I had decided to take a day off for hiking and started at 6:17am from the hiker parking close to the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center. Trailhead was not super obvious in the dark, but my phone app guided me perfectly. I quickly realized I was sweating, so I removed a layer. I carried way too much clothes on this hike, but I need to find gloves that don’t become wet. Reached the top of Marble Mountain 35 minutes later and witnessed daybreak. I could now take off my headlamp.
Ice became gradually more prevalent and I put my crampons on about 1 hour into the hike. Some people call them microspikes, others crampons; I’m not sure of the difference but the company calls them “trail crampons”. Anyway, having them made walking on ice a true pleasure and I never came close to slipping.
I reached the junction to Esther Mountain in short order. There is a huge cairn there. The only sign I saw points an arrow towards Esther (right), but someone has stuck a big branch in the cairn pointing left for those continuing to Whiteface. The path to Esther is supposedly a “herd path” but it is super easy to follow and, although the summit offers no view, the trail is fun and easy – the detour takes about an hour. This trail has a reputation for being very muddy (even in Adirondacks standards) but it is now frozen. The only footsteps I saw were those of a dog or similar creature.
By this point my hydration system was frozen (got to be more careful next time), but I had a backup bottle. Once back on the main trail, there is long flat portion until you cross a large clearing (fire lane?). The ascension then resumes, but nothing very steep – grade is similar to that of Marble Mountain – nor technical (presuming you have spikes/crampons, otherwise it would be very dangerous at this time of year). I reached the top about 4 hours in. The summit was in the clouds, which was not what the forecast had said the day before. Not a single soul here except me.
During the last third, my knee started aching, so I took the option of coming down the road. This adds maybe 2 miles to the trip, but it’s a lot easier on the knees. Plus there are fantastic views West and North when you get below cloud cover. Crampons were not necessary on the road. Know that you cannot use this option when the road is open to traffic. Got back to the car after 6.5 hours of hiking (including short breaks). All in all, not a difficult hike aside from the knee issue, but very enjoyable.
Ice became gradually more prevalent and I put my crampons on about 1 hour into the hike. Some people call them microspikes, others crampons; I’m not sure of the difference but the company calls them “trail crampons”. Anyway, having them made walking on ice a true pleasure and I never came close to slipping.
I reached the junction to Esther Mountain in short order. There is a huge cairn there. The only sign I saw points an arrow towards Esther (right), but someone has stuck a big branch in the cairn pointing left for those continuing to Whiteface. The path to Esther is supposedly a “herd path” but it is super easy to follow and, although the summit offers no view, the trail is fun and easy – the detour takes about an hour. This trail has a reputation for being very muddy (even in Adirondacks standards) but it is now frozen. The only footsteps I saw were those of a dog or similar creature.
By this point my hydration system was frozen (got to be more careful next time), but I had a backup bottle. Once back on the main trail, there is long flat portion until you cross a large clearing (fire lane?). The ascension then resumes, but nothing very steep – grade is similar to that of Marble Mountain – nor technical (presuming you have spikes/crampons, otherwise it would be very dangerous at this time of year). I reached the top about 4 hours in. The summit was in the clouds, which was not what the forecast had said the day before. Not a single soul here except me.
During the last third, my knee started aching, so I took the option of coming down the road. This adds maybe 2 miles to the trip, but it’s a lot easier on the knees. Plus there are fantastic views West and North when you get below cloud cover. Crampons were not necessary on the road. Know that you cannot use this option when the road is open to traffic. Got back to the car after 6.5 hours of hiking (including short breaks). All in all, not a difficult hike aside from the knee issue, but very enjoyable.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire