Mount Marshall
(Did not summit)
Date of hike: 11/3/2012
Vertical Ascent: 1500’
Length of Hike (miles): 13.5
Total Time: 7:15
Hiked with: John L, Jeff, Don, and Jonathan
This year, we had a fairy sloppy and uncoordinated plan. We didn’t have a lot of daylight, the weather was iffy, and we had a hard time agreeing on a destination. When we finally decided on Mount Marshall, it was questionable if we’d have enough time to even do it, given the amount of daylight this time of year. We had breakfast at Howard Johnson’s, so we could get an early start, but still ended up getting out late.
We hit the trail from the HPIC 8:30 a.m. (an hour later than we’d hoped for), and decided we’d turn around at 1:00 p.m., regardless of where we were, so that we’d get back before sunset. There was a light snow in the air, overcast skies, and about a quarter inch of snow on the ground. I put the traction cleats on my boots, in anticipation of lots of ice. At Marcy Dam, we took the new bridge south of the dam. This was to replace the old crossing that was washed away by Hurricane Irene last year. That storm also damaged the dam itself, which had not been repaired. Once we crossed to the other side, we took in the whole new look of the lake, with its much lower water level. Unfortunately, at this point, Jeff asked us to continue without him, since his Achilles tendon was hurting him.
The new lake behind the dam – with exposed earth in the middle on this snow-covered day
We headed south along the very easy and gradual Avalanche Pass Trail to the Avalanche Camp at around 3.5 miles in. From here, the going got steeper, as we climbed about 400’ up to Avalanche Pass, then down about 125’ to Avalanche Lake, where we rested a bit, and I got stuck in some deep mud. Yuck! Then we continued over the very interesting “bouldering” route along the northwest side of the lake’s shoreline. I’d done this route in the summer of 2010 with my son and father-in-law, and it’s really great, as you scamper up a long series of boulders and up and down some short ladders, then cross the two sets of “Hitch-up Matildas” that are narrow boardwalks nailed to the cliff face of Avalanche Mountain, a few feet above water line. There was limited visibility with the weather, but it was still spectacular in this deep ravine between Avalanche Mountain and Mount Colden. With the ice on the rocks here, I was happy to have extra traction strapped onto my feet.
Jonathan catching some snowflakes at Avalanche Lake
Joe and Don enjoying a breather at Avalanche Lake
John on a “Hitch-Up Matilda”
We got to Lake Colden and the outpost, but got confused, and roamed around a bit and ended up taking the Cold Brook Pass Trail instead of the trail through “Flowed Lands” while we looked for the cairn that the guidebook said marked the trail that heads up Marshall. After a while, we realized we’d taken the wrong route, but it was too late to correct it. The hour was getting late. Begrudgingly, we decided to bail on this hike, and returned to the shores of Lake Colden, to have some lunch. We returned the way we came in, and got back to the parking lot at 3:45 p.m.