Fall Brk BP Adk

The title says it all!

8 people (John (who planned all the gourmet dinners for us!), Jenna, Puifai, Mike, Chase, Lisa, Erica, and I) went backpacking in the high peaks over fall break! We left dark and early at 6 am on Saturday morning and got on the trail around noon. We started at the Loj and hiked to Marcy Dam where we pounced on a campsite before the hordes of Canadians celebrating turkey day arrived (it was Canadian Thanksgiving, in case you’re not Canadian and don’t keep track of your Canadian holidays). There was just enough time to scamper up to the summit of Phelps before dinnertime ( veggie stir fry with rice and peanut sauce! )

Day two involved going up and over Marcy and down to Feldspar lean-to. Although we arrived early and laid claim to the lean-to, we found ourselves ahem displaced by a family possessing neither bear cans nor tents (nor common sense, nor knowledge of the English language…). But more importantly, we scarfed some delicious curry rice with cheese and cashews for dinner.

Day three we hiked to Lake Colden, up and over Mt Colden, and down to a lean-to about a mile from Marcy Dam. And since I know you're all on the edge of your seats wondering what we ate for dinner: chicken and rice with almonds, raisins, onions, garlic, parsley, and celery seed! and apple crisp! Day four involved a short hike back to the loj, a mile run in hiking boots to the cars for the drivers, and a stop in Lake Placid for the post-hike meal. 5+ hours and 0.4 lbs of chocolate covered coffee beans+1 large cup of coffee later, we were back in Ithaca.

The weather was gorgeous the entire time, albeit waaaayyyy too warm. Hurricane damage- for anyone curious: the bridge at Marcy dam is gone, but other than that, I didn’t notice much except extra debris in rivers... that is, until we got down to the other side of Marcy, where there seemed to be more blow-down remnants. The trail up Colden (coming from the lake…) was missing a lot of ladders that appeared to have been washed away.

Sarah SDG58

- 14 Oct 2011