In early August I led a backpacking trip for the NY/NJ Backpacking Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) to the Adirondacks.  The plan for this trip was to leave our cars at the Elk Lake Parking area and hike 9 miles on the Elk Lake Marcy Trail. Set up base camp and on day 2 hike up Haystack (4960′), Little Haystack , Mt Marcy (5344′) and Skylight (4924′) and on day 3 hike the 9 miles back to our cars.  This is a very enjoyable trip. Other popular routes to Mount Marcy such as the VanHovenberg Trail can get crowded, especially in summer, going this route gives our group some solitude.

The hike up to the Panther Gorge Lean-to is fairly straight forward and the easiest part of the whole weekend. The nine mile trek on the Elk Lake-Marcy Trail is well marked, fairly easy walking with some boggy areas and plenty of creek crossings. The water levels of the small streams and boggy areas weren’t too bad. The Adirondack trails are known for their MUD and as always I got knee deep! Never fails. As I was merrily walking along the trail I took a step and my right leg sunk into the MUD up to my knee. Thankfully, Stretch, my co-leader was there to witness this comedic event and after we both stopped laughing I took my pack off, broke free of the suction hungry MUD and pulled my foot out. And it always makes for a good picture!

Adirondack MUD

Our group arrived to the Panther Gorge, around 3pm,  area hoping to set up and enjoy the solitude…well, maybe not! We arrived to tent city! The area was packed with tents and the lean to was filled to capacity.  We set up our tents and, hoped to get settled in and go down to the lovely gorge and relax before dinner.  And then the rains came! When you thought it was raining hard, it started to rain even harder, you could barely hear yourself talk over the sound of the loud gushing water flowing in Panther Gorge below us.

Stretch in the rain with her spork

We donned our rain gear and began to prepare dinner.  On this and my other summer trips I use Esbit tabs with my Caldera Cone set up. It’s incredibly light and efficient at boiling 2 cups of water in less than 12 minutes. Well, except when it’s pouring and as you’re lighting your Esbit tab it gets too wet to catch fire. That’s a first for me, usually I just hit the tab with a storm proof and BAM!  But not in this downpour! So I took to the vestibule of my tent and tried again with a dry Esbit tab and a wallah! Stretch took to waiting outside my tent for me to boil her water too so she could eventually retreat to her tent and get dry once and for all.

Big Agnes UL1 Copper Spur

Sunday morning we got up to bright sunny skies but I knew it was going to be short lived.  I  had paid special attention to the weather forecast before this trip because we would be hiking above tree line quite a bit. Bagging some high peaks is always the goal but safety is first and foremost. Prior to the trip I had  put out some inquiries, on the ADK high peaks forum, for good alternate below tree line hikes if the weather turned for the worst. But according to all the forecasts of the high peaks, there was a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms were to hold off until after 2 or 3pm. So I made the decision to go ahead with the original itinerary.

Route to Haystack, Little Haystack and Skylight Mtns

We got a fairly early start and headed up the trail to Haystack Mountain. It is described in the guidebook as  “one of the steepest climbs in the mountains up the south side of the peak. It is unremittingly steep with numerous small ledges posing danger of a serious fall.  The trail is quite eroded in spots and offers no respite to timberline.” It is also recommended that backpackers not to attempt this route with full packs due to the amount of rock scrambling. But it makes a perfect loop to grab some of the highest peaks in New York State and get back to camp in a day hike, which is very sweet!

This is how you get up Haystack!

The 2.2 mile climb up Haystack was slower than usual because the torrential rain from the previous nights storm. The large slabs of rock were slick and like a water fall in some places. This part of the day was definitely physically as well as mentally challenging.  But we all made it in one piece and were treated to lovely views on top of Haystack.

Hilltackler on Haystack

After taking in the views and taking a well deserved snack break at the top of Haystack we shouldered our packs and continued over Little Haystack. It was about 11 am and the clouds were rolling quickly across the sky. One minute you would look across the ridge and see Mt Marcy very clearly and a few minutes later she would be covered in large ominous clouds. It began to drizzle as we passed over Little Haystack and descended the State Range Trail before heading back up the Phelps Trail to Mt Marcy. The Phelps Trail climbs steeply for .7 miles and intersects with the Van Hovenberg Trail. We are now entering into the Alpine zone.

Entering the Alpine Zone

From here the trail is all open rock to the summit but not so steep, thankfully because the wind and rain really started blowing so we carefully followed the trail blazes painted on the slabs of rock and cairns to the top.  The Summit Steward greeted us with a big smile in her blue poncho. She was as happy as clam to be up on top of Mt. Marcy even in the rain and wind. She said the Summit Stewards are out most days unless there is lightening. We thanked her for her service and pushed on over the summit as quickly as possible as thunder clapped in the distance.

The view from Marcy in the rain

The trail leading off the summit of Mt. Marcy is not overly steep but it is exposed rock and it was becoming quite slick. I took to butt sliding in places. I think my nerves were shot as it started to thunder along with the blowing rain and looking over the side well it just goes – down! Finally the trail started to give me some traction as it descended below tree line but then it was just like a river. All the water was just rushing down the trail. I was certainly glad to be wearing trail runners because the water just comes out the mesh so you’re wet but at least you’re not sloshing around in it.

Finally arriving at the Four Corners, it was decision time to – bag Mt. Skylight or just continue on the 1.2 miles back to camp. We all agreed the weather was getting worse and headed down the Elk Lake -Marcy trail or should I say RIVER – the whole trail was over taken by water! It was ankle deep and sometimes more and It took careful footing. Even when  the trail is dry it is  quite eroded and rooty, add in 6-8 inches of flowing water and you can easily loose your footing and get hurt. This is one of the reasons why I always use hiking poles. They provide extra support and balance in tricky footing. Never leave home without’em!

Finally back at the gorge by 3:30pm our last water crossing was Panther Gorge. It is a tricky rock hop to get across the gorge and I was DONE concentrating on my foot placement so I just unbuckled my pack, in case I got swept away by the quick moving water, and walked through the knee deep gorge to get the other side. As we each made it across the gorge we would turn around and hoot and holler the next person as they made their way across. We had just completed a tough 7 mile hike with quite a bit of elevation gain and loss in very difficult conditions and I think we all felt like we really accomplished something! Conditions like this either rip a group apart or bring them closer together and I think it brought our group closer.

Exhausted but fulfilled I made my way back to my tent and took off my wet clothes and got ready to have a well deserved hot beverage and snack. The crowds had cleared out and our group had the campsite and shelter all to ourselves. We all sat around as darkness came and recounted some of the days adventure and talked gear, of course!

It rained most of that night and into the morning. We all got up at 6am determined to leave this rain forest by 8am. I made coffee and packed up my dripping wet gear, put on my wet clothes and shoes ready to hit the trail. I’ll say at this point I’m glad I kept my long john bottoms on. Because we literally walked in water for most of the 9 miles back to the cars at the trailhead. Thankfully there were a couple nicely built foot bridges to get across some of the larger rivers. We all stuck together and just marched on through the knee deep water and laughed ALOT! I was just comical walking on a trail made of water. The trail became dry and flat as we got with in a mile or two of the cars however the bugs were out in full force and head nets became necessary gear to avoid being chewed up by deer flies.

As we stepped out of the woods and got to our cars it began to rain again. Seemed like an appropriate ending for this trip!

Road leading to Elk Lake Parking area