4,714', 11th Highest Peak, via Lake Arnold & Avalanche Lake Trails, July 2004.
Returning from Colden on the Avalanche Lake Trail, sheer face of Mt. Colden at right.
| Alex, Joshua and I
took the "Yellow" trail from Marcy Dam, and then the Lake Arnold Route
(blue trail) to Mount Colden, and returned via the beautiful Avalanche
Lake trail. It was another hazy July day, so summit photography
was disappointing, and the trail from Mt. Colden down to Lake
Colden was wet, steep rock face, making for a fairly hairy descent,
requiring constant focus, careful balance and grasping hands.
Nevertheless, the return hike via the Lake Colden and Avalanche Lake
trail made it all worthwhile. The Avalanche trail is a "chutes
and ladders" game for adults, as the trail wanders up, over and around
the huge rocks tumbled down from Avalanche Mountain, and across the
lake from the sheer rock face of Mount Colden. Roscoe, perhaps the
nimblest hiking dog ever, had to be carried down a couple of the
ladders on the Avalanche Lake trail. As you hike out from the
lake through this trail towards a reunion with the Marcy Dam trail, you
pass through a massive collapsed tumble of birch trees, apparently
"avalanched" down the flank of Colden, when (I'm guessing) heavy rains
saturated the thin, supporting forest mat, tearing it away from the
rock face, and sliding it down to the valley below. Thank God for the
trail volunteers who chainsawed a new path for the trail through the
resulting birch debris. Colden itself is sort of a tease, as it has at
least four levels to its summit, the first encountered being 4,528 and
the largest being 4,714', with a col-like interloper between the first
and main, and an afterthought 4,000'+ "bump", which yields fabulous
views before plunging the hiker down Colden to Lake Colden. It's well
worth the hike, however, as Colden affords great views of the MacIntrye
Range (Algonquin et al) to the West, and the Great Range (Marcy, etc.)
to the East. From Otter Chalet and Deep Woods Cabin, head west on Route
86 towards Lake Placid, left on Riverside Drive towards the ski jumps,
left on Route 73 towards Keene, and right on Adirondack Loj Road.. You
can park at the Loj, and hike into Marcy Dam, or park on South Meadows
Road, near the less-crowded "State Truck Road", which you can also hike
to Marcy Dam. |
Click on Photos to Enlarge
Lake Colden from Colden Summit, 1st Colden Summit, looking across the 2nd at Main Summit, on the Lake Arnold Trail.
MacIntyre Range (Iroquois, Boundary, Algonquin and Wright) from Colden Summit, & Two shots of Lake Arnold.
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