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| Hiking | 17.33 Miles |
3,637 AEG |
| | Hiking | 17.33 Miles | 11 Hrs 3 Mns | | 2.07 mph |
| 3,637 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 40 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | I arrived at 8:30 am on a Saturday and discovered that the trailhead parking lot was already full. I was told I could park on the side of Meadows Lane, anywhere I could find room, for free. Meadows Lane was a dirt road in good condition and I was able to drive and park using a low clearance car. Starting from further out probably added about 2-3 miles round trip to my hike. I found out later that the trailhead parking fee was $18. Glad I decided to park where I did ! It was also possible to park off the main road for free, but beyond 1.1 miles from the fee booth / Adirondak Loj and not South of Meadows Lane.
I started hiking on the Marcy dam truck trail which led to Marcy dam. It took a little under 3 miles of hiking to get to the dam. Had I started at Adirondak Loj, it may have been only 2.3 miles. On the way to the dam, I saw a lot of foliage/fall colored leaves which was not present in many other parts of the state. The trail goes through a forest area, is relatively flat with some rolling hills, is not too rocky and fast moving. I got to the dam area in about an hour. Near the dam, I found a sign that said Mt Marcy was 5.1 miles up the trail and Indian Falls was 2.1 miles away. Then, I continued on the Van Hoevenberg trail toward the Marcy summit.
The next part of the trail was rockier and steeper. There were a few stream crossings and there were a few wooden bridges in areas where the stream was deep or wide. There was one confusing section of trail where I was supposed to cross a wash and continue up along that wash, but instead I saw a use-trail which I followed for a few hundred feet until it fizzled out. Looking at someone else's GPS track, I was able to figure out that I needed to be on the other side of the stream. I met 2 other guys who were behind me, making the same mistake I did. We all crossed the stream and picked up the trail on the other side of the stream. This trail got a bit steeper. There were a few areas along the trail that looked out to the stream and some small waterfalls.
There were some muddy areas but there were ways to go around the mud. In some places there were wooden planks which stretched over some of the muddy areas. After getting to the Indian falls area, a sign said that it was 2 miles to Marcy dam. I didn't see a sign for the mileage to Marcy, but I figured it must be about 3 from this point. I decided to stop and see Indian falls on the way down.
I continued heading up the trail to Mt Marcy. The next 1.8 miles went by pretty fast. I saw a sign that said 1.2 miles to the peak and was surprised it was only 1.2 miles. I continued up ahead and saw the first view of Mt Marcy at a clearing. From this point, I figured the peak was only 1 mile away, even though it looked further. The summit appeared to be covered in the clouds. I felt a few rain drops but nothing more. The trail got a bit steeper near the top but there was really nothing above class 2. I used my hands in a few areas and that was about it. On the steeper rocky areas, there were some yellow paint marks on the rock to direct hikers the right way. As I got higher up, I could see people standing at the top. There were some huge mounds of rock along the way that were probably built by hikers over the years.
At the peak, I saw about 15 people. It was a bit windy and there were some dark clouds all around us. I got a few photos and took some photos of some other hikers up there. The forecast said the temp would be 50 degrees for the low & high, which I thought was a bit odd. I guess there's not a lot of difference between daytime and nighttime temp up there because of the humidity.
I had my lunch, took a few more photos and a video, then started to head down around 2:30 pm. I estimated that I would finish around 7:30 pm taking breaks into consideration. When I got to Indian Falls, I stopped to take a few photos and another video. It was only 2 minutes away from the main trail. I ended up finishing the hike at about 7:30 and it was already getting dark at this time.
All in all it was a great hike and a very well-maintained trail. I was expecting around 14 miles, but it ended up being longer mainly because the hiker's lot was full and I needed to park on Meadows lane which made the hike longer.
Stats:
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Distance (round trip) = 17.33 miles
AEG = 3,637 feet
Strava moving time = 8 hrs 21 mins
Strava elapsed time = 11 hrs 3 mins
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Next year, I would be interested in any of the following. Each of these hikes could easily be done on a single day with time to spare.
Algonquin and Wright - 8.5 mi RT, 3656 AEG, start at ADK LOJ
Giant - 6 mi RT, 3050 AEG, about 10 miles East of ADK LOJ
Cascade and Porter - 5.6 mi RT, 2336 AEG, trailhead is 3 miles East of ADK LOJ road
Whiteface Mtn - 9.7 mi RT, 3700 AEG, trailhead is 12 miles NE of Lake Placid
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Michael Williams
IT Professional
Rocky Point Vacation Rentals
Ocean Front Condo in Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico
www.beachfrontmexico.us
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Route Editor
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