Algonquin Peak and Iroquois Peak
Date of hike: 9/26/2015
Vertical Ascent: 3638’
Length of Hike (miles): 14.0
Total Time: 10:30
Hiked with: Alex, David H, and Ben
After work on Friday, I picked up Ben at the bus station and headed home, where Cousin David had already arrived. We went over our supplies, left the house, and went out for dinner at Peddler’s in Clifton Park, then headed to the family lake house, where we had some ice cream and went to bed around 10:00 p.m. On Saturday morning, we awoke at 5 a.m., dressed, ate, and left around 6 a.m., before dawn. We got to the Adirondak Loj lot around 7:15 a.m., and it was packed! However, we were lucky enough to get one of the last three parking spots. We prepped, waited on a short line to sign in, and started our hike at 7:35 a.m., with the temperature at 34 degrees.
The hike up was great. The temperature slowly warmed as the sun rose, and we quickly stripped off layers, by the time we hit the first junction. There were lots of people on the trail, but it quickly thinned, as each group went their own way and pace. We did a great job of staying together with Alex and Ben generally about 100’ - 200’ ahead of me and David. This was David’s first foray into the Adirondacks, and he was surprised at the rockiness of the trails. We eventually kept pace with some members of another group (whom we nicknamed Crazy Gloves and Yellow Shorts), who chatted with us a bit. The ascent gradually increased, but everyone did fine. As we passed MacIntyre Falls, Alex and Ben couldn’t resist a quick scramble to the top (the rocks were pretty dry, and the falls were just a trickle). David found the stretch of long, steep, exposed rock slope on Algonquin a bit unnerving, but by this time (my third ascent of this mountain), I was used to it. We summited Algonquin at 10:50 a.m., better than I’d expected. There were about 50 people at the top, the weather was excellent, as were the views, with a hint of some fall color. We talked with the summit steward for a bit, rested a short time, and continued our trip at 11:05 a.m.
Alex and Ben climbing up the dry waterfall bed
A scene from the rocky trail, just past the Wright Peak cutoff
Successful mission to the top of our first peak of the day
A little siesta atop Algonquin, looking towards landslide scars on Mount Colden
Looking towards Iroquois from Algonquin, with the Boundary, the bald little bump in the middle
The route from Algonquin, over Boundary, and up Iroquois was spectacular. Descending Algonquin to the col is entirely exposed ridgeline with magnificent views. The herd path straight to Iroquois is easy to miss and many mistakenly go left, down the back side of Algonquin. It was very dry in the usually boggy areas, and boardwalks had been installed two years earlier, which made this previously notorious section quite easy. We popped in and out of dwarf spruce (with very narrow paths through it, that scratched us up a bit) and up above tree line several times. The ascents weren’t difficult at all. Boundary Peak lies between the other two, but it is very easy to pass over, with a climb of about 125 feet, followed by a descent of about 150, before the final climb. I did whack my shin on a boulder, when I slipped trying to pull myself up it, however, and it certainly hurt. We summitted Iroquois at 12:00 p.m., and soaked it all in. There were great views all around—especially looking down at Wallface Mountain. We rested a while, had lunch, and shared the peak with about 10 others. We left the summit at 12:25 p.m.
Alex begins heading towards Iroquois along the open ridge, note the cairns that mark the trail
Boundary Peak to the left, and Iroquois to the right
Atop Iroquois, Alex shows Ben the mountain on the map, while David decides on a nap
To the west, Wallface shows off its wall of rock
Algonquin Peak behind us, from atop Iroquois
Looking at the re-ascent of Algonquin looming before us, and David’s concern about the descent of the long, bare rock slab we’d climbed on the way up inspired us to change our plan and take alternate way back, down the back side of Algonquin to Lake Colden, adding about 3 miles to our hike. We were ahead of schedule and all of us liked the idea of doing a loop. David also insisted that I needed to stop saying that we’d done two High Peaks, saying, “When I tell the story, it will be four… Algonquin, Boundary, Iroquois, and Boundary again!”, insisting that he didn’t care if Boundary wasn’t far enough from the other peaks to count as one... It has the required height! As we started our decent, my shin started to hurt from where I’d whacked it earlier. Luckily, David had an elastic wrap bandage with him, and urged me to wrap it tightly… compression! It worked like a charm. Compression became the theme of hike—whether it was for an injury, or for keeping your backpack contents close to your back, for optimal weight distribution. Several people warned us that our chosen route down was steep, but we opted for it anyway. It was steep, very long, and very rocky (much of it through a stream bed), but was a good route down (though would not be to go up!). Alex and Ben enjoyed trying out the Lifestraw that directly filtered water from the stream along the way. There were great views of Mount Colden on the way down, but the 1½-mile hike to the lake seemed interminable.
The rocky downward climb on Algonquin’s southeast flank
Finally at the bottom, we headed north along the boulders on the northwest side of Avalanche Lake. We stopped at the end for a short time, then continued through Avalanche Pass to Marcy Dam (a very busy area today!), and back to the trailhead to find a long line at the sign out board. We finished the hike at 6:10 p.m., with about 45 minutes daylight to spare. We had dinner at the Noonmark Diner, then returned home by about 9:00 p.m.
Walking along the “Hitch-Up Matildas” along Avalanche Lake, with Mount Colden’s walls to the right
David strikes a triumphant pose, having successfully made it to the north end of Avalanche Lake