Redfield Info/conditions

[Hikerdad]

I am considering an attempt on Redfield from the Loj sometime during the week after Easter as a long day hike. Any ideas/thoughts on the conditions I could expect to find are welcome. We will bring snowshoes (only crampons on the snowshoes...meaning I don't have separate strap-on crampons). Will I need the snowshoes for the whole hike or will the loj to somepoint on the way to Lake Arnold be barebootable at this time of year? Will Uphill Brook cause any problems due to snow melt as we climb the herdpath? Will I be able to ascend Redfield with just crampons on the snowshoes? I'm assuming an early start and a 11-13 hour hike (we did do Cliff in a day last fall) so I'm hoping I can make this one.

This is our last to make our 46 and I'm chomping at the bit.....

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Stay on the path

Please try to stay on the new path we established in the fall.

This time of the year is critical for the herd paths. Spring is the time that new (false/redundant) paths appear. Winter hikers' routes often don't follow the herd path. That's OK, since the layer of snow protects things. As the snow melts, however, if hikers continue to follow the winter route, they wil destroy the vegetation and establish a new path.

From now until ...oh... mid-may is critical.

It isn't a disaster.. We send in a crew, and close off all of the false paths... It's just better if we don't have to. Closing them off looks uglier than if they were not there in the first place.

 

[PINPIN JUNIOR]

Snow condition!!!

Hi Hikerdad.

Junior just go outside of the wood from Nye & Street.

This morning the snow was hard, only one inch near the Loj! The base was hard and We never made a spruce trap!

The water lewel was low and it was easy to cross the brook. But 3 hours after when We come back the water was growing more of 2 inches!!

Now it is very muddy between the parking and Marcy dam after the temperature past over the frozen point. You will need good waterprof boots.

Over 3000 feet more new snow around 4 to 6 inches also snow in the trees.

Few chance to need crampons for Redfield trip but sure You will need snowshoes.

You need to check the forecast and may be also the trips reports.

Junior has a plan to hike every day before the 04-13. We will not put a report every day but if the snow condition or the water lewel change We put this information in this place.

Have a good hike.

Pinpin Junior

 

[1ADAM12]

Hikerdad,

You might want to start your hike from upperworks via Flowed Lands then proceed to uphill lean-to where the trail begins for Redfields summit. This will save a few hours on your time! When I did Redfield a few years ago we hiked into Avalanche camp the first day and then hiked Redfield the next. It took us 12 hours and of course we had the worse blowdown imaginable. Thanks to Pete Hickey and his crew this trail is now free of blowdown.

Good luck on your hike!

ADAM

 

[Tom H]

Good and plenty snow as of 4/10

As of 4/10...

the trail was barebootable from the Loj to Uphill leanto via Lake Arnold. Continuous snow beyond Avalanche Camp, but still easily barebootable. On that day I climbed Cliff and was able to bareboot to the summit and return, travelling freely over the blowdown on hard snow. On 4/7 I climbed Redfield from Skylight, then descended to Uphill leanto. The snow on Redfield is the same as on Cliff...hardpacked. On my descent of Redfield I didn't bother trying to locate the path, I just headed directly toward Mt Colden. When I reached the tributary brook I intersected the path and easily followed it down to the leanto.

Streams are running low. On the trail the ice is still intact across Feldspar and Uphill brooks, but the portion of the Redfield herdpath that follows in the brook above the falls didn't look safe so I stayed on the bank.

I recommend you start early, trying to summit Redfield before noontime, preferrably well before. The earlier the better, as midday temps definitely do soften the snow. On my traverse from Skylight to Redfield I broke through two or three times on the sunbaked last pitch to the summit ridge...while wearing snowshoes. It was close to 12:00 noon then. On my Cliff hike I summitted earlier(9:45am), and was able to go bareboot, but broke only through 2 or 3 steps on a similar steep area during the descent.