Dropping the car at the Adirondack Loj the previous night seemed like an an exercise in the absurd. It took an hour and twenty minutes to drive to the starting point, connecting the area that we would WALK the following day. Nervously laughing about it, we went to bed in Newcomb to awaken before sunrise and scarf some oatmeal we had made the day before while driving to Upper Works trailhead in Tahawus.
Heading on the trail, we noticed quite a discrepancy between mileage on the signs...sadly for us, it turned out that the longer distance was the correct one. The trail to Flowed Lands made a good warm-up with its slow but steady incline. We stopped at Calamity Pond to see the monument to David Henderson - who accidentally discharged a gun into his leg in 1845. We marveled at the size of the monument so far in the woods, wondering how it actually got there...
Flowed Lands offered great beauty as always and we took a quick break at the Calamity lean-to before heading to the Lake Colden Dam. It was there we had a real meal and took off our boots while admiring Mount Colden's reflection in the water. It is one of my favorite places on the planet, but we eventually had to tear ourselves away to start making the ascent.
We stopped for many views into the Opalescent River Gorge along the way before finding ourselves at Lake Tear of the Clouds. Considering how dry the summer season has been, it doesn't appear to be lacking for water. We ate a snack and continued to Four Corners.
There we climbed Skylight first for one of the greatest panoramic views. After hiking the forty-six, we vowed to return to this mountain. We shared our lunch with a pair of wayward travelers whose lunch had been consumed by a bear the previous night....or do they tell that story to everyone just for free cookies?
After hiking down Skylight, we started the ascent up Marcy. This was untrodden territory for us and we quite enjoyed the Schofield Cobble and trek above tree line. This side of the mountain seemed more open and more rugged than the other. Arriving at the summit, we met two other hikers who snapped our picture and a summit steward. They all made their descent and we had the summit to ourselves - truly a rarity on this peak!
Being a bit behind the clock, we didn't dally and started descending to Adirondack Loj. It was exactly what we remembered from our first hike up Mount Marcy - a long and steady decline for seven miles. Other than a quick stop at Marcy Dam for sunset pictures, we made it in one shot. We arrived at our spotted car just after sunset and celebrated our hike at the Noonmark diner before collapsing into our bunks in Newcomb with sweet dreams of panoramic mountain views.
Since we needed to pick up our car at Upper Works, we decided to spend the next day paddling on Henderson Lake. We always enjoy the stunning mountain views from this lake and had a great day except for one mass deer-fly attack. After our obligatory view of Wallface Mountain, we car topped the boats and headed out of the high peaks wilderness. This adventure was one that we will remember for many years and will act as a yardstick to compare other days in the woods.
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