A solo hike? By myself? All alone in the familiar, yet wild Adirondacks? Like…drive up to the Adirondacks and hike by myself? A few months prior to June of 2017 I would have surely found another activity to do locally on a weekend where I couldn’t find hiking mates. But after living in Albany, New York for almost a full year at this point, I had over a dozen high peaks under my belt – “experience” that helped push me towards that “do it, do it, do it” voice resonating in my head throughout the first week in June. Maybe I was a bit reckless, right? How could I be qualified to hike around 18 miles by myself? I guess looking back on it, maybe it was a bit crazy…but I had my sights ambitiously set on Mount Colden, Table Top, and Phelps via Avalanche Lake; an area that I had (and still continue to) become pretty familiar with. I knew my family in Rochester would worry and tell me to be careful and that I shouldn’t do it, which is exactly why I didn’t tell them until after I did it. My goal was ambitious but, being a relatively quick-paced hiker, I felt that I’d be able to set myself up to succeed and peak all three mountains by sunset. The biggest question in my mind was how I’d respond to being alone in the mountains. There was plenty of time spent in solitude with my thoughts, but I ended up realizing that on most hikes in the Adirondacks, you’re never truly alone.
June 3, 2017 began as most other Adirondack adventure days did when I lived in Guilderland outside of Albany for a year between June 2016 and June 2017. Beep, Beep, BEEP – I awoke with the 4 AM alarm. There is an opportunity with the Albany location that I continued to seize. Any outdoorsy type of person located around Albany should totally be taking advantage of how close the ‘dacks are. I mean, they are SO CLOSE. I was stoked per usual. What else gets me up at 4 AM? Only my passion. Only the mountains. With the Adirondacks only being 2-2. hours away, day trips literally meant day trips – home bed to home bed. I rolled out of bed and finished packing my day pack full with like 12 of those sweet and salty peanut butter bars (a highly satisfying and addictive fuel), a few PB and J sandwiches, a banana, some trail mix, and plenty of water. I made sure I had my map and long sleeves in layers and I was off. Taking the northway (I-87 north of Albany that runs to Montreal) is a beautiful early morning drive – especially when the sun begins to rise and you get up to those mountains. The adrenaline began to pump and I entered my happy place.
I parked at the Adirondack Loj, which costs around $10/day for non-Heart Lake Program Center members, and made my way towards the trailhead for Marcy Dam. Marcy Dam is a sweet junction allowing access to mountains such as Mount Marcy (highest in New York at 5,344 ft elevation), Algonquin (2nd highest in New York at 5,114 ft elevation), and Mount Colden (11th highest in New York at 4,714 ft elevation) among others.
Adirondack Map Highlighting the Route I took. Colden, then Table Top, then Phelps
Marcy Dam used to have a wooden crossing that allowed hikers to pass right over the dam, but it was destroyed when Hurricane Irene sent water rushing through the area in 2011. The area currently looks as shown in the photo below. I got to the area after approximately 2.3 miles and used the footbridge constructed a few hundred feet downstream to cross.
Marcy Dam – June 3, 2017
I proceeded to find the path to Avalanche Lake, signed into the ranger book (I knew I’d be back there later in the day to sign out based on my route), and took off. Weaving my way through the trees, stepping on rocks embedded in the muddy path, and breathing in the cool, 50 degree morning air, I plugged on the 1.5-2 mile stretch to get from Marcy Dam to the foot of Avalanche Lake, which rests between Algonquin and Mount Colden. When I arrived, I stopped in my tracks. I couldn’t believe how peaceful and beautiful it was. I took a few minutes to soak it in and then hiked on. The path hugs the right side of the lake shown in the photo below. Mount Colden is on the left and I eventually wrapped around the lake and began my ascent of the first peak of the day.
Avalanche Lake in All of Its Beauty
Another Photo of Avalanche Lake in All of Its Beauty Because Why Not…
Colden punched me with a pretty steep ascent right off the bat, but that meant I came upon awesome views rather quickly.
Views From The Ascent of Colden From The West
As I climbed, thicker clouds rolled in. As a hiker with even a basic amount of Adirondack experience knows, tricky weather in the mountains can roll in on the blink of an eye. I was preparing for a cold drizzle when…. snow? Yep. It began snowing. On June 3rd. It snowed. I was wearing shorts. “But wasn’t it just like 50 or 60 degrees on the lake?” I took out my long sleeves and saw another fellow hiker who was taking a different route from me. We both made short conversation on how crazy snow on June 3rd was and then he rushed off to get off the peak. I lingered for a few minutes trying to soak in what I could and then began my descent down the other side of the mountain.
View From Mount Colden – Snow Included
Summit Views Just After the Snow
As I made my way to Table Top, I passed three junctions. Along the way, I ran into a couple of hikers (lady hikers for those of you counting at home) who were super friendly and chatty. I soon figured out that they were off to do Table Top and Phelps and exclaimed that I was also headed that way. We embarked together and morale for the trip couldn’t have been higher. Unfortunately, I got a new phone a few months after this hike and the message with the group photo that we took with a fourth hiker who joined us a little farther along the way never transferred over. We all told our stories and trekked through the mud together as we headed up the unmarked Tabletop Mountain.
Views on The Way to Tabletop
The summit views from Table Top were slightly wooded, but I wouldn’t say that the trees took away much from the view. In fact, I almost think the bare trees enhanced the experience, adding a humble reminder of how powerful and vast the mountains are.
Tabletop Summit Views
Tabletop Summit Views
The four of us made our way down Table Top and over to Phelps. These were quick miles filled with lively conversation about what our interests were. Before we knew it, we had made it to the summit of Phelps. The gray skies that lingered for most of the day stayed high enough for us to have mountain views from the summit.
View from the Summit of Phelps
From here, it was all downhill back to Marcy Dam and then to the Adirondack Loj. My mountain friends and I made it back in one piece. I had survived by myself and even made a few friends along the way.
My biggest takeaway, which I kind of already had an idea about, is that I realized that I am at peace with being by myself. I think that we all need to find a balance of alone time and time with others. This hike gave me both and I was able to reflect upon how I felt during both phases after the hike was complete. Time alone in the mountains allowed me to super focus on how my body performs at various levels of exertion and also allowed me to explore my mind and become self aware of my comfort with myself. I definitely think that mountains have the power to cure and bring about a period of reflection when we are alone and one with them. On the flip side, humans are social animals and I love to socialize. There is also an immense power in teamwork and pushing each other. This hike had both and I was able to hike around 18 miles and get back to Albany all in a day. On this hike, it became apparent to me that many times you are not fully alone in the Adirondacks, but there are opportunities to both reflect by yourself as well as to connect with others. A solo hike? But now I have done one…
-Ryan O’Malley
