Marcy Oct 27

Original plan was to drive 6 hours to Adk Loj, hike in past Marcy Dam Fri night, go up and over Marcy and try for Skylight and Gray. Possibly bag Tabletop on way back.

Well - I have to do a bit better with pre-trip prep. Left late, got to Loj at sunset on Fri. Could have hiked in under headlamp, but heck - a nice leanto with a campfire was sounding pretty good after hectic packing and long drive. I don't mind hiking at night, I don't mind hiking on ice, I don't mind hiking unfamiliar trails - but all three at once when not needed seemed unnecessary.

A great night in Leanto, temps in low 30's. Skim ice on water bottles in morning. Got on trail at 7:30.






As expected trail had more snow and ice as we worked ourselves higher. Put on spikes between Marcy Dam and Phelps trail. Left them on for remainder of day. Stopped again to layer up prior to leaving tree line.



Made good time (for us) and reached peak after 5 hours. As expected from weather mountain top forecast there were severe winds (40-50mph). Could not really stand up for casual selfies. Sleet was akin to having one's face sandblasted.



These conditions paired with our late start and skill level prompted us to skip Skylight and Gray. Did not want Marcy between us and camp. Visibility was such that compass & cairns used to get back to tree line.

Weather took a turn, warmed up a bit, so now it was sleet and rain so we hiked right by Tabletop too on way out. We were warm and dry but wished to enjoy the day by getting off trail sooner than later. I'd say on our way out there were two more inches of snow on the ground.

Trail well traveled. Maybe 50/50 with hikers that looked prepared and ones that looked less than prepared.

Lessons from this trip

• Always good to know when sunset is, but also moon-rise. Dark at 7pm Fri night but I could have almost read a book at 1am.
• A box for the fiddly bits of gear that go on shelf for every trip. Separate containers for summer, winter, canoe, etc.
• Still need to work on trail food. exertion makes some food hard to get down.

Thoughts on Gear

• Still loving Primaloft. Jacket and gloves. The gloves were soaked but still warm.
• May look into water proof gloves or a vapor barrier like Trailboss uses.
• Need either a puffy or another primaloft layer for camp. We had enough layers, but they were bulky.
• Hiking pants with magical water repellent finish were fantastic.
• Got better use from Giai GPS on cell phone.
• Yes, technically the one piece fleece Halloween costumes would have made nice sleep gear / outer layer but fellow hikers might feel a tad odd when confronted with giant chicken on trail. Close enough to Halloween though - we could have pulled it off.