Taking a break at Marcy Dam

Shortly beyond the dam, we crossed Phelps Brook on the “High Water Bridge.” The water was flowing very heavily underneath. After passing the junction with Phelps Mountain, we forded the stream again, jumping over the rocks. We continued onward and took a small detour to the top of Indian Falls. The area was iced up and the water was flowing fast. We took a few pictures and continued.

The trail became a bit steeper before descending slightly and leveling out. At the junction with the trail to Haystack, we stopped and prepared for the final ascent by getting on snow gear and insteps, fully expecting harsh winter weather conditions. As we continued, it became very cold and windy. The trees were covered with a crusty rime ice and snow and were spectacular to look at. The ascent became steeper and unfortunately, my gear started to give out on me. The water hose for my hydration pack was hanging outside of my jacket and it froze solid. My new traction coils didn’t hold up too well, and some of the rubber snapped on them as we continued. I left them on my boots to provide whatever additional traction they afforded me, which certainly did help. (I learned later that they really weren’t designed for this type of environment, but more for running on potentially slick roads.) As we climbed above tree line, the cold and wind became almost unbearable to me. I sidled along the trail edges in the snow and ice to avoid being blown off balance and slipping. I felt horribly guilty that I may be crushing some sensitive habitat, but was just slightly off the visible trail, and there was a layer of snow to protect vegetation underneath. I was glad John H had lent me a pole, which also helped me keep from slipping. As we neared the summit, my face was numb and freezing! We estimated the temperature to be in the mid-twenties and the winds at 50-60 mph.

We submitted at 1:30 p.m. There was no view at all—just a white, cold fog. We quickly all hid behind a large rock that blocked the wind for us. Photography was almost impossible because our freezing camera batteries kept shutting the cameras down and the wind was so strong. John L and I moved out and onto the summit to make it official, then Jeff joined us, and we managed to get a couple of pictures as we braced against the wind.

We returned to the sheltered spot, quickly ate and made a dash to get below tree line. As we got to a more protected spot, about 300 feet down, some breezes blew through and gave us sporadic views of other mountains covered in ice and of the summit of Marcy. The cameras cooperated a bit more, and we took some victory shots of ourselves and the scenery.

The trail back was fairly treacherous with loads of ice and, as we descended, lots of mud and running water, about 2 inches deep - very messy! Snow was on the trees the entire way.

At the junction with Phelps, a woman (Danni) who was out hiking solo, joined us for a bit. She’d returned to her college area to hike up her favorite mountain—Phelps. The hike back was extremely long for all of us, but it hit Joe the hardest. He’d really pushed himself by doing this hike immediately after a long drive. He was now having a very hard time, due to sheer exhaustion. John H and John L exited first. I followed a few minutes later in a sort of numb daze, then came Jeff and Joe, just as dusk set in. We returned to the cars at 6:00 p.m., where my friend Julie, who was now dating John H., met us in the lot with a case of Saranac beers.