21 & 22: Cliff & Redfield

 

My original plan for this late June hike was to come in from the Loj, camp at Uphill lean-to, and bag Cliff & Redfield. Then, I got to thinking that it would be a bit silly to waste all that elevation gain. We'd be within striking distance of Marcy, Gray, and Skylight, and we'd be able to climb Marshall on our way out.  I started calling this "The 2d3 Mountains Hike" because we definitely wouldn't be leaving Cliff or Redfield unhiked, but I was also not going to guarantee we could get all six mountains depending on how we were feeling or the weather.

Folks recommended hiking in via Upper Works instead. It was only a difference of about half a mile and I kind of wanted to hike through Avalanche Pass. Then I wondered if I'd ever have an opportunity to hike the Clamity Brook Trail again, so I decided to go that way instead. After hiking the trail, I admit there's lots more to the area than just hiking mountains and I can say I may be on this trail again in the future.

Calamity Brook Trail

I was really looking forward to hiking this week as I needed a good head-clearing. We got up at 4:00 and were at the trailhead a bit after 6:00.  A light drizzle was already falling and the air was crisp. 

We found the end of Upper Works Road features some interesting historical sites with plaques explaining the ruins. The lot had plenty of space, so we got geared up and hiking around 6:30. 

I thought it was amusing that one of the earliest features of the trail was a crossing of the Hudson River. We live over 100 miles downstream so we waved at the water and said "See you later!"

There is active trail maintenance on the Calamity Brook Trail and it's really looking good. Thanks to that, we were cruising.

This is my rock now.

 

I was glad we hiked in from Upper Works. This is a really pretty trail.

We were getting wet...

...but still in good spirits.

Calamity Brook Trail is largely flattish with a bit of an incline about halfway through. After that elevation gain, the trail gets a bit more rugged as it hugs the side of the ridge and follows the brook. In all, the trail is flattish with some ups and downs as you cross streams. There is plenty of water for filtering.

Near the end of the trail, we came to Calamity Lean-to and trail register near Flowed Lake. If I had just planned to stay one night to only do Cliff & Redfield, I'd have saved us a lot of heavy carrying and stayed here. We had other plans, so we moved on.

The ultimate finish of Calamity Brook Trail features a little ove a hundred feet of elevation gain into the Lake Colden basin.

The Lake Colden area has a lot of camping on both sides of the Opalescent River, both lean-tos...

 ...and campsites .

Sunny did a good job down the stairs and across the spillway.

Good boy!

Lake Colden is a beautiful place. I'm not surprised that I met more than one group heading here not to climb mountains, but just to hang out and explore or to fish. I don't think this will be my last visit here.

Mount Marcy Trail

There was only 500 feet of elevation gain from Lake Colden to Uphill Lean-to, but it was a bit muddy, breezy, and grueling. I knew it would be cool today, but I think I still hadn't mentally prepared myself for it. Even though it is summer, this is a gloomy place. I suspect in the winter, this trail is very cold and very dark much of the day.

Mud, mud, mud. My new boots did a great job of keeping my feet mostly dry prior to this, but they were squelching shortly after starting this segment.

The trail needs some TLC. This was evident throughout, espeically areas of poor drainage.

The powerful presence of the Opalescent, vibrating the earth as it carved its way through the gorge was really cool to experience.

My spirits were dimming, but Sunny was still raring to go.

We made it the eight miles (as we walked it with our zigzagging and exploring) to Uphill Lean-to in under four hours. We took the time to set up camp and eat some food. It was at this point that I made the decision that we would not be going for Marcy, Gray, and Skilight on this trip. I was mopey and missing my family. I knew the next day would be a perfect, beautiful day for MGS, but I also knew Saturday would be another rainy mess. It had been about a year since the Santanonis hike and I'd kind of forgotten how miserable that kind of hike can be. I didn't want another day like that.

Still, we would have a go at Cliff and Redfield now and maybe Marshall on the way out tomorrow.

Cliff

My mood would only recover periodically during the Cliff hike. At around 12:30, I filled my day pack and we hiked a short way up to the brook to filter water. There, of course, I left my trekking pole and didn't realize it until much later.

The Swamp of Sadness at the start of the Cliff trail is so much worse than the Couch bog. It is a deep, wet, sucking bog flanked by impenetrable spruce. You will not make it out of here dry. It makes me chuckle a bit sardonically to think how I (and others) have denigrated the Couch bog. Couch is small potatoes compared to this mire.

To be fair, once you get to the cliffs, the hike is interesting.

You never have to actually scale up any of these rockfaces, though you could try if you wanted to.

Sunny was still in rather good spirits, leading the way the entire time.

I was constantly impresed with Sunny's ability to pick out the best path up.

And Cliff does have a lot of lovely views during the climb, I'll give it that.

The most heart-pumping cliff is this one where we crossed the rockface on a narrow ledge. I must admit these were kind of fun. 

I genuinely lost track of how many of these steep rockfaces we had to cross. Some folks online say three but I counted at least five. Maybe everyone has a different idea of what a difficult rockface is.

I will say this; they look scarier than they are.

The half mile of mud from the last cliff, over the false summit, and to the actual summit destroyed any joy the fun climb up had provided. We made the summit by 2pm.

Redfield

I am not going to lie; my mood was poor at the point we hiked down from Cliff, across the Swamp of Sadness, and started Redfield. I think this contributed to the fact that I have virtually no memory of the Redfield climb. I remember that there was nothing really interesting or notable about it. I was also quite sore from descending Cliff without a trekking pole to help with the big steps.

Similar to Cliff, the Redfield climb is a desolate, tortured Northern exposure. It is so interesting to see the difference in vegetation and, consequently, landscape between trails that get different amounts of sun and different weather.

One thing I do recall is that the entire hike up Redfield is steady and relentless.

It follows Uphill Brook for a bit, then veers off and becomes a typical stream ascent. You won't get lost on Redfield.

Commendably, a lot of work has been put into keeping this trail clear for hikers and rescuers despite it being a remote herd path.

We made the summit at 5pm. 

After the summit photo, we walked back to the overlook on the South side of the peak and basked in the sun. The saving grace of Redfield is the incrdible view down on Allen and neighborhood. 

From here I messaged my family to let them know I was okay and to let them know I'd be coming home tomorrow instead of Saturday. Throughout the trudge up Redfield I became more and more anxious about spending time alone in this cold place. I missed my family and was not feeling any of the good brain chemicals I usually get from hiking. I was done with the Adirondacks at that moment. Still, I remained at the overlook for a bit to soak up the sun and the view.

 

Light at the End of the Tunnel

When we returned to the Lean-to a little after 7:00pm (after retrieving my trekking pole from the stream bank), I immediately noticed there was a second clothesline set up and way more pairs of Darn Tough socks laid out on the big boulder in front of the lean-to. I'm not too proud to say I almost cried when I saw that. There were three college students from Boston University on a big loop staying the night (Colden, Marshall, Cliff, Redfield, Gray, Skylight, Marcy). I was so grateful to have someone to talk to. They were very kind and tolerant of this old guy who probably sounded manic at that point.

Sunny was done.

It felt like christmas so I decorated a tree.

As expected the temperatures were in the 40s that night. However, for some reason I'd forgotten that the temp ratings on sleeping bags are for survival not comfort and I'd brought the 40 degree topper instead of the 20. This is extra dumb because I think the 20 is actually lighter. Anyways, an hour or so into the night, I had to add some layers because of the wind.  After some thought, I opened up and draped my tent on Sunny and my legs just to be sure I didn't have to wake up again later. That seemed to cut the wind quite well; we both slept through without a problem after that.

Real Talk

I'm not sure if this is my mood of the day talking, but I got the impression that Cliff & Redfield are a bit desolate and cheerless compared to other High Peaks. Being on the North side of the mountains and surrounded by other mountains, these hikes are cold and dreary. The poor drainage throughout make the hike a bit of a drudgery. I was so eager to be off these mountains that I didn't even bother with doing photos of Adirondack Kommando. 

Either mountain could be fine hikes if they were anywhere else. The long trek to get there does not make for a fun day hike. There are other, closer mountains where you can have a similar experience. Only people going for the 46er challenge should bother with them. We will not be back.

The next day was supposed to be a perfect Adirondack day and in my mind I really hoped we had the gas in our engines to climb Marshall on the way out. It would be a shame to waste all that distance and elevation gain without doing so.