Elk Lake to Mount Colvin - 7/21/13

Pinnacle …B…B…B…Blake, Colvin

Maybe I’m stuttering, or maybe those B’s are just bumps along the route.  There are certainly not major cols between each bump, but there are enough bumps to slow you down.

With the good weather yesterday, I knew the trails (and parking areas) would be crowded.  I decided to do a hike from Elk Lake.  I arrived at 6:15 and grabbed the next to last spot at the parking area.

Everyone was headed for the Dixes; nobody had signed in on the Elk Lake-Marcy trail register.  I had thought about going up Haystack’s “back” side, but everybody’s been doing that too.  EEK.  Besides, I don’t think it’s allowed to take a dog thru the Marcy Swamp since it is AMR property.



1st sign at the Trailhead

I chose to head for Pinnacle and then up the ridge to Blake and Colvin.   The first five miles of the Elk Lake-Marcy Trail are nothing special in my mind.   A portion of it is a jeep road, followed be the up and over of the ridge between Pinnacle and Boreas.   I was surprised that the mosquitoes were bad and had to stop to put on some bug repellant.



Bridge over the outlet of Elk Lake

Junction of Elk Lake-Marcy Trail with Pinnacle Trail

I reached the trail to Pinnacle Ridge after an hour and a half.  I quickly passed an illegal campsite on the left adjacent to the trail.  At the next brook, I saw a couple camped on the left about 75 feet off the trail.I stopped to talk to them for a bit. They were nice.  There was no disc at that spot either, but it had a fire ring and appears to get moderate use.  The ADK map shows a campsite on the right of the trail, but I didn’t go looking for it.  There was some flagging in the area though going to the right.  After this point, there was no water on the trail.I had 6 liters with me for myself and the dog.

The Pinnacle Trail is really nice.It doesn’t get a lot of use, so the trail is soft pine needles/leafs/grass/moss; very little mud and very nice to walk on.  Also – a trail crew has recently been through there eliminating all blowdown.

Upon reaching the spur trail for Pinnacle, I turned to climb the .2 miles to the summit and immediately came to a steep ladder.  Rev wanted to go up this, but she needed some assistance.  After the ladder, I came to the point on the ridge.  There were great views of Elk Lake and the Dixes.Back at the ladder, Rev didn’t want to go down and wouldn’t let me help her.  Our work around was a nearby steep mossy cleft with just enough handholds to secure the descent.She was satisfied with this route and easily made it down.



Junction with spur trail to Pinnacle

  

Managed to get Rev up this ladder to Pinnacle

This is how we came down, instead of the ladder

Once back on the trail, I began climbing the 3 bump roller coaster.  At the 2^nd bump I took the “72 step” spur to reach the viewpoint.  This point provided a view similar to Pinnacle, but perhaps even a little better.  Just past the 2^nd bump, was a brushed out herd path to the left; probably leading last Cy Beedes Ledge to private land at Upper Ausable Lake.

After one more bump, I reached the summit of Blake.  Soon it was time to run into people again.  I made my way down the muddy, rooty, rocky mess on Blake and ran into 4 different groups near the Blake/Colvin col.  All were headed for Blake.

From the col I started climbing Colvin.I negotiated the 2 ladders with the dog.  There were a little easier, although still a challenge.  As I reached Colvin, I was surprised to find I had the summit to myself.  Rev and I stopped to have our lunch there.It was just past noon.  It had taken almost 5-3/4 hours to travel the 10.8 miles to Colvin.

I was surprised that it had been partly cloudy all morning.  On the way down, the sun and blue sky started to prevail.  A nice breeze also picked up.Once I got past Blake Peak again, the mud was gone, and the nice trail returned.  The roller coaster down felt easier since I was losing elevation overall.

Back at the Elk Lake-Marcy Trail, it was just a slog up and over the ridge and out the jeep road. Overall the trip was 20.6 miles with about 6200 vertical.  Total time was 11.25 hrs.    

A first glimse of Ausable Lake

Elk Lake from Pinnacle

   

Once back on the trail, I began climbing the 3 bump roller coaster.At the 2^nd bump I took the “72 step” spur to reach the viewpoint. This point provided a view similar to Pinnacle, but perhaps even a little better.Just past the 2^ndbump, was a brushed out herd path to the left; probably leading last Cy Beedes Ledge to private land at Upper Ausable Lake.

After one more bump, I reached the summit of Blake.Soon it was time to run into people again.I made my way down the muddy, rooty, rocky mess on Blake and ran into 4 different groups near the Blake/Colvin col.All were headed for Blake.

Nice bed of pine needles on the trail

Who's counting?  The sign at the 2nd bump.

Elk Lake from the 2nd bump

Elk Lake left, Hoffman Ridge right

Sign in the col between Blake and Colvin

From the col I started climbing Colvin.  negotiated the 2 ladders with the dog.There were a little easier, although still a challenge.  As I reached Colvin, I was surprised to find I had the summit to myself.  Rev and I stopped to have our lunch there.  It was just past noon.  It had taken almost 5-3/4 hours to travel the 10.8 miles to Colvin.

Upper Ausable lake from colvin

Lower Ausable Lake from Colvin

Original Verplank Colvin survey marker on Colvin 

Summit of Colvin

Ladder on the slope of Colvin heading towards Blake

A second ladder in the same area

The Great Range

Ferns and moss along the path

I was surprised that it had been partly cloudy all morning. On the way down, the sun and blue sky started to prevail. A nice breeze also picked up. Once I got past Blake Peak again, the mud was gone, and the nice trail returned. The roller coaster down felt easier since I was losing elevation overall.

Back at the Elk Lake-Marcy Trail, it was just a slog up and over the ridge and out the jeep road. Overall the trip was 20.6 miles with about 6200 vertical. Total time was 11.25 hrs. 

The route (Click image to enlarge)

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance: 20.8 miles roundtrip

Hike Time:  11 hours, 15 minutes (including stops)

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 6200'

Dix Mountain - 5/12/12

What a beautiful day in the woods today.  It was in the mid 30's in the morning and the mid 70's this afternoon with a beautiful blue sky all day.  The bugs were non-existent until late in the day.  To top off the day, Leesa and I successfully climbed Dix Mountain in the Adirondack Park of NY from the Elk Lake Trailhead.  Elk Lake Road is located off Exit 29 of I87, then west on Blue Ridge Road to a right on Elk Lake Road to parking at the end on the right.  In winter, Elk Lake Road is closed about 2 miles south of the trailhead (a gate is located near Clear Pond). 

Trailhead sign at Elk Lake

I had tried to climb Dix on 4/14/12, but there was a foot of fresh snow up high and my dog refused to climb the final stretch.  Today was a different story.

 

The trail skirts around the east side of Elk Lake and arrives at the Slide Brook Leanto at 2.3 miles.  For hikers wanting to climb the trail-less Macomb Mountain, there is a rock cairn located just after a foot bridge with single handrail (and just before the Slide Brook Leanto) that marks the beginning of a herd path to the right.

Lillian Brook Leanto

Just prior to the Lillian Brook Leanto, at 3.7 miles, there is another rock cairn marking another herd path.  Either one can be followed.  We continued on toward Dix.  There are numerous campsites near the Lillian Brook Leanto and we thought that where the trail crossed Lillian Brook, just north of the Leanto was just a beautiful spot.  It would be a great place to swim in July and August and there were probably 6 nice places to camp.

Bridge over Lillian Brook

When we passed the Lillian Brook Leanto, there was a man in a sleeping bag just waking up for the morning!

The Beck-horn from Dix Mountain

We continued on a short distance to the split between the ridge trail on the right, to Dix via the Beckhorn, and the valley trail on the left to Dix via Hunter Pass.  We chose the Beckhorn.  The trail was nice and had several viewpoints.  There is one challenging rock climb located just before the Beckhorn.  Leesa had difficulty getting up the rock and I helped her.  I also had to lift up our dog Rev.  She couldn't scale the rock.

Elk Lake on the right, the Beckhorn on the left.  Clear Pond also in the distance.

Once we got past that one rockface, the Beckhorn and Dix awaited us.  We sat in the grass on Dix in a nice spot out of the wind and had some lunch.   Rev then took it upon herself to take a nap.

Dix Mountain from the Beckhorn

From the summit Dix, we decided to continue north and loop around to Hunter Pass and back to Elk Lake rather than go back down the Beckhorn.  It turned out to be a good decision.  We got to see another trail (and I didn't have to lift the dog down any rock).

The summit of Dix Mountain

We did run into a little snow and ice and a small section of monorail snow just north of the summit of Dix.  It should be gone in another week.

Rev is getting ready for a nap

Our return via Hunter Pass was pleasant.  There was one section of extreme blowdown and a small detour was marked with red ribbon.

The view north from Dix

She's out!

Snow on Mount Marcy

Leesa and Rev on Dix

They're ready to hike again

Leaving the alpine north heading down Dix toward Hunter Pass

One area in Hunter Pass had extreme blowdown

I was glad to reach the summit on this attempt after being so close a month ago.  Dix is one of the better high peak summits with great views in all directions.  We will be back to do some of the nearby trail-less high peaks.

Hike Stats

Hike Distance:  13.3 miles

Hike Time:  9 hours, 45 minutes (including stops)

Trailhead Elevation:  2057'

Summit Elevation:  4857'

Total Vertical Gain:  3795'

My Dix Mountain GPS track

A view of our GPS track from Google Earth

Our route shown in blue (click to enlarge)

A blowup of the summit loop