Cliff, Redfield & Marshall

Unbelievably good weather on a late September weekend meant that we would be donning our backpacks and heading back into the wilderness. Our goals would be three high peaks approached from Upper Works: Cliff, Redfield and Marshall.

Since daylight is getting to be in short supply, we started from Crown Point before daylight and drove the beautiful Blue Ridge Road while it was still dark. We arrived in Tahawus just as the sky was beginning to lighten up and headed into Flowed Lands.

As the sun began rising in the sky, we started to notice the colorful foliage all around us. We had driven out of a green valley and into peak foliage at a higher elevation! We stopped along the way to snap pictures of the bright and beautiful leaves. We could tell that we were in for a fantastic weekend!

Arriving at Flowed Lands at mid-morning, we couldn't find an open tent site so we pushed on towards Colden Dam. Luckily, we were able to find a site a mere hundred yards from the Herbert Brook path that we would be following the next day. Happy to finally drop our gear, we set up our tent and sleeping pads for the night.

With much lighter packs, we headed to Lake Colden where we snacked on trail mix and admired the lake, which is one of my favorite places on Earth. We then followed the trail to the Uphill lean-to where the herd paths to Cliff and Redfield mountains diverged.

It was decided that we would attempt Cliff first since we had heard how rough the trail was. The path had a fine mixture of mud and rock scrambles and was slow-going. While scrambling up one of the rocks, I happened to see a bald eagle fly by while admiring the mountains to our east. When we made it to the summit, a nice pair of hikers from Quebec shared some delicious cheese avec nous! It was a gouda way to enjoy the viewless summit.

It was a scramble to get back to the foot of the mountain and we started up Redfield later than intended. We found a path with a much different character than Cliff. There were some muddy sections but it was mainly a steep rock hop to the summit. The fall colors seemed to pop in the late afternoon sun!

We made it back to the Colden Dam as the sun was setting and ate our dinner before heading to our tent by headlamp. We collapsed into our sleeping bags, footsore from a long day of hiking.

The next morning, we waited until the sky was light to start moving for the day. Once up, we ate banana bread and headed up the Herbert Brook herd path to the summit of Marshall. The path was enjoyable except for a few muddy sections. It mostly followed the drainage and at times, the brook was the path.
 
We had been told that Marshall didn't have much of a view, but found the opposite to be true. By heading directly south from the summit sign for thirty feet, we had an expansive view to the south. Henderson Lake was visible and low hanging fog made some of the mountain peaks look like islands in the sky.

For the most part, it was easy-going as we headed down Marshall and we went back to our campsite for lunch. While eating sandwiches with visible mud on our hands, we realized that our standards of cleanliness really drop while backpacking...

We packed up our tent and made the long trek back to Upper Works. The colors were still stunning and we were amazed at how many leaves had fallen since we had hiked in the previous day. With cider doughnuts waiting in the car, we were happy to see the parking lot!

Sewards

On what turned out to be possibly the most beautiful day in September, Lisa and I headed to Coreys, just west of Saranac Lake to hike the Seward Range. We left Wadhams at 5:00 and drove through the dark, arriving at the trailhead just as the sun was rising. While strapping on our boots, we made our plan to try to tackle Seward, Donaldson and Emmons that day via the Calkins Brook herd path and save Seymour for the next day.

We set out with down jackets and tuques for a few miles of quick walking before arriving at the "bucket cairn" marking the start of the mountain path. While heading up the mountain, we were impressed at how nice the trail was for an unmaintained route. We found ourselves at the "T" with a view of Seward to our left. Not sure what to tackle first, on a lark we headed right.

Within five minutes, we found ourselves on top of Donaldson, looking out at the Eastern High Peaks and the Santanoni Range with the Cold River Valley sprawled in front of us. We are always astounded that so much wilderness has been preserved in the northeast. With perfect blue skies, we sat and enjoyed the view before finally continuing along the path.

The trip to Emmons was a long walk. There were no real scrambles, but just some glacial erratics to climb over. We particularly enjoyed the views of Long Lake to the south while we hiked but when we arrived at the summit, it was mainly treed in. Ready for lunch anyway, we sat and ate our sandwiches with a limited view of Seward still staring us in the face.

On the way back, we couldn't help but stop at Donaldson again for another view. It was fantastic.

The trip to Seward had some steep sections which is not surprising since it is the tallest of the bunch. There were only two slides to contend with and the views along the trail were excellent at times. Again, we found a summit in the trees. We stayed long enough to chat with other hikers and scarf down the doughnuts that we had brought with us.

We descended the same trail that we had ascended even though there was a loop possible off of Sewards' northern face. We hear through the grapevine (and the internet) that route was treacherous. It was an enjoyable descent and we found ourselves back at the car before sunset! We couldn't help but head to Little Italy in Saranac Lake for a warm meal in a warm building before camping out for the night along the Coreys Road.

The next morning, we were up before sunrise again with Seymour on our minds - the fourth mountain of the Seward Range. We repacked the bags, strapped boots on our tired feet and set out for the long walk. It was a pleasant walk through warmer weather than the previous day. However, by the time we arrived at the Ward Brook lean-to, the skies were becoming overcast.

Hoping that the clouds would linger higher than the peak that we would be climbing, we started to ascend the herd path towards the summit of Seymour. There were dangerous sections of trail that climbed wet slides with little to hold onto. When we walked into the cloud at 3300 feet, we knew that we wouldn't have a view at the top. We pushed on and despite some bumps and bruises, we made it to the summit where our view ended about twenty feet from our noses.

The descent was slightly easier than the ascent and we celebrated with a picnic at the Ward Brook lean-to. The long walk out seemed even longer than the way in. We plodded along, happy to finally see the car where we could sit and let our muscles seize up for the next few hours on the drive home. 

Street, Nye & Esther

Early in the week, it looked like a decent weekend approaching with a slight chance of showers on Saturday and a clear Sunday. I took the opportunity to book a campsite at Heart Lake, seeing that it was filled up for the following two weekends. As the week progressed, we watched the chance of rain increase each day....but we had our reservation!

We arrived late and set up our tent in the dark on Friday night. It was nippy and we were happy to get our warm pajamas on and crawl into our sleeping bags. It was one of those nights that you wear a hat to bed.

The next morning, we awoke and headed to the Loj for breakfast. I made the reservation earlier in the week and we feasted on sausages, eggs and oatmeal. I even grabbed a bowl of Froot Loops! We checked the weather before leaving and it had risen to an eighty percent chance starting after 1:00. We grabbed our packs and got on the trail to Street and Nye so that we could beat most of the rain.

Since we were not expecting a view from either mountain, the clouds didn't bother us as we followed the Old Nye Ski Trail. Once it began to climb, we started huffing but were glad that there were no rock scrambles. In fact, it seemed to be a reasonably recognizable trail with topsoil, a rarity in the high peaks!

We felt our first raindrop at 11:00, so much for beating the rain... We carried on and made the summit of Street Mountain first. Once on the ridge line, it was a gradual walk to the summit. Since the weather wasn't terribly inviting, we snapped pictures and headed back to the col.

Summiting Nye from the col was an easy walk of two hundred yards. The rain had gotten thicker and the wind was fierce so we went back to the trail intersection to eat our sandwiches out of the gusts.

We were soaked heading down the mountain, but with a warm shower awaiting us at the Heart Lake Campground, we were determined. It was one of those showers that will remain in memory for a long time! Luckily, I had made reservations for dinner at the Loj that morning so we were greeted with warm bowls of soup upon entering! It was a fantastic four course meal and perfect for two tenters on a cold rainy night.

We slept well and arose the next day, packed our wet gear and headed to Wilmington. Most people hike Esther in combination with Whiteface, but we had paddled to the trailhead two years ago and Esther is not on that side.
 
We weren't sure of our approach at first, but found ourselves hiking up the old tow-rope trail on Marble Mountain. It was steep from the get-go, and after gaining a thousand feet (vertical), it leveled out before becoming steep again. Once we got high enough, there were icicles falling from the trees as we sloshed through the mud.

The summit of Esther lacked a view, but we had a nice overlook on the way where we could see the top of the Whiteface ski lift. We ate our lunch at the summit and then made a quick descent down the steep trails. By the time we got back to the car, we were ready to dry out and relax. After a quick stop in Wadhams, we headed home to set up our equipment to dry!

Iroquois

Two years ago we hiked Wright and Algonquin, but decided not to venture over the ridge line to Iroquois Peak. We didn't have great visibility that day and knew that we would want to come back someday. Then we saw a perfect September Sunday in the forecast and found ourselves heading back to Algonquin and continuing onto Iroquois for the first time.

With thunderstorms on Saturday, we headed to Lake Placid for dinner. We walked around town donning our raincoats and found barbeque at Smoke Signals. It was certainly gourmet and we enjoyed our meal overlooking Mirror Lake.

For the evening we headed to the campground at Heart Lake, where we played pinochle until we couldn't see the cards. Being early September, that was about 7:45; we washed up and headed to bed.

The next morning, we awoke to chilly temperatures and clear skies. Moving the car to the hiker lot, we put on our backpacks and headed up the trail to Algonquin. The trail is short and steep. Lisa looked forward to the famous "slide" on the trail because since our last visit, she has new boots. She certainly benefited from the extra traction.

Arriving on the summit, we talked to the Summit Steward and ate a snack while admiring the slides on the western side of Mount Colden. Despite some wind, the weather was much improved over our last visit!

We headed down the trail towards Iroquois Peak, but found ourselves losing too much elevation. After talking to some hikers from Clarkson, we realized that we had just missed the turn. When we got back to the intersection, we realized that the sign was blocked by a lady with a dog...oops.

Back on track, we made the ascent and descent over Boundary Peak and then ascended Iroquois. The path had mountain views except for a few sections, and Iroquois offered a panoramic view much like a miniature (still a pretty big mountain though....) Algonquin. We ate our lunch on top huddled behind a rock to block the wind while naming the peaks. The view of Wallface was particularly stunning!

The return trip brought us over Algonquin again where we stopped for another view of the mountains to the east before making the slow descent to the Loj. It was a perfect fall day in the Adirondacks.

Snake Den Harbor

Usually our treks into the Blue Line require at least an hour of driving. On our latest adventure we didn't have to leave our hometown of Charlotte, Vermont.

We car-topped our kayaks, picked up Tom and headed to the end of Thompson's Point to launch on Lake Champlain. Split Rock Point in New York looked within reach and we were in the Adirondacks as soon as we crossed the imaginary center line of the lake. It was a humid and muggy Labor Day and we were happy to be on the water. We ducked into Grog Harbor and ate our lunch while watching the motor boats buzz by.

After filling up, we followed the shoreline south arriving in Louis Clearing Bay and then Snake Den Harbor, our destination for the day. Two years ago, we had followed the shoreline from Westport to this point and had just connected our journey!

On our way home, we headed for Diamond Island which sits in the center of the lake. When we arrived, it was a disappointment since it reeked of bird dung. We paddled away from it as quickly as possible and returned to Thompson's Point, happy to have had a perfect afternoon on Lake Champlain.