Krista, Debbie, Sharon
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| Sharon, Deb and I on the lookout on Marshall |
Debbie and Sharon had a made plans to do Marshall for Sharon's 46, and because I too needed Marshall they invited me to tag along and so I did. Part of the deal was for me to play hooky from work for the day as Deb and Sharon both didn't have to work on Friday November 11th, aka Remembrance Day. In the U.S. they call this Veterans Day. I agreed to the plan and we were off. Arrived in Keene Valley shortly after 2 and it started snowing. We hadn't seen snow the whole way down. Sharon went off for a jog with Marie, and Deb and I made the obligatory visit to the Mountaineer.
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Scoping out the new slide on Wright
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| Avalanche Pass |
That evening we dined at the Ausable Inn, eating ourselves full of veggie pizza. We were in bed by 8:30pm and up at 4:45 and on the road an hour later to Heart Lake. As the daylight increased we started seeing the layer of snow that accumulated overnight, making it easiert to begin our walk down the trail around dawn. Left the trailhead at Heart Lake at 6:20, and marched our way to Marcy Dam and up to Avalanche Pass in 2 hours. As we ascended, the snow depth increased from an inch to a few inches. The trees and slides were beautiful! A winter wonderland was upon us and the sun was beginning to shine!
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| The 3 amigos are now 5 amigos |
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| My Marshall summit shot! |
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| Microspike failure! |
We donned our shell layer through Avalanche Lake and Lake Colden. Sharon slipped at Hitch Up Matilda's and dropped a pole in the lake which I was able to recover using my two poles with baskets. After many photo opportunties (of which I wasn't able to participate after realizing my brand new camera's battery wasn't charged) we headed around Lake Colden on the Yellow trail to the dam. Met our first group of the day on Dam and then headed over to the lean-to at the base of the Herbert Brook. Having a break to snack and drink tea, two hikers came around the corner and it happened to be hiking friends of Debbie's Marc and Lucy. Both of them belong to the Alpine Club of Canada, a club Glenn and I joined in September, and have met before. They had both just stayed out overnight in a nearby lean-to. By sheer coincidence we ran into each other and decided to summit Marshall as a group of 5! We headed up the Herbert Brook herd path which in some parts was tricky due to the new fallen snow, and winded our way over the across the brook, up the brook and beside the brook. With around 500ft to go the brook disappeared and climbed the col to the summit. Just before the summit we donned our microspikes as the conditions started to become very icey and slippery. So far the snow had provided us with some extra grip but no longer this was the issue, and the wind was non-existent due to the treed summit cone. We took some summit shots and grabbed a snack and extra layer. I tried on my new light down Mountain Hardwear jacket and loved it. Walked about 10 m off the summit and took some more fantastic sunny photos with a gorgeous snow capped peak background! My GPS said that we had hiked over 13.5 km to get to the summit in 6 hours! Yikes that's a long approach!
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| Marc, Sharon, Deb, Lucy and I on Marshall's summit |
For the first 10mins of the descent we wore the microspikes for grip and then we all took the off when the started snowballing up and the conditions improved (photo right). Tramped down our old footprints back to the marked trail and rested again at the lean-to. Said goodbye to Marc and Lucy who were pondering whether to camp out or join us in Keene Valley for the night. Headed back along Lake Colden's blue trail (opposite from the morning), then played snakes and ladders along Avalanche Lake. Took another 2 hours again to get back to Heart Lake, and we had to put on the headlamps for the last km or so.
Hike Totals: 27km, 3882 ft of ascending, 11hours!
Marc and Lucy did decide to come crash with us in Keene Valley and eat with us at the Baxter restaurant with the three of us and Marie. Had a great evening and weekend as a whole. Great company, great conditions, great hiking, great fun! Can't wait to go back! :) Half way to 46!
