High Peaks 46: Mt. Colden #26

July 5, 2014

Another beautiful weekend!

Comfortable temperatures and mostly sunny skies forecast through the weekend ahead of a chance of showers on Monday.

By Saturday evening winds were increasing as high pressure moved into the area. Through the night I could hear the wind gusting in the treetops. Lying in bed I could picture the swirling and rolling air downwind of the mountains and how fortunate I was to have perfectly calm winds during a visit to the area in my Cessna last fall.

Strong winds make for a wild ride in the air, but if the conditions are right standing waves are formed over and downwind of mountains. These waves have rising air on the windward side and can extend up into the atmosphere more than five times the height of the mountain. Each fall glider pilots from all over meet in Lake Placid when wave conditions are common.

Flights of over 25,000' are not uncommon!

Morning lenticular cloud over Algonquin.

My goal, Colden, is to the left.

I began my hike at 6 am, about 45 minutes later than the hike to Skylight and Grey two weeks earlier. This would be a shorter hike. It is listed in adirondack.net as 10 hours. I felt relaxed knowing an easy pace would bring me back mid-afternoon.

Most of the hike followed the same trails that brought me to Skylight. At the intersection of the trail to Avalanche and Colden lakes, and my trail to Lake Arnold I met up with a hiker who spent the night at Lake Arnold. He said the winds roared all night, to the point that it was getting scary. He was on the trail early and deciding on some changes to the days' walk.

One of the many toads hopping out of my way on the trail.

The bench mark at the intersection to Indian Falls en route to Lake Arnold. Already at 3,415'.

The trail just below Lake Arnold. Beyond this point the path levels out and crosses a wet area before branching off to Lake Arnold and the trailhead up Colden.

Lake Arnold

Campsite of the gentleman I talked with earlier down the trail

Thinking I was at the summit as the trail emerged into the open I found I still had a little more walking to do!

Most of the walking was easy. There were a few steep areas or rocky ledges to climb but none of there were particularly difficult. But my problems is, I like to keep my camera out and at the ready while hiking. This makes any obstacle that requires more than one hand much more difficult as I try to keep the camera from coming into contact with rock or dirt. Right now I'm using a Black Rapid harness with the stabilizer strap. In the airplane I use a Cotton Carrier harness to hold the camera against my chest and out of the way of controls. This harness might be too much to wear hiking but Cotton Carrier does make a carrying system that will place the camera up onto the shoulder strap of my backpack. Maybe I'll give this a try, because once I have to put my camera into the back pack it generally stays there...

The trail along a shoulder of the mountain. You can see just how shallow the topsoil is in areas of the high peaks and why damage to plant life and resulting erosion is such a problem.

The trail goes under this 100+ ton rock and through the triangle of light in the center. It isn't as tight as it looks with only a little stooping required to pass.

Lipstick Powderhorn lichen

Algonquin and Iroquois

Hikers enjoying the view. One came up, and two went down the back side to Avalanche Lake. I had considered returning by way of Avalanche Lake but on the advice of the hiker that had ascended the trail, going up was better than going down because of the steepness.