Question about Algonquin>Wright>Iroqouis

[PhishADKhiker]

what is the round trip distance?

i want to hike with my father(61 y/o, hes in good shape), who has done Big Slide with me, a good example of his limits. Probably nothing harder than big slide

Anways, im just wondering if he has done big slide, whether this particular hike is do-able for him.

PS. if its not reccomend a better suited hike to do with my 61 year old father.

 

[BorealChickadee]

Did this a few weeks ago and if I remember correctly it's a round trip of 9.2 miles from the Loj to Iroquois and return (not including Wright).

I think your father can do this. If he's too tuckered (which I doubt) on Algonquin then you can just spend more time there. He may not want to do all three peaks. Two woud be great and much more manageable with the shorter days.

I think it took us about 45 minutes for the trek over to Iroquois from Algonquin and about the same on the return. Watch for the herdpath and don't start down the trail to Lake Colden. If you start to drop steeply in some thick stuff on a deeply rutted trail then you missed the path to Iroquois. I was talking about something and not paying attention, a duh moment. Fortunately only went about two or three minutes down. Over to Iroquois is well marked once on the path.

Don't forget to take a look at Shepard's Tooth while you're on Iroquois.

 

[Tom Rankin]

what is the round trip distance?

i want to hike with my father(61 y/o, hes in good shape), who has done Big Slide with me, a good example of his limits. Probably nothing harder than big slide

Anways, im just wondering if he has done big slide, whether this particular hike is do-able for him.

PS. if its not reccomend a better suited hike to do with my 61 year old father.

I would say that doing all 3 of these peaks is definitely harder than doing just Big Slide. Algonquin itself is about 3000' of vertical gain. Add the trip over to Iroquois, and you have another several hundred feet. Then doing Wright adds a few hundred more. So, we're talking around 4000' of elevation gain, and more mileage than Big Slide.

If you want an alternative, there is Cascade, and a fairly easy side trip to Porter. Both trips are quite popular, so expect a lot of company.

 

[PhishADKhiker]

Well, we did Big Slide Via brothers, which adds on a considerable amount of uphill hiking, i think the round trip was 13 miles.

done cascade and porter, that was a sinch for him.

he is a born hiker, bushwacked over the Andes in South America with a donkey in the 60's.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Well, we did Big Slide Via brothers, which adds on a considerable amount of uphill hiking, i think the round trip was 13 miles.

I'm not sure what route you took, but Big Slide is about 3.5 miles one way from the Garden parking lot.

In any case, like the other poster said, you have options if you go up Algonquin.

Another option is Giant, which can be combined with Rocky, if you feel up for it.

There is also Phelps and/or Table Top, and Dial and/or Nippletop. All of these give you options to go on or turn back.

Are we talking just 4K's here? If not, there are plenty of other hikes I can suggest...

 

[Rick]

I agree- doing all 3 (Algongquin/Iroquois/Wright) is considerably more difficult than Big Slide via the Brothers.

Here's a thought - Your father could go up Algonquin and if feeling good, continue on to Iroquois. If he is tired after that, he can either return the same way or head down to Lake Colden and out via Avalanche Lake. I think this is considerably longer, but it saves the climb back up over Algonquin.

If he makes the round trip back over Algonquin, he can then decide if he'd like to tackle Wright or just head back.

 

[BorealChickadee]

The climb back up Algonquin is only 20 minutes (from the col between Boundary and Algonquin) and not really very hard because the rock slope is easy walking. I know because I stood at the bottom, looked up and made a comment about going out to Lake Colden instead. It's so darned intimidating to the tired legs looking up at that angle and going down is tempting. Fortunately sanity prevailed, and we walked 20 minutes (yeah, I actually timed it) to the summit of Algonquin. That trail down to Colden is steep, steep and a killer on tired legs and for us it was late in the day and we would have been crashing the ranger cabin for dinner and doing hitch up matildas in the dark.

An alternate lovely hike is Dial and Nippletop. The trail once through the burned area is truly pleasant. I remember a softly needles base and easy grades.

 

[rdl]

I've always found the hike down from Algonquin/Wright very hard on my legs -- it's pretty steady downhill with long stretches of rock steps.

But the summit of Wright is a good point to decide whether to proceed or not, likewise the summit of Algonquin. So it's easy to cut the Wright/Algonquin/Iroquois trip short if bad weather or tired legs warrant.

 

[KevCon223]

I did Algonquin and Iroquois last year. About 9.5 miles round trip with plenty of elevation gain!! Plan on a full day and get an early start. The view is well worth the effort. I didn't do Wright since the time ran out on Me (I guess I enjoyed the view too much)! I'll get to Wright this time around when I go next week.

 

[JeffAndrews]

I did Wright/Algonquin/Iroqouis with a friend back in July. He's a natural hiker too, but was a little out of shape.

He decided to rest on the little bump between Algonquin and Iroqouis while I continued along the herd path. It was a great place to rest and I got to bag another peak. Worked out well for both of us.

Then I convinced him we should go down to Lake Colden. That is a steep trail for tired legs. But I think he forgave me once we got to the bottom as saw how beautiful it is.

 

[dreamstream]

Going back down via colden is nice, but I would say the slow going and broken rock along avalanch lake makes it harder than just going back the way you came.

As mentioned above if you start by doing Wright you will be able to gauge your self, It seemed steeper to me than Algonqin. But when I did Wright it was after Colden, Iroquois and Algonquin and I was toast.

 

[spaddock]

Watch for the herdpath and don't start down the trail to Lake Colden. If you start to drop steeply in some thick stuff on a deeply rutted trail then you missed the path to Iroquois.

There is a trail marker at the turnoff for Iroquois. Saw it when I hiked it last May. Missed it completely (or it wasn't there) when I first hiked that trail in 2002.

It's a fun hike. It felt very remote being on Iroquois in the fog and driving wind/rain. We came back down via Algonquin/Wright and the descent seemed to take forever. The first time out i did the loop descending to Lake Colden. It was really steep, and there was a river of water going down it at the time.

Other options:

1) Street & Nye
2) Macomb
3) Whiteface/Esther
4) Phelps/Tabletop
5) Giant, Rocky Ridge

he is a born hiker, bushwacked over the Andes in South America with a donkey in the 60's.

If that was my Dad, I'd just show him a map and get him to choose the route.


-Shayne

 

[wayward son]

Back in the mid 1980's, my dad climbed Marcy (his first high peak) when he was 66 or 67. A year later, he hiked up Algonquin. He was actually passing other hikers until leg cramps slowed him down. Regardless, he throughly enjoyed the experience. Like others already mentioned, don't feel the need to do all three. Take the day as it goes and just have fun! p.s.: I hope you have a great time; those 2 hikes with my father are very special to me and I will always cherish them.