Options, options

[Bradtholomew]

Yep, another "help me plan my trip" thread. Gotta love 'em.

Anyways, I'm heading down for a couple days this weekend with a relative beginner. I'd like to hike out somewhere 5-10 miles (or less ) and camp for the night, and hopefully do a couple peaks from our basecamp. I'm not comfortable with going up any of the higher peaks or anything due to lack of gear/experience.

I've been up Marcy, Haystack, Cascade and a few others about 13-14 years ago, so its been a while since I've been in the area. I'd like to see some waterfalls maybe, and climb a couple of the smaller 46 peaks, some trails that are in at least decent condition this time of year and can be done with relative ease.

Any suggestions for what might be the best this time of year? Good locations to camp (we'll be tenting)? Your favourite spots?

Thanks!!

[rdl]

Others may chime in with more current information, but from what reports I've seen you should expect to find snow starting at about 3200'. Which means you'll need snowshoes and/or crampons.

If you're still planning on going and have the necessary snow/cold weather gear, since you're taking a newbie I would suggest something like Phelps(camp at/near Marcy Dam), Wright(car camp at the Loj campground) or Colvin(camp along the trail to Colvin after it enters state land).

[Kevin]

...Colvin(camp along the trail to Colvin after it enters state land).

If you want to avoid the high peaks the other options won't work, but this is a good idea (Dial, Nippletop, Colvin, and Blake are in the Dix wilderness area which is less traveled). You could also hike into the Dix mountain area from either Elk Lake or Round Pond. There's a lean-to on the way to Dix, and other places to camp, etc. Falls within your distance requirement, but it's got a steady climb so you'll feel the workout with a full pack.

Other options are the Sewards (Blueberry Pond lean-to or Ward Brook) if the road's open, otherwise it adds distance from the winter gate. There's a bunch of smaller mountain ranges and mountains all over with various camping options. Too many to list here!

[whitefoot]

I climbed Blue mntn. on saturday to do trail work,

there was still hard deep snow up there on the trail and spotty in the woods.

Blue mntn i think is about 3700' but isnt as far north as the high peaks so im sure there is more snow up there.

definatally be prepaired for the snow.

[Bradtholomew]

3200' eh, that might persuade him to pick up a pair of snowshoes too. I've been doing a lot of hiking locally during the winter, so I know what to expect. My last major outing was down in NZ, a lot of what I did there was comparable to what I remember the Adirondacks being.

Looks like Colvin/Blake may be a good option... that would be good to do them on Saturday and see how he does, and what the conditions are like. Maybe try Dix or Nippletop (who named these places?) on Sunday... hmm.

Is the walk in from Ausable Club a good one? I see there's a road along there, and some waterfalls.

Gah, too many options!! But, I suppose that's a good thing.

Thanks all for the replies.

[rdl]

Is the walk in from Ausable Club a good one? I see there's a road along there, and some waterfalls.

The road walk is pretty nondescript. I don't have a map in front of me, but I think the Gill Brook trail cuts off from the road after about 1.5 miles and is a pretty scenic walk. Of course if you do take the road almost to the end, you can hike past Fish Hawk Cliffs, which gives a very nice view down the lake.

[Kevin]

+1

Gill Brook has a ton of flumes and small waterfalls. One of the nicest trails in the entire ADK park IMO.

[Bradtholomew]

Great, think we have a winner. Thanks for the help guys.

[Bradtholomew]

Great trip, thanks again for the advice. Gill Brook Trail was very nice as advertised. We only went up Colvin - turns out my hiking partner didn't bring any water I saw him put a 2L bottle into his bag, so I didn't ask to make sure he brought it. Turns out he took it out of his bag at the parking lot because he didn't think he'd need it.

Anyways, I had my water bottle and purification tablets so we survived. heh.

[WinterWarlock]

Great trip, thanks again for the advice. Gill Brook Trail was very nice as advertised. We only went up Colvin - turns out my hiking partner didn't bring any water I saw him put a 2L bottle into his bag, so I didn't ask to make sure he brought it. Turns out he took it out of his bag at the parking lot because he didn't think he'd need it.

Anyways, I had my water bottle and purification tablets so we survived. heh.

What were the conditions on Colvin? Going up there in a couple weeks, and curious as to snow/ice..

[Bradtholomew]

Above ~3000' the trails are mostly snow covered. It's not very hard packed - most of the time I was able to walk on top of it, but more often than not I'd break through and have one leg up to my waist in snow. Still easily done now, in a couple weeks you'll have no problems.