Cliff and Redfield

August 22, 2026

A last minute decision and weather window had me driving down to Keene after work on Friday and pitching my tent in the dark at the farm. Got up early and made the long drive around to Upper Works, finding a nearly full parking lot and lots of folks milling about at 06:30. Despite the crowds here, once I passed two groups near the start of the Calamity trail I was not to see another soul for another three hours.

Wow, they have done a lot of work on Calamity! The trail is in fantastic shape all the way until the pond where it then degrades into the ADK signature boggy mudhole nastiness. Lots of DEC flagging is present along here so perhaps that is a future upgrade project. I paid a brief visit to the Henderson monument, but did not stay, choosing to put a few more km under the boots before my 4am mini-wheats needed replenishing. I took my first break at a lean-to by Herbert brook, where I found it partially filled by a tent and an extensive rock collection, but still enough room for me to sit for a minute and munch a granola bar.

Trailwork along Calamity

Calamity Pond

Break at the Herbert brook leanto

The trip up the Opalescent River is beautiful as always and I did stop a couple of times to gaze at the waterfalls and canyons. Thoughts of a swim later crossed my mind and I picked out a nice pool for a potential dip on the return journey. Took another quick break at Uphill leanto and then met a couple at the start of the Cliff/Redfield herd path with whom I a friendly chat about our plans for the day... which pretty much boiled down to hiking up this muddy path!

Cascades of the Opalescent

It has been almost eight years since I have been up this way and I was curious to see how the trail has evolved in that time. Well, nothing really has changed though the trail has been cleared of most of the blowdown and brushed out a bit which was nice. I decided to climb Cliff first, and after the initial bog wallow was actually a fairly pleasant hike. The scrambles are fun, and the walk through the wooded parts are quite pleasant despite the lack of views. Knowing there was no view on top had me looking for a nice spot to have my first lunch on the return journey, but I really did not find anything. After a little over four hours of hiking I met a fellow coming down who warned me that the top was just ahead, but it was very crowded. A minute later I arrived to find about a dozen people sitting around the summit area having a meal complete with camp stoves and lots of chatter. It was a bit to busy for me, so after snapping a quick photograph, I turned around and started down until I found a nice rock to sit on for a sandwich.

Turn off for Cliff... still a bog

A new form of life emerges. Lets hope that the green slime of Cliff does not breed with the red slime of Allen.

Cliff summit

Unfortunately just as I continued, a group of about 6 young folk from the summit also decided to depart and I was to play leap frog with them for the rest of the day. They were friendly and all, but the volume level of the hike had just turned up a few notches on the dial. I tried to scoot ahead, but with the tricky down climbs I did not want to get reckless, so took my time as the kids jumped and butt slid down them with abandon. I did team up with Victor for a while who had just started on his 46er journey. Cliff was peak #2 for him and he had chosen Cliff since he heard correctly that it did not have a nice view and wanted to get it out of the way first. Redfield for him was to be another day. For myself still feeling strong after arriving at the Redfield junction, I said goodbye to Victor and turned upwards before the noise arrived. As I climbed, I met up with another fellow who was also trying to outrun the commotion. He was faster than me so ended up ahead as I got absorbed and then broke free of the crowd again and again. At some point I did get ahead and was back to a nice quiet hike for a while all the way to the summit. A hidden troll sitting on a rock above gave me a bit of a surprise, and I warned him that his quiet contemplation might be ending soon. I found a quiet lookout towards Allen just past the summit and sat down to a peaceful second lunch.

Allen from Redfield summit

I heard the chaos long before it arrived. When someone started urinating in the bushes behind me, I decided it was time to go. For part of the descent I followed the brook instead of the trail which was a pretty rock hop amongst the pools and waterfalls. I took a second stop at Uphill, where I found a guy from Syracuse sprawled out and claiming to be on the verge of death after his long day hiking Skylight. He left before me, but not without forgetting his blue hat which I called him back to retrieve.

Brook whack back down

My descent went quickly as I still felt fairly fresh, and though I kept seeing Blue Hat in the distance in front of me, I never could quite catch up. The day was late and I was anxious to get to some real food and beer so skipped the swim, though did stop to refill a water bottle from river. At Calamity, I was starting to feel tired, but still somehow managed to catch up and pass the noisy kids... no idea how they got in front of me after leaving them behind on Redfield! Finally reached the parking lot after 11 hours of moving, and found a nice looking compass beside my car. Figuring it must belong to the car next to me I put it on the windshield. As I pulled out to leave, Blue Hat said hello again and it turns out it was him parked next to me, and indeed it was his compass. Bonus score on gear returns for me on this day!

Lake Colden

Exploring the museum on the way out

On the drive back to Keene I saw a sign for EV charging as I approached the interstate and I decided to stop since my battery was running low. While I waited for the car to juice up a bit, I snacked on some tasty samosas cooked up in the Frontier Town building. Almost did not go inside because of the golden arch signs on the door, but upon entering realized that this was not a McDicks at all... what a cool spot! Now that I know about this place I will definitely plan a proper visit next time I am down this way. Back at Keene I ate my planned camp stove supper washed down with a couple Ubus before crawling into bed.

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