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This was a view-laden weekend, with beautiful weather, and fairly reasonable trail conditions to boot. Played my happy hour gig in Albany Friday evening and then headed to my mom's and got to sleep at a reasonable hour. Up and out the door by about 7, I was driving into Keene by 9 or so. (Man, maybe I should move back to Albany...). As I was gearing up in the Garden lot, a Middlebury College van pulled in full of Vermont college kids. There were a few others around as well, and most everyone seemed headed for Big Slide. The lower parts of the trail were quite dry, and I was feeling pretty good, so I trucked along until the first viewpoint, where I rested and talked with a group there.
Throughout the ridge walk, I never really knew for sure which brother was which, how many there were, etc. It was a enough to just move along and take in the views. The vistas of the Great Range were great of course, and the view of the big slide on Big Slide was really nice. I guess that was from the last brother. The view from the summit itself was superb, and I didn't even mind sharing it with several others. I chatted a while w/ a woman from Rochester, and told her about this site and the other forums. The Vermont college kid contigent also showed up. Kinda loud, but nice kids.
Along much of the higher elevation parts of the Brothers trail there was the expected snow spine. It was still nice and hard, thus no postholing. The forest litter helped to grit it up, adding to the traction. With careful foot placement it was all barebootable. Schlepping my snowshoes was an utter waste of energy. I did use the crampons for a few minutes coming down from the summit of Big Slide back to the junction, but even there they weren't essential. A fair amount of blowdown on the Brothers trail makes it a bit confusing in a place or two.
Went back down the trail to the JBL and out by way of the valley. The trail down had some more snow and ice, but again nothing too bad. Even more blowdown than on the Brothers though. There are already herd paths forming around some. When I came to the spot by the Brook where T-max had fallen and hurt her arm in March, I recognized it immediately. Funny how something like that burns the place into your memory. I stopped there for a rest and tried my ritual of taking off the boots and sticking my feet in the water. Could only dip them in for a second or two this time of year of course.
After the 27 brook crossings I was finally back down to the John's Brook Valley and heading out with a woman I had seen at the summit. The valley trail is in great shape, and is quite dry for this time of year. In fact there was very little mud anywhere. Saw a few spring beauties (or where they wood sorel?) a mile or so from the Garden.
After the hike I headed up to the Loj to car camp for the night. Showers are not open yet, and unfortunately the one in the HPIC is still out of order. Restful night at least, even though I didn't get to shower. Nothing like late afternoon sunlight on Heart Lake after a hike. I asked the guy at HPIC about trail conditions and decided to keep the crampons in the pack, but not the 'shoes. He said the only place he knew of that really required snowshoes might be in between Marcy and Skylight.
The next day I got up, broke camp, broke my fast and moved my car over to the day use lot. Who should I see gearing up but PinPin! He was heading to Street and Nye. He said it was a good time because Indian Pass Brook was low. He also reconfirmed that snowshoes were not necessary, but crampons might be for Phelps and Tabletop. We bid each other a good hike (Bon hiking?)
and went on our separate ways.
The Van Ho Highway is in fine form, very dry until Marcy Dam, a little muddier after that, but not too bad. I met up with a guy named Bill from Chestertown, his sister and her kids. They were also headed to Tabletop and we leapfrogged each other, stopped to chat a few times, and then hung out together on the summit a bit. Bill is a 46er many times over and is very knowledgable, having been in the ADKs for years.
There is a substantial snow spine, deep in places along most of the Tabletop herd path. It was still nice and hard, so no postholing. It lifted you a foot or two up in places, adding to the views from the path, which was great. Everyone barebooted up. I wore crampons for the descent for security, but it could be done without them. The real problem will be when this gets soft and rots, since it's still a foot or even two in places. Anyhow, I was surprised at the nice view from below and behind the summit and the vistas from the path. On the descent I could actually see Lake Placid and the ski jumps.
Back down and over to Indian Falls for lunch and a half hour or so rest with boots off. Amazing place. It would have been so easy to fall asleep there. But, alas, onward to Phelps. By the time I got back to the junction, I was starting to feel a little fatigued. It was getting very warm since it was early afternoon now. I was at least still well hydrated. I ended up drinking four liters of water on this hike! If not for the ice patches at the higher elevations on Phelps, it could have been a summer day for all I knew.
It was a tough climb due to my fatigue and the ice and running water mixed in with the rocky areas. Finally made it to the rock that's sort of a false summit and dropped my pack. There was a group of four on top of the rock, so I said hello and moved down to one of the lower lookout areas. After catching my breath for a few, I continued the short distance to the end of the line and also explored the wooded areas of the summit a bit.
I have to say-I think the combined vistas from Phelps may be my favorite of all those I've yet experience in the Adirondacks. So beautiful it almost hurts. Nice to see Algonquin, etc. on the one side, and then Giant, etc. on the other. There is still a good amount of snow visible on Algonquin, and especially on Marcy. A little left on Colden and some of the others.
Over on the east side, going a bit north from Giant, there is a mountain with a very impressive cliff/dropoff on it's south face. Is this Hurricane?
I gaped at the various views for quite a while, sometimes sitting, sometimes walking around. There were also some little boreal birds around. Not chickadees, although they were about that size, perhaps a little bigger. All in all, a very pleasant summit experience, particularly after the tough climb. This is one I really look forward to climbing again.
Finally pried myself away and headed down and schlepped back out. Unfortunately my left knee started hurting a bit with a couple miles still to go. I stopped a little before Marcy Dam and popped an Advil and rested. This rest made me realize the birding potential for this area. In just a few minutes I saw a hairy woodpecker and several other species that were too far away for me to identify. I unfortunately didn't have binoculars.
Cleaned up a bit at the HPIC and hit the road, with the traditional stop for the mediocre, but somehow delicious dinner at the Noonmark. The Cliffhanger had a sign up saying they will reopen May 1st, which is today of course.
I was pleasantly surprised that the trails were mostly dry and in overall decent shape. I'll only mention bugs to say they're not yet worth mentioning. I think I lucked out and got the little window of nice spring conditions. The knee pain was not good of course, but on the plus side, I never rolled an ankle once all weekend. I was rolling them chronically just a month ago, so this is good. Overall a very pleasant trip. Interesting to see the last dregs of winter clinging to the High Peaks while your body feels like it's summer.
Matt
Throughout the ridge walk, I never really knew for sure which brother was which, how many there were, etc. It was a enough to just move along and take in the views. The vistas of the Great Range were great of course, and the view of the big slide on Big Slide was really nice. I guess that was from the last brother. The view from the summit itself was superb, and I didn't even mind sharing it with several others. I chatted a while w/ a woman from Rochester, and told her about this site and the other forums. The Vermont college kid contigent also showed up. Kinda loud, but nice kids.
Along much of the higher elevation parts of the Brothers trail there was the expected snow spine. It was still nice and hard, thus no postholing. The forest litter helped to grit it up, adding to the traction. With careful foot placement it was all barebootable. Schlepping my snowshoes was an utter waste of energy. I did use the crampons for a few minutes coming down from the summit of Big Slide back to the junction, but even there they weren't essential. A fair amount of blowdown on the Brothers trail makes it a bit confusing in a place or two.
Went back down the trail to the JBL and out by way of the valley. The trail down had some more snow and ice, but again nothing too bad. Even more blowdown than on the Brothers though. There are already herd paths forming around some. When I came to the spot by the Brook where T-max had fallen and hurt her arm in March, I recognized it immediately. Funny how something like that burns the place into your memory. I stopped there for a rest and tried my ritual of taking off the boots and sticking my feet in the water. Could only dip them in for a second or two this time of year of course.
After the 27 brook crossings I was finally back down to the John's Brook Valley and heading out with a woman I had seen at the summit. The valley trail is in great shape, and is quite dry for this time of year. In fact there was very little mud anywhere. Saw a few spring beauties (or where they wood sorel?) a mile or so from the Garden.
After the hike I headed up to the Loj to car camp for the night. Showers are not open yet, and unfortunately the one in the HPIC is still out of order. Restful night at least, even though I didn't get to shower. Nothing like late afternoon sunlight on Heart Lake after a hike. I asked the guy at HPIC about trail conditions and decided to keep the crampons in the pack, but not the 'shoes. He said the only place he knew of that really required snowshoes might be in between Marcy and Skylight.
The next day I got up, broke camp, broke my fast and moved my car over to the day use lot. Who should I see gearing up but PinPin! He was heading to Street and Nye. He said it was a good time because Indian Pass Brook was low. He also reconfirmed that snowshoes were not necessary, but crampons might be for Phelps and Tabletop. We bid each other a good hike (Bon hiking?)
and went on our separate ways.
The Van Ho Highway is in fine form, very dry until Marcy Dam, a little muddier after that, but not too bad. I met up with a guy named Bill from Chestertown, his sister and her kids. They were also headed to Tabletop and we leapfrogged each other, stopped to chat a few times, and then hung out together on the summit a bit. Bill is a 46er many times over and is very knowledgable, having been in the ADKs for years.
There is a substantial snow spine, deep in places along most of the Tabletop herd path. It was still nice and hard, so no postholing. It lifted you a foot or two up in places, adding to the views from the path, which was great. Everyone barebooted up. I wore crampons for the descent for security, but it could be done without them. The real problem will be when this gets soft and rots, since it's still a foot or even two in places. Anyhow, I was surprised at the nice view from below and behind the summit and the vistas from the path. On the descent I could actually see Lake Placid and the ski jumps.
Back down and over to Indian Falls for lunch and a half hour or so rest with boots off. Amazing place. It would have been so easy to fall asleep there. But, alas, onward to Phelps. By the time I got back to the junction, I was starting to feel a little fatigued. It was getting very warm since it was early afternoon now. I was at least still well hydrated. I ended up drinking four liters of water on this hike! If not for the ice patches at the higher elevations on Phelps, it could have been a summer day for all I knew.
It was a tough climb due to my fatigue and the ice and running water mixed in with the rocky areas. Finally made it to the rock that's sort of a false summit and dropped my pack. There was a group of four on top of the rock, so I said hello and moved down to one of the lower lookout areas. After catching my breath for a few, I continued the short distance to the end of the line and also explored the wooded areas of the summit a bit.
I have to say-I think the combined vistas from Phelps may be my favorite of all those I've yet experience in the Adirondacks. So beautiful it almost hurts. Nice to see Algonquin, etc. on the one side, and then Giant, etc. on the other. There is still a good amount of snow visible on Algonquin, and especially on Marcy. A little left on Colden and some of the others.
Over on the east side, going a bit north from Giant, there is a mountain with a very impressive cliff/dropoff on it's south face. Is this Hurricane?
I gaped at the various views for quite a while, sometimes sitting, sometimes walking around. There were also some little boreal birds around. Not chickadees, although they were about that size, perhaps a little bigger. All in all, a very pleasant summit experience, particularly after the tough climb. This is one I really look forward to climbing again.
Finally pried myself away and headed down and schlepped back out. Unfortunately my left knee started hurting a bit with a couple miles still to go. I stopped a little before Marcy Dam and popped an Advil and rested. This rest made me realize the birding potential for this area. In just a few minutes I saw a hairy woodpecker and several other species that were too far away for me to identify. I unfortunately didn't have binoculars.
Cleaned up a bit at the HPIC and hit the road, with the traditional stop for the mediocre, but somehow delicious dinner at the Noonmark. The Cliffhanger had a sign up saying they will reopen May 1st, which is today of course.
I was pleasantly surprised that the trails were mostly dry and in overall decent shape. I'll only mention bugs to say they're not yet worth mentioning. I think I lucked out and got the little window of nice spring conditions. The knee pain was not good of course, but on the plus side, I never rolled an ankle once all weekend. I was rolling them chronically just a month ago, so this is good. Overall a very pleasant trip. Interesting to see the last dregs of winter clinging to the High Peaks while your body feels like it's summer.
Matt
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