Re: Attempt to hike Mt. Colden
Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 2:22 pm
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!
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!