she wanted to become a mountain Stewart when she grows up. We likely basked in the warm sun and light breeze for an hour before heading down. We had planned to stop off at Skylight on the way back, but low water dictated otherwise. The three of us had gone through 6 litres on the way up Marcy. When we got back to the campsite all the other tents and people in the lean-to were gone. A site to ourselves for a second night, I guess everyone was in town watching the Iron man race.
Day 4
Woke to rain. We were going to hike up Colden on the way back to Marcy Dam, but low clouds and the rain reduced the allure of the summit, the trail one the east side on Mt Colden from the Opalecent campsite was much less used than other trails and was very scenic in the rail, though wet in the long grass and marshy sections. The weather cleared and we made good time on the way back to Heart Lake, my daughter and I raced for fun, this helped move things along 56 min from Marcy Dam to the parking lot. She is good for a couple of days but gets wiped on about the third day. Decided to camp at Heart Lake for the night and go into town for supper.
Day 4
Clear cool and breezy.
Wife and Daughter wanted a day to relax so they stayed about the Campground, I Left well before 6am to put in a good hike with time left to go to Santa’s Workshop after lunch. It was the best deal I could negotiate. I went back up and crossed Mt Colden from the east, went down to Lake Colden and back up to hit Iroquois, Algonquin and Wright before going back to Heart Lake (had all the summits to my self). Pretty tough run/hike, must be close to 15 miles and a mile of vertical, but made it back shortly after lunch, with empty water bottles and sore legs. I was taking every opportunity at Santa Land ( tourist trap) to sit or lye down, though I had an over stimulated 5 year old daughter that had other ideas.
Day 5
Weather changed overnight, major wind rain and thunderstorms, so we packed up and headed to the Whites, legs needed a day off anyway. Long drive across Vermont. We stayed at Pinkham Notch after making last minute hut and shuttle reservations for a three day hike in the southern presidential area that would necessitate catching an 8:00am shuttle the next morning. Restocked and repacked after supper and turned in early.
Day 6
Clear and warm
Shuttled around to the Crawford path trail head, bus driver was entertaining, We decided that the Crawford path to Mizpah hut might be a bit of an easy day so decided to take the Webster Jackson trail. Started at 10:30 am Nice view from Jackson, but found the trail was a bit longer and more difficult than the AMC guide indicated. Made the hut about 3:45pm, First hut experience was a good one, great for people hiking with kids. There were some games, puzzles other kids and there junior naturalist programme to keep our young one busied (busied = happy). I Loved the alpine vegetation between Jackson and the hut. Great supper, some chat with other hikers and a good nights sleep. This was important as the next day would be a tough one. Some hikers saw a cow moose not far from the hut after supper.
Day 7
Clear but cooler
Talked to one of the hut croo and made a bit of a root change, which implicated carrying packs to the top of Washington and coming down the Lyons Head path rather than dropping packs and coming down the Tuckerman’s Ravine trail, not sure if the was a good idea in hind site.
Anyway, we made a start right after breakfast with full bellies and water bottles. It was a bit of a climb up to Pierce, after that the going was easy for Eisenhower, Franklin and Monroe, only my daughter and I climbed Monroe, my wife, the other couple and two young boys we met up with decided to save their energy for Washington. Weather was ideal very clear a bit of a breeze and not too warm, the odd cloud at about 6000 feet covered Washington up from time to time. Hiking above the tree line is great! Stopped off at lake of the clouds and refilled water. Might think to stay there next time, however noticed there were a lot of people that had taken the train up and stumbled down to the hut to stay for the night, not the same sort of people we had met along the trails, lean-tos or mizpah hut for that matter (if you know what I mean). At least a dozen people were more or less stranded because they had taken a one way train ticket up assuming they could stay at the hut without reservations and all downward seats on the cog were booked, I guess they could hike out, though they looked ill prepaired even to do that. We found the climb up washington a bit tough with packs but made it up by about 2:30pm. views were great and the summit was less crowded that I had imagined. Visibility was said to 110 miles one of the best days all year, though some treatening clouds were blowing in from the west (wind gusts 50-60 mph). So we gobbled down some chilly clam chowder and other snacks before heading down. The trail off the NE side of washington was a bit rough and slow going and the lyons head path was not much better with a lot of broken rock, hiking poles were very helpful, however, My wife took one spill, only a banged leg fortunatly. We made it down to the Tuckerman lean-tos by about 7:00pm.
Day 8
Clear again warm but a bit of an east wind
Took an earyl morning jaunt up the tuckermans trail and checked out the boot spur for one last look above the tree line, dispite the steep section in the raviene I think it would have been easier the day before to drop packs at the clouds hut hike up washington and then pick up the packs and head down tuckermans. After the morning walk we packed up and headed back down to Pinkham. I could not belive the number of people headed up, I guess it’s normal for a clear Saturday morning. A lot of people did not look to be prepaired, I met one group of 4 not even half a mile up from Pinkham who stoped me and asked how much further, most wering Jeans, T shirts, sandles, no packs. Confused I replied “How much further to where” they said “Washington, were comitted to making it this time”, when I asked them if they had water the said oh yeh and showed me a half liter bottle each most of it already gone. I tried to caution them in a positive manner that they would need more water, even with refilling at the lean-tos and bying something to drink at the summit. Hope they made out ok.
Day 9
A bit of sight seeing, shopping and driving home, got lost in Montreal again, happens to me every time. 2 days rest and repacking at home before a 10 day 200 mile canoe trip.
Likely my best vacation ever, can't wait to go back to the mountains Adk's or whites. I plan a fall trip and hope to get down and take a mountainering training program this winter. My daughter loves the hiking, I think its great that at 5 yeas old she has such great pride in having climbed a dozen 5000 footers and wants to be a mountain Stewart when she grows up.
Day 1 (July22)
Drove to Lake Placid, and found a tent site off the gravel road near Heart Lake LOJ.
We took a short hike from the gate at the end of the road. There was an Iron man race starting up in town, so we checked out the event setup, replaced my old 2 person tent with a new Hubba Hubba (very happy, good deal) and had supper at Mikes (bad traffic). Lots of rain overnight.
Day 2
Packed up gear and Parked the car at the LOJ parking, clear sky.
Got on the trail by about 8:00am after chatting with the ranger, the plan had been to go up Indian Pass and then back east past Algonquin, Marcy… But the word was the trail from the Pass to Lake Colden was in poor shape. So we opted to go up Avalanche Pass to Colden then and go from there and leave Indian Pass for another time. Progress was a bit slow up to Marcy Dam 1:20 that’s hiking with a 5 year old. Got moving along better on the Avalanche Pass trail, until Avalanche pass. Met up with bear smack dab in the middle of the pass (50 feet away coming straight down the trail at us), backed off waited a couple minutes and walked ahead making a bit more noise. Bear simply vanished, how do you walk past a bear in a pass 100 feet wide and not see it? We took the west side of Avalanche Lake, slow going scrabbling over the broken rocks (with loaded packs). The very nice views of Mt Colden and the slides required a lunch break. The tent sites and lean-tos Near lake Colden were filled up so we pushed on to find a open lean-to across the Opalecent River. No more bear sightings, but the trail along Lake Colden had more bear prints than human prints. No Bugs! After supper we hiked along the river into a very scenic valley south of Lake Colden. Quiet night, No Bugs!
Day 3
Got an early start and decided to head over toward Marcy rather than spending the day and hiking up Algonquin, I loved the trail along the Opalecent River, with the suspension bridges and lookouts over the many falls. We dropped our gear and set our tent in a designated location at the Opalecent camp site, the lean-to and site was quite full with some tents pitched were they should not have been. Then off to Marcy, after a long and steep climb we made the summit at about 2:30pm. The weather was absolutely perfect and the visibility was likely in the 100 mile range. There were maybe only 6-8 other people on the summit, chatted with the Stewart for a while, my daughter decided she wanted to become a mountain Stewart when she grows up. We likely basked in the warm sun and light breeze for an hour before heading down. We had planned to stop off at Skylight on the way back, but low water dictated otherwise. The three of us had gone through 6 litres on the way up Marcy. When we got back to the campsite all the other tents and people in the lean-to were gone. A site to ourselves for a second night, I guess everyone was in town watching the Iron man race.
Day 4
Woke to rain. We were going to hike up Colden on the way back to Marcy Dam, but low clouds and the rain reduced the allure of the summit, the trail one the east side on Mt Colden from the Opalecent campsite was much less used than other trails and was very scenic in the rail, though wet in the long grass and marshy sections. The weather cleared and we made good time on the way back to Heart Lake, my daughter and I raced for fun, this helped move things along 56 min from Marcy Dam to the parking lot. She is good for a couple of days but gets wiped on about the third day. Decided to camp at Heart Lake for the night and go into town for supper.
Day 4
Clear cool and breezy.
Wife and Daughter wanted a day to relax so they stayed about the Campground, I Left well before 6am to put in a good hike with time left to go to Santa’s Workshop after lunch. It was the best deal I could negotiate. I went back up and crossed Mt Colden from the east, went down to Lake Colden and back up to hit Iroquois, Algonquin and Wright before going back to Heart Lake (had all the summits to my self). Pretty tough run/hike, must be close to 15 miles and a mile of vertical, but made it back shortly after lunch, with empty water bottles and sore legs. I was taking every opportunity at Santa Land ( tourist trap) to sit or lye down, though I had an over stimulated 5 year old daughter that had other ideas.
Day 5
Weather changed overnight, major wind rain and thunderstorms, so we packed up and headed to the Whites, legs needed a day off anyway. Long drive across Vermont. We stayed at Pinkham Notch after making last minute hut and shuttle reservations for a three day hike in the southern presidential area that would necessitate catching an 8:00am shuttle the next morning. Restocked and repacked after supper and turned in early.
Day 6
Clear and warm
Shuttled around to the Crawford path trail head, bus driver was entertaining, We decided that the Crawford path to Mizpah hut might be a bit of an easy day so decided to take the Webster Jackson trail. Started at 10:30 am Nice view from Jackson, but found the trail was a bit longer and more difficult than the AMC guide indicated. Made the hut about 3:45pm, First hut experience was a good one, great for people hiking with kids. There were some games, puzzles other kids and there junior naturalist programme to keep our young one busied (busied = happy). I Loved the alpine vegetation between Jackson and the hut. Great supper, some chat with other hikers and a good nights sleep. This was important as the next day would be a tough one. Some hikers saw a cow moose not far from the hut after supper.
Day 7
Clear but cooler
Talked to one of the hut croo and made a bit of a root change, which implicated carrying packs to the top of Washington and coming down the Lyons Head path rather than dropping packs and coming down the Tuckerman’s Ravine trail, not sure if the was a good idea in hind site.
Anyway, we made a start right after breakfast with full bellies and water bottles. It was a bit of a climb up to Pierce, after that the going was easy for Eisenhower, Franklin and Monroe, only my daughter and I climbed Monroe, my wife, the other couple and two young boys we met up with decided to save their energy for Washington. Weather was ideal very clear a bit of a breeze and not too warm, the odd cloud at about 6000 feet covered Washington up from time to time. Hiking above the tree line is great! Stopped off at lake of the clouds and refilled water. Might think to stay there next time, however noticed there were a lot of people that had taken the train up and stumbled down to the hut to stay for the night, not the same sort of people we had met along the trails, lean-tos or mizpah hut for that matter (if you know what I mean). At least a dozen people were more or less stranded because they had taken a one way train ticket up assuming they could stay at the hut without reservations and all downward seats on the cog were booked, I guess they could hike out, though they looked ill prepaired even to do that. We found the climb up washington a bit tough with packs but made it up by about 2:30pm. views were great and the summit was less crowded that I had imagined. Visibility was said to 110 miles one of the best days all year, though some treatening clouds were blowing in from the west (wind gusts 50-60 mph). So we gobbled down some chilly clam chowder and other snacks before heading down. The trail off the NE side of washington was a bit rough and slow going and the lyons head path was not much better with a lot of broken rock, hiking poles were very helpful, however, My wife took one spill, only a banged leg fortunatly. We made it down to the Tuckerman lean-tos by about 7:00pm.
Day 8
Clear again warm but a bit of an east wind
Took an earyl morning jaunt up the tuckermans trail and checked out the boot spur for one last look above the tree line, dispite the steep section in the raviene I think it would have been easier the day before to drop packs at the clouds hut hike up washington and then pick up the packs and head down tuckermans. After the morning walk we packed up and headed back down to Pinkham. I could not belive the number of people headed up, I guess it’s normal for a clear Saturday morning. A lot of people did not look to be prepaired, I met one group of 4 not even half a mile up from Pinkham who stoped me and asked how much further, most wering Jeans, T shirts, sandles, no packs. Confused I replied “How much further to where” they said “Washington, were comitted to making it this time”, when I asked them if they had water the said oh yeh and showed me a half liter bottle each most of it already gone. I tried to caution them in a positive manner that they would need more water, even with refilling at the lean-tos and bying something to drink at the summit. Hope they made out ok.
Day 9
A bit of sight seeing, shopping and driving home, got lost in Montreal again, happens to me every time. 2 days rest and repacking at home before a 10 day 200 mile canoe trip.
Likely my best vacation ever, can't wait to go back to the mountains Adk's or whites. I plan a fall trip and hope to get down and take a mountainering training program this winter. My daughter loves the hiking, I think its great that at 5 yeas old she has such great pride in having climbed a dozen 5000 footers and wants to be a mountain Stewart when she grows up.
