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Hello... and an advice request (High Peaks Region)

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  • Hello... and an advice request (High Peaks Region)

    Hello Everybody... First post here. I stumbled upon this forum a few weeks ago and have been reading voraciously ever since. Tons of great info!

    I'm planning a few hikes in the High peaks for the summer months and as they will be my first hikes in the high peaks region, I have a few rookie questions and a general call for tips and advice.


    As soon as school gets out (Late june, midweek)... I'm planning a 3 day, 2 night backpacking trip from the Adirondack loj over Algonquin and Marcy and back... bagging nearby peaks as I go. I am not worried about the rigors of the hike. I'd consider myself a pretty respectable and experienced hiker. i know about the bear canisters, and plan on tenting it (as opposed to lean-to's). I'm comfortable with a map (I have the nat geo maps and the 13th ed of the high peaks guide) and compass and these won't be my first Adirondack Hikes (my fam vacations in Bolton Landing every summer so I've done a bunch of miles around LG) so any advice needed would only be for a High Peaks rookie, as opposed to a rookie hiker....

    I'd appreciate any tips you guys can offer, sights to see, things to avoid... whatever you got. I'm eager to soak it all in.

    Lastly... and I'm almost embarrassed to ask this... How bad are the bears? I live in an area in New Jersey where bears are pretty densely populated. In the warmer months, I run across them on a fairly regular basis (both in the woods and in my yard) so I would dare to say that I have a healthy understanding or level of respect for them, but on this board people talk about the bears in the eastern peaks like they are the stuff of legend... Should I worry? or more practically, should I hang my pack?.. I've done up to 5 days in the woods around here, and I've always hung my food and slept with my pack. Never had an issue... but the more I read, the more I wonder about these "super bold" eastern high peaks bears.

    Thanks so much,

    Jerry

  • #2
    Our bears are actually pretty shy, but I'll let others talk to that - I don't camp much in the High Peaks region. As far as trip planning, a lot of people plan to make a base camp in the valley, and then carry a lighter day pack up and down the peaks, rather than carrying the camping pack over the summits. Either way is fine, but a base camp often makes less work. Have fun!

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    • #3
      You should check out the high peaks forum, you might get some good specific advice there.

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      • #4
        Regarding the bears - your encounter(or lack of) will be totally dependent on how good you are at keeping you and your campsite clean and food free. Bring a canister(s) and keep all food and toiletries in there. Cook, eat and clean away from your campsite. Don't even bring food by your campsite. Follow those basic instructions and you'll have a bear free trip and watch and listen while campers around you are raving about bears stealing their food.

        Some other comments: Late June could still be bug season so I would suggest a cheap bug net. I've gravitated towards the base camp and day hike model of hiking in the High Peaks, both due to the effort required to schlep a full pack over the peaks and the length of time it can take to setup and break camp each day.

        Good luck and enjoy...

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        • #5
          Originally posted by rdl View Post

          Some other comments: Late June could still be bug season so I would suggest a bug net. ..
          I agree with the bug net and would also recommend a light weight long sleeve shirt. I use an old cotton dress work shirt. Also cotton gloves and tall socks to tuck your pants legs into...Black flys kill me...And Deet under all of that! Enjoy!

          ( how did Sandy Hook make out in Sandy? and is that German Rest. still on the hill?)
          Be careful, don't spread invasive species!!

          When a dog runs at you,whistle for him.
          Henry David Thoreau

          CL50-#23

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          • #6
            great stuff... thank you thank you thank you.

            truth be told, I never even considered the bug thing... that advice could prove to be a life saver!!!

            as far as camping goes, I consider myself pretty clean, and for what basically amounts to a two and a half day trip i will probably live off meal replacement bars and vitamins. They are heavy, but they negate the need to cook and possibly make myself or my camp smell delicious to various critters.

            I'll consider the daypack/basecamp model but I gotta say, living and working in NJ may have soiled my trust for my fellow man far beyond my ability to do this... plus I don't mind a heavy load. When I hike with friends I usually shoulder most of the gear, and I don't mind the grind. I sure as hell ain't setting any speed records, but I get where I'm going.

            and chairrock... the entire shore got rocked. I'm not a shore guy by any means. The last time I was in sandy hook might have been when I was cutting school as a senior in HS. when they everybody heads south I usually head north to the hills and fishing holes, but the accounts from friends are pretty bad. The entire shore area is recovering though....it's just going to take a while.

            A Thousand Thanks...

            Jerry

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            • #7
              For what its worth, I always base camp on multi day trips in the highpeaks and have never had any gear messed with. It's not worth it if you'd be worrying about the gear all day though. Just an FYI.

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              • #8
                No worries about leaving your gear in camp or at a lean-to. Hikers and backpackers are a very honest group, and I might add that the vast majority of them woudn't feel like carrying your gear out with them even if they were dishonest. There is a great campsite on the hill above the Cedar Point Lean-to on Lake Colden, and the lean-to itself is located in a very nice place.

                For the proposed route you mentioned, I would hike into Lake Colden. There really is no benefit to hiking over Algonquin with a full pack, espescially when you would likely descend to Lake Colden in order to get to Marcy on the following day anyhow. The hike into Lake Colden via Avalanche Pass is very worth the trip in itself and shouldn't be missed. There are a lot of campsites in that area and several lean-tos as well. From there you can hike both Algonquin and Marcy, plus several other nearby peaks like Marshall, Iroquois, Colden, Cliff, Redfield, Skylight, and Gray all fairly easilly from that location. That should be more than enough options for the amount of time you suggested you would be out there.
                Are you in possession of all of your marbles?

                WAIT a min-u-ete! I am the only one who gets to say "one more time"!

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                • #9
                  Awesome points Commisionpoint... I failed to consider the impracticality of High peak theft. My initial route plan took me from the loj up and over algonquin, hitting wright, and iroquois en route to lake colden. I have limited time in the woods due to a new baby at home. If I miss avalanche pass this trip I am planning to come back in august and dayhike through the pass to get Colden (Which I am skipping in favor of the four corners area on day 2 of this trip).

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                  • #10
                    At the risk of chiming in late...

                    I also add my 2c in favour of a base camp model. I have quite a bit of exp portaging and thus considered myself hardy at lugging heavy packs over ridges and doing loops with moving camps. Last summer I was dissuaded from attempting to do just that over summits like Colden and Algonquin. I can't say how glad I was to take the advice. On a 1.5 day trip we did Gothics, Armstrong, UWJ and LWJ after making camp then broke camp on day two and lugged our packs across Big Slide and The Brothers. Similar mileage and yet the second leg in spite of half as many smaller peaks was just as draining if not more so and that was light on food. Don't get me wrong, its doable you will make much better time in better comfort with a base camp.

                    Second. Spending quite a bit of time in Algonquin Provincial Park and other similar sights, like you we always hung our packs and never had bear issues. It is my understanding that due to traffic bears in the High Peaks have learned this and that it is not advised as they will get the pack down and relocate it to a bear convenient location. We encountered no bears and so I can't speak in this regard from exp. We used good sense but not exaggerated care so I'm sure you'll be fine given that your no stranger to bears but from what I've heard youre better off just using canister and not hanging the pack.

                    Last, Enjoy. You'll love it and find it addictive. I'm eagerly planning my next 3 trips already...
                    Last edited by Drez; 03-10-2013, 09:44 AM. Reason: oops Algonquin might be the size of a nation but still a provincial park...
                    [7/46] Gothic, Armstrong, Upper Wolf Jaw, Lower Wolf Jaw, Big Slide, Giant, Rocky Peak Ridge

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                    • #11
                      Theft of gear left behind in camp in the backcountry in the Adirondacks does happen, but it's pretty rare. I only know of one instance of it happening, and it turned out to be a bunch of idiot kids who thought the gear was "abandoned."

                      Once, my bear hang was tampered with. Turned out the culprit was the father and son setting up camp nearby. I asked them why they'd taken my bear bag down, and the father replied "I wanted to see what was in it." I think he had honestly never seen a bear hang before, or even heard of one, and truly had no clue what it was.

                      I personally don't have any qualms about leaving gear behind in camp or at a lean-to. I wouldn't leave anything extremely valuable, of course- usually I just leave my extra clothes and sleeping gear (bag and pad). And if it's in a lean-to, I try to leave it as neat as possible- I stick everything inside my sleeping bag so it's out of sight.

                      As far as the bears in the High Peaks... yes, they are as bad as you've heard. In fact, bear canisters are required during the warmer months in the Eastern High Peaks- hanging your food is now illegal, because the bears have become so habituated to bear hangs and waste no time ripping the bags down. So make sure you get a canister before your trip.

                      One other comment- I'm not sure what you're exact itinerary is, and where you're planning to camp, but remember that camping is regulated in the Adirondack backcountry. It's prohibited all together above 4,000 feet, and it's allowed only at designated sites between 3,500 and 4,000 feet. Below 3,500 feet, it's permitted at locations that are at least 150 feet from any road, trail or water, or at designated sites. Designated sites are marked with yellow plastic discs that say "Camp Here." It must have this disc to be designated- just because a campsite is obviously impacted and gets used doesn't mean it's designated, and it may not be a legal site.

                      Hope that helps.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Commissionpoint View Post
                        No worries about leaving your gear in camp or at a lean-to. Hikers and backpackers are a very honest group, and I might add that the vast majority of them woudn't feel like carrying your gear out with them even if they were dishonest.
                        While I agree with that. You can't trust the wildlife. Last fall while out on a day hike I hung ALL of my gear in the McMartin leanto at Lake Colden, well everything but my Katadyn water filter.

                        When I came back from the hike a Marten chewed up the PVC hoses on my filter into little pieces. Luckily he left two 1-foot sections which I could use for inlet and outlet hoses.

                        I am pretty sure it was a Marten, because later that evening while eating dinner in the leanto in the dark he jumped up in there with me and was investigating everything. He was aware I was there and didn't seem too frightened.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by trent View Post
                          While I agree with that. You can't trust the wildlife. Last fall while out on a day hike I hung ALL of my gear in the McMartin leanto at Lake Colden, well everything but my Katadyn water filter.

                          When I came back from the hike a Marten chewed up the PVC hoses on my filter into little pieces. Luckily he left two 1-foot sections which I could use for inlet and outlet hoses.

                          I am pretty sure it was a Marten, because later that evening while eating dinner in the leanto in the dark he jumped up in there with me and was investigating everything. He was aware I was there and didn't seem too frightened.
                          Mice, too. Some of them are pretty bold and will chew right through your pack. It's not a bad idea to pack in a couple of mouse traps.

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                          • #14
                            The chewing sounds more like mice mischief than Marten -- in fact the Marten might have been preying on your culprits (along with investigating any other possibilities).

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