Snowshoeing Phelps
This weekend's hiking trip morphed a lot over the course of the week. I eventually landed on camping at Heart Lake and hiking Phelps early Monday. This would allow us to get our first Winter High Peak and be home for dinner.
Camping
We drove in around 3:30. The snow was light, but the wind was blowing across the Loj road.
By the time the helpful Loj attendee had gotten us checked in, the clouds were rolling out. Sunny danced and played on the surface of the lake while numerous gustnadoes danced and played across the lake in the distance.
Sunny was having the time of his life playing on the lake.
The majesty of Algonquin and the majesty of Sunny Days.
I got one last beauty shot of Algonquin before starting the fire.
Camp setup was homey. It felt weird to set up a tent inside a lean-to, but that's how the Loj wants you to do it on their property. I got a fire going very quickly, in part thanks to the kindling box left by previous campers. I collected a little to add to the box.
As I sat by the fire, I noticed Sunny preening his paws, already annoyed by the snow collected while he played earlier. I also grew exceedingly bored and lonesome. I called an audible. After an hour by the fire, I packed camp into the car, doused the fire, put the rest of my dry wood in the box, and left.
It might seem weird to drive two hours in and two hours back only to drive in again the next day; weird and expensive. I keep thinking about how Sunny has had to have extensive maintenance on his paws every couple of miles on every hike this year, even with liberal applications of Musher's Secret. Golden Retrievers have webbed toes and thick hair. I think Winter hikes longer than 5-6 miiles are just not in the cards for my pal.
What's more, these lonely solo camping trips just aren't for me. I do not crave solitude. I understand why some folks do. It's just not for me. I don't mind lonesome moments on day hikes, but I really enjoy meeting people on the trail and talking to them.
Dan suggested I bring a book next time if I have to camp alone. I think that's probably a good idea; that or download some shows.
Hiking
I met Dan at the Park & Ride at 6am and he drove us into the Loj before 8:30am. I was very glad for Dan to be driving after my 5 hours behind the wheel yesterday.
Rt. 73 and the Loj were a winter wonderland.
The trails were fast. Still, we cursed the initial downhill from the Loj as always, knowing what we'd have to do on the way back.
We got to Marcy Dam in a little over an hour.
Colden was gorgeous from the dam today. After a brief snack and a chat with some hikers heading for Algonquin (which I'm sure they loved), we moved on. We easily crossed Marcy Brook upstream a bit.
Dan, contemplating directions.
What is this? A trail register for ants?
We crossed Phelps Brook easily.
I was struck by how much nicer it was to climb up Van Hovenberg Trail without having to dodge or hop rocks. It was slow going in snowshoes in general, but these well-worn trails are actually easier in the snow, in my opinion. I found myself wondering what Lake Arnold Trail is like.
We made it to the Phelps junction in about 40 minutes and had another snack.
We found some glare ice an hour later as the trail steepened. We decided to drop packs to make the going easier.
The ultimate ascent was as beautiful as I remember. The view in winter is gorgeous.
Near the top, the snow is so deep that hikers need to stoop to avoid the tree branches.
When we reached the summit, Dan decided to let the earth take him.
We stayed at the summit for a while; there was very little wind and the sun was warm. We could have had lunch there if we'd had our packs. Phelps is an incredible view despite Tabletop in the foreground of the Great Range.
The butt-sliding was incredible. Dan said we made it down from the summit in 15 minutes.
We moved fast to Marcy Dam. I slowed down quite a bit after that with aching... everything.
Dan took this photo of me about to cross back over Marcy Brook. The ice was definitely starting to thin.
On the way back to the Loj, the snow started going a bit rotten and the trail had a sheet of slush on it in some places. I'm not sure how much longer we have for fun snowshoeing this year, but who knows. This is New York after all, so your guess is as good as mine. We were done by 3:40, which was great considering our leisurely pace.
This was a truly gorgeous hike. I will do more Winter High Peaks in the future, but I do think I made the right call leaving Sunny behind. I'll make it up to him by taking him somewhere fun next weekend.
