TableTop and Colden Loop

November 5, 2011

On a frosty fall morning, twelve of us set out from Heart Lake in the dark. We quickly traversed the trail into the remnants of Marcy Dam and marvelled at the destructive force which took it out. At this point the sun had risen and we could also see the new slide on Wright as well as Colden's bulk beconning in the distance. We split into two groups. Murray took five towards Avalanche pass and I took the remaining seven towards TableTop. In short order we reached the junction, took a brief break and then began our ascent. The trail became icy, and at about 3700 feet we put on our spikes which helped immensely. After a seemingly never ending traverse on the summit plateau, we reached the summit proper. Got probably the best view of Mt. Marcy I have ever witnessed from this lookout. Relaxed for a bit in the warm sunshine before beginning the descent. Back at the main trail, Wendy stated that she was not feeling it today. Patrick volunteered to hike back with her via Phelps, so we parted company and I was down to a group of five; Rob, Dave (x2), Karen, and myself. We stopped at the top of Indian Falls and enjoyed this special Adirondack spot for a bit before descending down another 400 feet to the Lake Arnold trail. At one spot I slipped on a root and plunged myself into an icy puddle. Unhurt, but somewhat wet, we continued as I dried myself in the sunshine. Another break at Lake Arnold and then we began our summit bid for Colden. Again we put on the spikes as it got icy. Shortly after, Murray's group met us along the trail during their descent. After a brief visit we were on our way again, and at 13:00 found ourselves on the summit of Colden. We had lunch here soaking up the sun and the views. The descent was down the south ridge. I figured that since it was south facing, and now that it was quite warm out, that there would be less ice. I was wrong. The next two hours were a treacherous white knuckle descent down a steep river of ice. Full crampons here would have been welcome as more than once the microspikes were being pushed beyond their limits. Mercifully we reached the shores of Lake Colden, and after another break began the long trod back to the trailhead. The slide debris at Avalanche lake was impressive. It looked like a million beavers on steroids (or maybe LSD) were attempting to build a dam. For the last couple of hours, I was feeling really tired and began to fall back. Karen came back and walked with me for most of the rest of the way and we had a nice chat. Somewhere in the last mile we switched on headlamps and finally arrived back at Heart Lake just under twelve hours since our departure.

Picking our way through the rocks below Marcy Dam.