Tabletop and Phelps

June 21, 2015

A combination of significant rainfall overnight and general exhaustion of Hike-a-palooza hikers led it to be just myself and Ghassan who wanted to do anything more than a hike to the coffee shop. We settled on Tabletop as a suitable objective as we were not expecting many views today. We left from the ADK Loj just after 08:00 and moved quickly along the trail to the remnants of Marcy Dam. Light rain sputtered on and off, but it was very warm so there was no point in wearing our waterproof layers. After a couple foggy photos we started climbing up to the Tabletop junction. A muddy climb up Tabletop rewarded us with a muddy summit and a stunning view of the inside of a cloud. A short break was had and then we descended. At the Phelps junction I tended to some hot spots on my feet due to hiking in soaking wet boots, but then declared it good to go for Phelps. This climb is a lot of fun with some nice scrambles up some steep rock pitches. As a bonus, the sun decided to come out. After about an hour of climbing, we arrived at the top and were treated to a view of the clouds lifting around the local peaks. A little bit of a longer break was taken here on the lookout ledge, and then we began our descent. We passed quite a few people coming up, most of them asking us how far it was to the top. I kind of hate that question, but still answered politely. A long, bone jarring descent on the rocky trail brought us back to the main trail and then the way was a little easier going. We moved quickly now, passing Marcy Dam and then the final slog along the Van H back to the Loj. We arrived at the trailhead after about seven hours of hiking and chatted with a young woman to help her with map interpretation of the trail to Wright Peak. We had a snack in the Loj and gratefully got out of our wet and muddy clothes. I had a hot coffee and a cold ice cream cone which turns out to be a fantastic post-hike combo.

Marcy mud-flats in the morning.