Mt. Marshall Via Indian Pass

[NS-ADK]

Hi,

Working on my 46'er. Marshall will be my 18th. I am looking to hike via Indian Pass. Has anyone recently done this,have trail descriptions, or general advice on the section between Pass Brook and the Cold Brook trail? Thank you.

-Nick

[rdl]

I haven't been on this trail in a few years, but my understanding is the trail has been abandoned -- so expect a wet trail with blowdown that hasn't seen any maintenance in a few years.

That being said, the trail up Marshall from the Cold Brook trail is very nice.

[trent]

That being said, the trail up Marshall from the Cold Brook trail is very nice.

It's trick to follow sometimes though due to the amount of crossings and the amount of herd paths. As long as you stay along the brook until you get to the last turn off at the top, you're good to go. Once I realized this I started just walking up/down the dry sections of the brook instead of worrying about following the many herd paths.

[TCD]

It's trick to follow sometimes though due to the amount of crossings and the amount of herd paths. As long as you stay along the brook until you get to the last turn off at the top, you're good to go. Once I realized this I started just walking up/down the dry sections of the brook instead of worrying about following the many herd paths.

I believe this description applies to the Herbert Brook path, not the path from the Cold Brook trail.

Her's a useful thread about the Cold Brook trail approach:

http://www.adkhighpeaks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25093&highlight=Marshall

The only thing I would add is that the path from the Cold Brook trail is often described as leaving "from the height of land" on that trail. The path actually leaves the trail at a cairn that is near, but not at the height of land. It's a bit down towards the Indian Pass side.

[trent]

Oh yes, you're correct TCD. Sorry, I mixed up my brooks.

[jpugh]

I did it Marshall from Indian Pass a month ago. It is scratchy, but the easiest way to do Marshall from ADK Loj.

It is easy enough to get to the top of Marshall. The trick is to find the right herd path on the descent. This is because there is a cliff near the top of Marshall on which the herd path keeps moving to the left (east) due to bi-annual erosions. As a result, the herd path from the Iroquois col is quite indistinct where it meets the "highway" path coming up from Herbert Brook. When you hit the highway, mark the junction so that on the descent you know where to find your herd path back to the Iroquois col - with some crossed branches or something.

[rodazac]

Last month I descended Marshall to Cold Brook Pass and out to the Loj via Indian Pass. This heard path is much more "snug and scratchy" than any I have been on to the point I stopped and put on my leg bottoms and a long sleeve shirt, but I had no problem following it down.

I had ascended via the Herbert Brook path and when I looked for the path to descend to Cold Brook I found there were two distinct paths toward Iroquois. The first one took me down to a bolder but it stopped there. So I climbed back up and the second one was the ticket.

A note about the link from TCD: the hiker in that thread (bocomo) stayed on the Cold Brook Pass trail all the way to Lake Colden and around to the Herbert Brook path. I don't know why he would have done that unless he didn't know about the Cold Brook herd path or simply missed the cairn.