Marcy April 17 2004

[highpointersclub]

[Ed: Imported from Americas Roof ‘Summit Trip Reports’ forum]

[By: DickMc on April 18 2004 at 6:55 PM]

[Link: http://www.network54.com/Forum/198362/message/1082328944/Marcy+April+17+2004]

I knocked off highpoint #35 on a long day in April. The trail was mostly mud, with some ice, for the first 3.5 miles; then snow with a few icy bits. The mud on the way in wasn’t too bad, and the ice had a lot of mud and debris on it so it wasn’t too bad either. The snow was a bit soft, but as long as I stayed on the part that had been compacted by hikers/skiers/snowshoers it was OK. Step off that traffic lane, though, and the snow was knee-waist deep. I put my snowshoes on at the 4000 foot sign to go up the steep climb to the ridge, but in retrospect I probably didn’t need them.
The last few hundred yards was mostly bare rock. It had been sunny when I started out, but had clouded over by the time I reached the summit. The wind, as usual on summits, was blowing hard, so I took my photos, ate a quick lunch, called a friend (a first for me), and headed down. No sooner had I started to descend when a brief hailstorm hit, followed by steady rain all the way back to Marcy Dam. The rain made the snow looser, the ice slicker, and the mud deeper, up to my ankles in places. I took a couple falls, the last one in the slop, so I must have looked pretty beat up by the time I got back to the truck.
Vital stats: total length of climb was 9 hours, taking 4:40 up and 3:45 down. I did the ascent in a t-shirt as it was near 50 degrees. I’d like to come back in the autumn some time and hike it again, and I’ll camp next time so I don’t have to do nearly 15 miles in one shot.

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