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My friend and I met up Thursday night to head up to the adirondacks for the weekend. After an easy 3:15 ride up to The Hostel in Keene, we slumbered for a few hours. I brought back breakfast from Noonmark in the morning, and the smell of bacon managed to lure my bud out of bed.
After stopping at the adk hut to gather forgotten nalgenes and maps, we launched ourselves with heavy packs towards Marcy Dam. It was 930. By 11 am we had reached the dam, where we met a couple intent on climbing Marcy. It was a beautiful cloudless sunny day, with deep blue skys. Our original plan was to hike into Lake Colden, set up base camp and go for Marcy the next day via Opalescent. We also contemplated hiking to Feldspar, and basing there... Well, after some deliberation, Will and I both had the same idea to dump the heavy packs, and shoot for Marcy today. Besides, it was going to snow tomorrow, and we wanted a view from Marcy.
At 11:40 we left for Marcy, our camp ready for our return. By 2:30 we had reached treeline, having passed the couple who had turned back. We advised them to check out Indian Falls on the way down, and to be careful on their descent. We made it as far as possible with crampons, then deciding to switch over to crampons late in the game. We summited at 3:30. I practiced self arrest a tad on the way up and the way down, coming away with a few bruises, but some more confidence.
The summit was spectacular. We could see a front moving in from the east, and in fact there were clouds above us. Below us flew a Cesna 140, and the sky was a beautiful crimson. All peaks east were visable. The lights of Lake Placid started to come alive as we descended.
The hike back was long. We arrived back at camp around 730, after stopping for some water on the way. We boiled a bunch of water, and ate till we could eat no more. By 10pm we were sleeping.
After stopping at the adk hut to gather forgotten nalgenes and maps, we launched ourselves with heavy packs towards Marcy Dam. It was 930. By 11 am we had reached the dam, where we met a couple intent on climbing Marcy. It was a beautiful cloudless sunny day, with deep blue skys. Our original plan was to hike into Lake Colden, set up base camp and go for Marcy the next day via Opalescent. We also contemplated hiking to Feldspar, and basing there... Well, after some deliberation, Will and I both had the same idea to dump the heavy packs, and shoot for Marcy today. Besides, it was going to snow tomorrow, and we wanted a view from Marcy.
At 11:40 we left for Marcy, our camp ready for our return. By 2:30 we had reached treeline, having passed the couple who had turned back. We advised them to check out Indian Falls on the way down, and to be careful on their descent. We made it as far as possible with crampons, then deciding to switch over to crampons late in the game. We summited at 3:30. I practiced self arrest a tad on the way up and the way down, coming away with a few bruises, but some more confidence.
The summit was spectacular. We could see a front moving in from the east, and in fact there were clouds above us. Below us flew a Cesna 140, and the sky was a beautiful crimson. All peaks east were visable. The lights of Lake Placid started to come alive as we descended.
The hike back was long. We arrived back at camp around 730, after stopping for some water on the way. We boiled a bunch of water, and ate till we could eat no more. By 10pm we were sleeping.
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