Skylight and Gray

[mtnhiker]

I'm making plans to do Skylight and Gray as a day hike and am trying to decide which route to take – from Loj, UW or Elk Lake.

The distance from the Loj is about 2 miles less than from Upper Works or Elk Lake. Is one route more scenic than the other? Is ascent comparable on all three? I've read that the start from UW is relatively flat and I know that the first couple of miles into Marcy Dam are the same.

Does the Loj parking lot ever fill on summer weekends? I’m thinking that parking won’t be a problem at UW or Elk Lake, right?

Which day hike route do you like the best to Skylight and Gray?

 

[1ADAM12]

Personally I like going in from UW. There seems to be less people that way and for me I do find it more scenic. I just love Flowed Lands and Lake Colden. Either way you decide to go and you will find it beautiful in there.

Adam

 

[Tom Rankin]

I'm making plans to do Skylight and Gray as a day hike and am trying to decide which route to take – from Loj, UW or Elk Lake.

The Loj and Elk Lake both fill up. I've seen people walking the Loj road back to their cars several times. Elk Lake parking lot is tiny! Get there early! I've never seen UW full, but you never know.

As for which way to go, the Loj is the shortest. I prefer the views from that directions over UW, but I've never done it from Elk Lake.

 

[AOC-1]

The views are limited on the Elk Lake approach, but it is an unparalleled route for solitude. (Look - even Tom Rankin has never done it that way.) The occupants of all those cars at the trailhead are usually heading into the Dixes. And, if you're overnighting, you can stay at Panther Gorge - one of the coolest spots in the Adks.

For scenery, I'd go with UW. Speed - the Loj. Wilderness feel - Elk Lake.

 

[yvon]

I did it last saturday and instead to start at the Loj, I started at South Meadows. We did it by Lake Arnorld Path and came back by the same route. If you take that route, after Opalescent river, that area was flooded last week, but we passed.

 

[una_dogger]

I've got plans to do it next friday, Marcy->Gray->Skylight->Marcy (yup), looking forward to reading your TR

 

[mtnhiker]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm going to hike the UW route, I’ve never been in that area before and I look forward to exploring it.

From what I've read, the trail to Gray is easy to find. I just have to look for the cairn at the outlet at Lake Tear. Is the cairn and trail easy to find?

From the map and guidebook, it looks like I will come across plenty of water sources. I have just recently started filtering water during day hikes and don’t carry enough water for the entire day, so I like to double check that I will come across water sources during the hike.

 

[una_dogger]

Please make sure you take a rock up and place it on Skylight's summit --its tradition! For good luck, and no rain....

 

[yvon]

I've got plans to do it next friday, Marcy->Gray->Skylight->Marcy (yup), looking forward to reading your TR

Look at this one by Gail, Sabrina

http://www.adkhighpeaks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3813

Please make sure you take a rock up and place it on Skylight's summit --its tradition! For good luck, and no rain....

Annie and me did it.

 

[una_dogger]

Thank you, Yvon. I love Gail and Mimi's trip reports, and Mimi's pictures and captions always capture the finest details.

I'm really looking forward to this hike, and others!

 

[audrey]

Mtnhiker - yes, the cairn is very easy to find - I don't even remember a cairn - just cross the rocks at the outlet. Last time, we went from South Meadow via Lake Arnold. I like that way best, especially the section near the Opalescent. The wet areas were blooming with gentians. I'd have returned the same way, except that we added Marcy and returned down the Mt Van Hoevenburg trail, which I found really tedious, but then I was pretty sore and tired. The nice thing about the last leg from Marcy Dam is that the road to South Meadow is a cruise in the dark.

 

[Raymond]

Mtnhiker, if you reach Lake Tear — there’s probably a big rock with a petroglyph-like lichen on it — you’ve gone too far. The path goes into the woods just before the lake, passes over a large rock or bump of some kind, drops steeply off the other side, then soon climbs up and up.

When we climbed Gray back in 2001, there was a lot of erosion on the herd path. It’s pretty steep, then you have to follow along the summit ridge a distance to locate the summit sign, if there’s one still there.

I haven’t been by there since I got a digital camera, so I’m afraid I can’t show you any photos.

 

[Whiteman]

Is the sign still there on Gray?

I can just imagine bumbling around in the brush, wondering if I was actually "there" if there were no sign. (And if there weren't I'd found out later I wasn't.)

 

[yvon]

Gray summit sign

Picture taken last weekend

 

[mtnhiker]

Trip Report

Hiked Gray and Skylight from Upper Works on Sunday 7/1. Started at 5:15am, sky was clear blue with just a few clouds and it was a nice sunrise. It’s a nice level hike for the first 4 miles, trail was in good condition. It had rained the night before so the close grasses and branches were still wet which wasn’t so much fun since the temp was only 44, would have been good to toss my shell on but didn’t realize that until I was already wet – oops! The views at Flowed Lands and Lake Colden are great, as are the flumes and falls of the Opalescent. There are many pretty spots along the way of this hike. Getting closer to Lake Tear, it was clouding up and became completely overcast so I opted to go up Gray first in case it did clear out later I’d rather be on Skylight for the nice views. The cairn at Lake Tear is easy to spot, right at the outlet of the Lake, and just head north. The trail is narrow and close, lots of branches and greenery you will be walking through, I recommend long pants instead of shorts for this one. Trail is easy to follow, keep going until you see the signs – one yellow disk and one brown/yellow sign. At the top of Gray, there were no views other than the clouds, completely socked in, it was windy and cold, did not feel like the first day of July! The temp was 42 plus strong winds. Headed right back down the mountain and towards Skylight. Picked up a rock to take to the top to ward off the rain. It’s a nice hike over to Skylight, ran into some other groups doing variations of Gray/Skylight/Marcy/Haystack. At the top of Skylight I could only imagine the views, the only views I had were of the cloud I was in. It was cold, 38 degrees and windy, 20-30mph. Stayed long enough to drop my rock on the pile and take a quick look around and then headed back down. It was disappointing to be in the clouds on both peaks, but this is a great hike even without the views from the top. Many scenic spots along the way to enjoy, a gentle grade for most of it, and trails in good condition - a great day!

Distance 21 miles, approximately 4000 ft ascent. The hike took just under 11 hours.

 

[una_dogger]

Nice Job!

I'll be doing Marcy/Gray/Skylight this friday from the Loj, it will be interesting to compare notes on the different routes.

 

[rup]

Yvon

You have a good website. Where did you get the map of the ADKs that you use there??

 

[yvon]

You have a good website. Where did you get the map of the ADKs that you use there??

Thank you Rup for your comments.
The map is National Geographic, Adirondack Park, Lake Placid/High Peak. For me it is the best.