Iroquois to Marshall

[mphiker]

Has anyone ever bushwhacked from Iroquois towards Marshall. I know there is a herd path leading up to Marshall from the crossover trail between Indian Pass and Lake Colden, but how is it going down the backside of Iroquois. Any thoughts would be great. Thanks

mphiker

[lumberzac]

I have a friend that did it. He said the going is very steep with a few ledges you have to negotiate on the way down.

[Kevin]

http://www.adkforum.com/showthread.php?t=347

adkben says he did it easily during the winter, but snow is usually softer to fall into/down then rock...

[ADKben]

I did it in early November..there was snow, but not enough for snowshoes. There were no real dangerous parts. It is easy to find a way down. If you just go basically straight for Marshall from Iroquois, you'll be able to find a nice way down. There are cliffs, etc..but those are easily avoidable; just dont be in a rush. The bushwack is pretty good in terms of thickness of growth. My girlfriend, who is a very novice hiker had no problem getting down that way with us. You will intersect the trail that goes up between Iroquois and Marshall. There is a defined herd path that leads up Marshall from that trail. From where we shwacked down it was about 20-30 yards up ahead on the left. From the start of the herd path it goes straight up. We dropped our packs and basically jogged up. It took us about 20 minutes to reach the summit. I would DEFINATELY recommend this way, its quick and easy! I would say that with even novice bushwacking skill you can make it down with out a problem. I would say that many people go this way since there is a herd path up Marshall from the base of Iroquois. PM me if you have anymore questions

(I should add..if you see open rock ledges, avoid. Look for a way down that is all trees and other growth. You should not find yourself looking for exposed rock to get down to; there are generally cliffs where there is exposed rock)

[mike1889]

I did it in the reverse direction from Iroquois Pass to Iroquois and it was very difficult. The half mile took about 2 hours. There was one place where we had to squeeze ourselves through a hole in the cliffs and had to take off our packs and pass them through the hole. I have heard stories of people going down that way and getting to the top of cliffs and almost getting stuck.

[Neil]

There is a thread on this subject on VFTT that I started 2 or 3 wks. ago. You may get some info there. Note that ADKBen's post here gives the the best info.

On that, Ben, do you mean if I line up Marshall from the summit of Iroquois (take a compass bearing) and more or less follow that, I'll be in your tracks?

[ADKben]

Ya, that is what I mean. I do remember that we went down more left than right. What I mean is when your on top of Iroquois, go a little bit to the left and then down..as opposed to the right and down. We found no hang-ups whatsoever and kept a steady pace the whole way to the pass between the 2 mountains. Since Iroquois is entirely bald, you should have no problem scoping out a route down. Getting a compass reading would be a great idea, but no matter what way you go down, you WILL intersect with the trail.

[Mavs00]

Herd path to Marshall...

Due to some crappy whether expected on the 22nd, we'll be headed to Marshall on the 23rd. Also we'll be up in the LP area and will be starting from the LOJ (as opposed to the prior planned UW). What I'm looking for is this.

Is the herd path from Iroquios Pass to Marshall summit easy to find along the Iroquois Pass trail. Is it marked with a cairn or is it at a particular place (such as right in the pass). Let me know please.

Also, as far as herd paths, how is it? easy to follow (i.e Tabletop), or Hard (i.e Dix, Sewards). I have a feeling we'll be in the cloud for this one.