Not so Colden

 

The last time we were at Colden, it was a bit chilly, especially for September 24. It was also totally socked in. My sister, Erica, was visiting from Indiana and I thought Colden would be a beautiful first High Peak since it's mostly just hiking with very little technical skill needed to summit from Lake Armold. Our original plan was to do a backpacking trip, staying at the Avalanche Camp area and hiking the mountain the next day, but the weather report was not cooperating with every day forecast for storms. As such, the day after she arrived, we woke up at 4:30 and were out the door by 5.

 
We arrived at the Loj and started our hike around 7:30.

It was a truly beautiful day for a hike.

Although we were no longer camping, I was interested in checking out the camping sites and lean-tos along Marcy Brook. Most of the camping sites seemed spacious.

Here's one of the lean-tos along the brook. I like these because, even if you can't have fire, you have the rushing water to look at and listen to.

The lean-to by Avalanche Camp is across a bridge and up on the feet of Avalanche Mt.

There's a little room up here for a couple of tents and you can still hear Marcy Brook below.

Sunny was excited to have Aunt Erica along.

The long boulder-field slog up Lake Arnold Trail was as laborious as I remembered. The mud was managable, though, and water was plentiful for remaining hydrated using my BeFree filter. I took more time to look around on this trip and I must admit I was being a little unfair to this trail's physical characteristics. There's a lot to like here, including several colossal boulders with moss, lichen, and trees growing on top of them. A boulder may destroy anything in its path on the way down a mountain, but nature eventually wins every time. 

Also of note, the trail crews had been through here and up the mountain, clearing the drainage and cutting deadfalls. Our path was very easy to navigate. I think the last time I came through here, I accidentally followed the stream instead of the trail for a while up on the East side. As such, it was a lot easier going up this part this time.

The logs on the Lake Arnold Trail have not improved. I can't help thinking about the floating logs beyond and I may consider tackling Marcy from a different trailhead when the time comes.

There was, as usual, plenty of mud climbing up the shoulders of Colden. To be honest, it was kind of refreshing coming down. The flies were plentiful on this trip, but bug spray largely kept them from biting.

The slides were a lot easier without ice or snow on them!

I debated saving the false summit reveal as a surprise, but I decided to tell Erica about it ahead-of-time. The true summit seems daunting at first, but distances are very deceiving up here. It's actually a very short hop over to the summit, especially with the ladders and stairs provided in some spots. You do have to climb over the little hump in between, but it's not so bad.

A little water break in the col.

Through the famous Colden arch.

Exhausted, but successful! This photo features the 4th member of our hiking party... a fly!

Well, that's much nicer than last time!

A bit of a late lunch. We hung out at the summit and enjoyed the views for a little while. The wind was oddly calm and even at the summit, we had flies.

I was very glad to have gotten a chance to bring Erica on her first High Peak. It was a tough day for sure, but as beautiful as anyone could ask for. 

Right now, the Adirondacks are vibrant and alive and I can't wait to come back soon. 

Here's the map from our 10 hour day. After the long trek back to the Loj, we were delighted to find that the Hungry Hiker was open for business at around 6:30pm. We ordered some burgers and the ladies at the counter asked about Sunny. As it turns out, one of the ADK employees has a 6 month old Golden named Sunny Day whose naming was influenced when she met my Sunny last year! The two dogs met and had a bit of a play date before we left for home.

I am not sure what Sunny and I will do next; we are hoping for a very chill July after our hoppin' Spring! I'm still hoping to do the Santononis this summer, but camping looks weird and I'm not sure I can do it as a day hike. We shall see!