Attempt to hike Mt. Colden

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hobkyl
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Wish I had some photos to share, but with the artic chill that was experienced up there I didnt dare take my camera out. We decided to hike Algonquin instead of Colden, luckily at the reccomendation of our friend who lives up there. He suggested that the ladder trail would have walls of ice that would be very dangerous to pass.
We left Saranac Lake at 5 am on Saturday with plans of being on the trail by 6. Well my brother, being my brother decided to speed up instead of slowing down at a very sharp curve. He ended up parking his car atop of a 3' snowbank on Adirondack Loj Road. Still a few miles from the trailhead, 530 in the morning we decided to push on and deal with the car later. Luckily a guy from Massachussets stopped and we caught a ride with him up to the Loj. At 630 and with the thermometer at the Loj reading -12 degrees we pushed up the mountain. It was a very clear day, not a cloud in the sky. We made it to the top of Algonquin by 1030 and were greeted with 30+mph winds. Yikes! That is the coldest I have ever been! Beautiful sights all around, but didnt stay long to enjoy them. Back down to the Loj by 2.
We waited until 5 for our friend to come pull out the car rather than paying for a tow truck. His Nissan couldnt yank it out. Luckily, a soldier stationed at Ft Drum with chains and a HD Chevy stopped and was able to get us out.
It was a great time, I am happy I was able to summit the 2nd highest peak in NY but dissapointed that I wasnt able to get any pics of the mountains!
“There’s an inconsequentiality to our lives that living in the wilderness shows up. Mountain are real, they set their limits, they set ours. They expose us, make us vulnerable and strong at the same time. “
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hobkyl
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And here is the car stuck...and trying to get it out....


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“There’s an inconsequentiality to our lives that living in the wilderness shows up. Mountain are real, they set their limits, they set ours. They expose us, make us vulnerable and strong at the same time. “
--Alison Wat




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Glad to here you had a good hike I’ve done Algonquin 3 times twice from the LOJ and once from Lake Colden. Did you have crampons with you? When winter hiking most of the time you can get around or over objects because the snow is deep, the only ladders I remember were around Avalanche Lake. If there were others on the trail they were covered in snow or ice and we just continued on not knowing they were their.(wow lots of theres)

As for the temperature snow or rain I never let it bother me I still take my camera, some of the fire towers I’ve done have been in single digits or negatives. When I did Cascade and Porter it was a brisk minus 28 with good winds and to be honest that hike I got some of my best winter pictures.
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wow... that was in deep.
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hobkyl
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We had snowshoes with crampons but still the idea of being faced with a 10' or so ice wall did not sound appealing, and luckily our friend agreed. I've never done the trail, I was just going by what others on ADK forum sites have said. And I'm not complaining because doing Algonquin was a more rewarding hike in my opinion.

I guess I was scared the camera could break at such cold temps thats why I didnt dare take it out. I left it in the car bundled in fleece sweaters. I have a Jetboil, and when I pulled it out of my pack to make some soup it had a frost on it, I imagine my camera could have looked the same had I brought it with me. There's always next time.
“There’s an inconsequentiality to our lives that living in the wilderness shows up. Mountain are real, they set their limits, they set ours. They expose us, make us vulnerable and strong at the same time. “
--Alison Wat




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hobkyl
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Matt wrote:wow... that was in deep.
Yeah luckily he turned the wheel some otherwise we would have been in those trees. Who needs caffeine? Just let your crazy brother drive, and you'll get all the adreline you need to wake up!
“There’s an inconsequentiality to our lives that living in the wilderness shows up. Mountain are real, they set their limits, they set ours. They expose us, make us vulnerable and strong at the same time. “
--Alison Wat




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