High Peaks Day 3 Phelps Mountain

So last evening we decided to try Phelps mountain and perhaps hit TableTop mountain if we had time. Both of these mountains are accessible from the Adirondac Loj and the Van Hoevenburg trail. It looked to be around an 8 mile round trip for just Phelps mountain alone. The cool part of this hike was that we would go through Marcy Dam. It certainly helps to have something nice to see along the way on a long trek through the woods.

We awoke early and we were feeling pretty beat-up from the past few days adventures. I was hobbling around pretty bad because of my knee and we were both quite sore. The night before I told Heather that I would hit EMS at 9am ( store opening ) and get some Clif type bars or various energy bars. We didn't want to have a repeat performance of the previous night and the low energy problems. What I didn't tell her was that I was going to look into getting us some trekking poles. So after a quick oatmeal breakfast and while she was getting ready for the day I went down the street to EMS. After grabbing some energy bars I also snagged a nice pair of trekking poles for each of us. It turned out to be one of the best hiking investments I have made for both of us at this point.

After surprising Heather with the new trekking poles and messing around with them for a bit we made our way back to Heart Lake and the Adirondac Loj. We arrived around 10:30 and set about gearing up for our third high peak. The parking lot was a flurry of activity. Groups were setting off and people were preparing for whatever adventure they had planned for the day. We were approached by a young couple who were obviously from another country. "Hi can I ask of your services? .... Can take photo of us?" using somewhat of a Swedish accent. I obliged him and they were off. We finished gearing up and we took off as well. After signing the trail register we were finally on the Van Hoevenburg trail headed for Marcy Dam.

The trail was very well maintained and easy to hike on. It allowed us time to really get used to using the trekking poles. The difference was quite astonishing. Although I still felt pain in my knee I could really lean on the poles and didn't have to bend my leg as much. Just as advertised the pressure on the knees was quite reduced. We came to our first junction which was 1 mile in. To the left was Marcy Dam and to the right was the trail leading to the McIntyre range. We continued on to the left and quickly made our way to Marcy Dam.

Marcy Dam was absolutely beautiful. The dam itself is made of wood and the view from the lake was breathtaking. You could see Mt. Colden, Algonquin, Avalanche Peak as well as many others that we didn't identify. From the dam the trail leads to yet another registration area. After registering we continued on to the Phelps Mountain junction. The terrain became much harder to traverse at this point. The trail continued on what appeared to be an old stream-bed. Our progress became a bit slower but we still made good time. We finally arrived at the junction for Phelps and saw two girls sitting on a big rock by the trail. They were waiting for the rest of their family to come down. We grabbed a quick energy bar and had some water before ascending. The rest of the family came down and we chatted with the parents a bit. Very nice people and they informed us that the trail up is very rough and is a bit further than a mile. They called it an "Adirondack Mile".

We made our way up the trail and they were right. The trail was very rocky, muddy and slippery. About 10 minutes into the ascent and the rain started pouring down on us. We quickly got our rain gear on, and I was so glad I bought the rain pants upon our arrival for this adventure. Heather unfortunately didn't see the value in them at the time and opted out of buying some. The biggest concern in these type of conditions is hypothermia. Her pants were getting soaked but fortunately the rain started to let up and we were fine. The trail conditions didn't get any better though. Thanks to our trekking poles we stayed balanced as we could and neither of us slipped at all. There were some sections requiring us to actually climb with our hands and feet.

We made what we thought was the summit and ate a couple of sandwiches, yet we kept hearing a group talking in the vicinity. The rock we were on was pretty big but it didn't offer beautiful views. The trail in this section was rather confusing and after some deliberating we decided to make our way towards the voices. Then we saw the father and two sons on what was definitely the summit. The view was stunning. We could see Mt. Marcy in all its glory. The guide I read stated that Phelps, who discovered Mt. Marcy never actually climbed on Phelps mountain. It was named after him because the view of it was spectacular. After a good 1/2 hour or so of hanging around at the top and dealing with the black flies we made our descent.

The descent was quite tough on my knee and even Heather was experiencing some joint pain. Luckily she keeps a small pharmacy in her day-pack and we both loaded up on the ibuprofen. We finally arrived at the base of Phelps and saw a small family hanging around towards the bottom. They were dressed as if they were going to play tennis and only one of them had a small pack. They all looked completely defeated,tired, wet and in terrible spirits. I asked them where they were coming from and sure enough "Mt. Marcy and we are paying for it". They were waiting for what seemed like the father who was limping along and looked miserable. Having no rain gear, probably nothing to eat and drink and thinking they could do the highest peak in the Adirondacks, well I'm sure they learned a valuable lesson. Do some research, bring gear that will make you comfortable in any condition, and be prepared to spend a night on the mountain in an emergency situation. This family could have been in pretty big trouble.

The trek back was uneventful yet very nice. Despite our numerous pains we made good time. I was excited to finally use my water filtration system because I basically ran out of water. I was a bit apprehensive to use it since Gardia is something that you don't want to mess with. When we made it back to the junction with a mile to get back to the Adirondac Loj there was a small group standing around. I asked them where they had been for the day and the father said "Well we got a little ambitious today. We did Wright Peak, Algonquin and Iroquois. We left around 9am". By this time it was around 5:30 and I was very impressed that they did the entire McIntyre Range in that time.

We made it back to the Loj tired, yet feeling great that we conquered our 3rd high peak on this little vacation. We basically climbed 4 mountains in 3 days and our bodies had enough. We drove off back to the hotel and unlike the previous night, had a nice simple meal of Pizza and Beer. This was one of the best vacations I had ever been on, and in my mind I couldn't wait to come back. The guys we had talked to immediately planted the seed in my mind. Next time we came to the high peaks, we are doing the McIntyre Range!