Tabletop Mtn

We left the apartment at 445am so as to get a good head start. We arrived at the ADK Loj parking lot at around 6:50 am, there were a few cars already there, and in fact it looked like they had spent the night in the woods somewhere because of the frost on the windshields. We did our stretches, signed in and headed off for Marcy Dam. It was a cool morning with lots of frozen mud holes along the way. The air was nice and crisp; I love this time of the day.We arrived Marcy dam at 7:50am to enjoy beautiful views as the sun came up. We signed into the interior outpost and set off for Table top. We had to take the foot bridge over from Marcy Dam, not because of high water, but due to ice covered rocks, dealing with this would be our biggest hazard throughout the day, at least until it warmed up enough to melt. We arrived at the junction with the Phelps Trail at 8:50am, had a short break with drinks and snacks and continued onto Tabletop.The trail up to Table Top was an adventure, it was a small brook all the way up, some frozen and some thawed if it was in the sun. The short col just before the summit was kind of neat, a place I would like to camp but unable to due to the regulation.Arriving at the summit of Tabletop at 11:45am and enjoyed our lunch and took some picks, unfortunately not very good views, but again enjoyed the clean crisp air along with the sweet smell of balsam, awesome.We headed back to the main trail and managed on the way down to have a boot fall apart at the sole and poked a hole in my eardrum with a twig. We arrived back at the Vanhovenberg trail at 1:45pm and passed the Phelps trail at 2:45. Arriving at Marcy dam at 3:45, with not a soul in site so we continued on to the Loj arriving at 4:30pm.Table top was an enjoyable hike, short and without view, but got us in the woods for the day.

Colden Mtn.

On Saturday Sept 4, 2004 we set out to climb Mount Colden, our original intent was to stay at the Marcy Brook lean-to, however we could not, our climbing companions (Mark and Chris) had hiked into that lean-to the previous day and spent the night, we met up with them this morning.We left my apartment in Peru at 430am, it was my son Derek, our friend Justin, and I. We arrived at the ADK Loj parking lot at 6 am, did our stretching and set off for Marcy Dam. It was an overcast morning of heavy fog, kind of cool looking. Arriving at Marcy Dam at 7am, we were met by a few hungry hikers cooking their breakfast. We donned some bug dope and took a few pictures that turned out awesome because of the mist in the air; it looked like halos around our heads, kind of ironic, anyways...We signed into the interior and continued towards Marcy Brook lean-to, I honestly do not care for this lean-to, your front and center to the trail, no privacy, but I guess would serve the purpose for a tired hiker. We arrived at the lean-to at 8am and awoke our sleeping party (Mark and Chris), they actually heard us coming, we were laughing to loudly after waking up the wrong people at the Kagel lean-to, this is a nice one on the river, private too.After a quick bite, and breakfast, we set off towards Lake Arnold at about 9am, I liked this trail; it’s a nice gradual accent which is good for warming up. And it continued to get warm and not from the day sun, I started to feel feverish around Lake Arnold, and it got progressively worse. By the time we hit the second false peak I was in a full blown fever, shivering like crazy. We arrived the summit of Colden at 1pm, sat around had lunch, took pictures, and waited for the light to change, this peak was packed with people, seems like there was about 20 of us up there, no room for solitary serenity. The views of Algonquin, Iroquois, Wright were awesome, seems like a nicer view from Colden then looking from Iroquois, or Algonquin. I was the only one on the peak fully dressed, with coat and pants, everyone else was in shorts and tees. I couldn’t regulate my fever, I was hating it, and I even had my friends blocking the wind for me.I’m not sure what time we left the summit, but we returned back to the Marcy Brook lean-to at 7pm, had a quick bite and set off for the Adirondack Loj, arriving at 910pm. I awoke Sunday morning and made a trip to the emergency room where I was diagnosed with pneumonia, and spent the next week kicking that, I am still surprised how quick it came on, but alas, life is good!