Adirondack Mountain trails

[Buttcrack Johnson]

In mid August I will be in upstate New York (Fultonville) and I will do some hiking in the Adirondacks. Does anyone have some suggestions for a 3 or 4 niter with 4 or 5 days of trekking?
Some nice loops in the southern to central (high peaks) region.

[Another Kevin]

You have an embarrassment of riches. What sort of mileages and elevation gains are you up for? Is your reaction to slick granite, or dramatic exposure, "No thanks," or "Bring it on!"?

[Starchild]

The Adirondacks is a great place for base camp peak bagging. Hike into a area, set up camp for a few days and day trip hitting peaks from there.

[Buttcrack Johnson]

10 to 15 mpd, elevation is no biggie, the peaks are @ 5000ft. A 30 to 40 mile loop would be great with a safe place to park vehicle.

[Slo-go'en]

It would be possible to set up a loop through there, but most people hike into Avalanche lake and do day hikes from there. You can hit a bunch of summits based out of Avalanche lake. The hike in is really easy, but keep in mind bear canisters are now required to camp in that area.

[Feral Bill]

It would be possible to set up a loop through there, but most people hike into Avalanche lake and do day hikes from there. You can hit a bunch of summits based out of Avalanche lake. The hike in is really easy, but keep in mind bear canisters are now required to camp in that area.

From Avalanche Lake: Mt Marcy out and back, Mt Colden loop (with climb), Algonquin, valley walks here and there, etc. You can't go wrong, even if you just sit in camp and look around.

[royalusa]

Another vote for Mt. Marcy. The Northville Placid Trail (an end-to-end trail; not a loop) is another one of a kind experience. Our journal can be found here, for more info: http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=12503. That hike included a side trip to Mt. Marcy and includes a picture of Mt. Marcy. A video of the trail can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/royalusa/videos

Do you have maps to show you all the options - there are tons! If not I have mine for sale:
National Geographic Adirondack Park Maps #742 and #744
#742 – Lake Placid / High Peaks
#744 – Northville / Raquette Lake
Both maps are in excellent brand new condition. Retail for $11.95/each. Selling for $6.50/each.

So many options...you really can't go wrong.

[Another Kevin]

Another vote for Mt. Marcy. The Northville Placid Trail (an end-to-end trail; not a loop) is another one of a kind experience. Our journal can be found here, for more info: http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=12503. That hike included a side trip to Mt. Marcy and includes a picture of Mt. Marcy. A video of the trail can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/royalusa/videos

I read your journal. You guys were flying. I take twice the time to go the same distance. My longest day so far on the NPT was a 14'er.

Quick comment on your complaint about the maps and data book. A lot of the time the difference between a 2.2 and a 2.9 on that trail is the water level. Can you hike across the meadow or do you have to add a half-mile or more circling the beaver pond? (And every segment has a beaver pond.) You were there at a low-water time, believe it or not!

NPT is a great trail. For what it's worth, my journal of an unsuccessful thru is http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=473920.

Hikers who fancy a severe challenge (as hard as the Presidential Traverse, in my opinion) can park at The Garden in Keene Valley and hike to Marcy over the Great Range. The Wolfjaws, Armstrong, the Gothics, Saddleback, Basin, Haystack all have great views, and I've got the nagging feeling that I've left one or two out. Those who still have anything left could come back over Yard, Big Slide and The Brothers. There are several ways to arrange that series in loops that use Johns Brook Lodge as a base.

Colvin, Nippletop, Dial and the Dix Range, starting from either the Ausable Club or Elk Lake, is another popular "hike in, make a base camp, and bag some peaks from there" location. Or as someone else mentioned, there are a lot of day trips that start from a campsite at Avalanche Lake. So many choices, and not a bad one among them!

[Buttcrack Johnson]

I will be in the Adirondacks next week for about 5 days (8/12 - 8/19) and I will be hammock/tarp camping. What temps should I expect, and will a light sleeping bag be good enough? Also, I have the NatGeo maps, are good water sources plentiful?

[Malto]

I will be in the Adirondacks next week for about 5 days (8/12 - 8/19) and I will be hammock/tarp camping. What temps should I expect, and will a light sleeping bag be good enough? Also, I have the NatGeo maps, are good water sources plentiful?

As of three weeks ago there was more water than I care to see. Don't know if spring sprung late but most of the trails were wet and water was plentiful. I can relate to your dilemma on routes, there were many options. One other point, I do a lot of high mile days and the high trails that we went on slowed us down more than anything on the AT south of mid Vermont. the lower trails were cake.

[Another Kevin]

I will be in the Adirondacks next week for about 5 days (8/12 - 8/19) and I will be hammock/tarp camping. What temps should I expect, and will a light sleeping bag be good enough? Also, I have the NatGeo maps, are good water sources plentiful?

Lake Placid has been running nightly lows in the low 50's, and I'd expect that temps at the shelters and campsites might be 5 degrees cooler (no more; there's no camping above 3500 feet elevation at this time of year). There's always the possibility of a sudden cold snap, of course.

It's been a very wet year, and the trails have been extremely muddy. The exception is the high ridges, such as the Great Range Trail - all such ridges are bone dry and you sometimes have to lose a thousand feet of elevation to get down to where the springs and streams are. But once you're down off the ridge, the whole place is beaver swamp, and the answer to "where's the next water source?" is likely to be, "you're standing in it."

My maps have more detail about water than the old topos, NatGeo, or Google. You can see that there's water everywhere.

I'm looking forward to getting back on trail. I'm planning the short section from Wakely Dam to Long Lake on the 17th and 18th, as a shakedown to see whether my knee is up to more. It's had me out of commission for about a month. (Memo to self: Don't fall down and sprain a knee when the nearest highway is 15 miles away!) That'll finish up the last part I missed in my unsuccessful thru-hike.

[Dogwood]

Adirondack Park High Peaks Region is different hiking than the NLPT. Different opportunities to experience different trips. Combining sections of both is a good possibility for variety having several other potential benefits.

NPLT is largely flat lower elevation hiking(wet yr as AK said, wetter overall trail, expect to experience mud on most of the DAK's trails in the High Peaks area as well though) but offering far less people overall than the well used overall High Peaks area although you can, with some judicious planning, have a far less crowded trip by opting for less customarily beaten down heavily used trails in this area. In mid Aug you'll definitely have busy masses in this area especially in the vicinities of Avalanche Lake and Mt Marcy(NY's state high point, it is popular!). Three times atop Mt Marcy, once in Aug on a fair weather Sat. 300+ people crammed onto the summit area. The young twenty something fresh faced pretty female docent at the summit was trying to patiently answer 25 people's questions some of them rudely shouting out their questions at her at once demanding immediate answers.

Sure, day hike peak bagging from a base camp is a great possibility in the High Peaks area but be aware of the potentially many other testosterone injected in a hurry beat the clock on a mission to bag as many summits as possible in rapid fire fashion crowd that will also be taking this approach. On a fair weather weekend in Aug through Fall even more so.

So, determine for yourself, with greater consideration what kind of experience you want. Do further research for yourself - beyond the limits of this forum - on the qualities of various trails by reading on the internet or HP's book rather than expecting a personalized book on what trip is right for you based on very narrow limited info you shared here. That may sound harsh, maybe it is, but I'll bet you'll experience a better trip.

You have an embarrassment of riches. What sort of mileages and elevation gains are you up for? Is your reaction to slick granite, or dramatic exposure, "No thanks," or "Bring it on!"?

Comprehend the good advice and what was being asked by AK here! Note, also he was asking your preference for elevation gains(changes). Do not make the presumptuous mistake of assuming elevation of a summit solely determines the difficulty or "ease" in bagging a summit.

I agree! This loop is challenging. It was for me when I did it as a side trip when on a NLPT thu-hike. Even more so if you throw in a few more nearby peak bagging opps. Likely, crank up the difficulty even higher since you're coming from a pancake state like FL near Sanford. It's a roller coaster with, I would suggest, Class 2 or 2+ scrambling in a few spots. "Hikers who fancy a severe challenge (as hard as the Presidential Traverse, in my opinion) can park at The Garden in Keene Valley and hike to Marcy over the Great Range. The Wolfjaws, Armstrong, the Gothics, Saddleback, Basin, Haystack all have great views, and I've got the nagging feeling that I've left one or two out. Those who still have anything left could come back over Yard, Big Slide and The Brothers. There are several ways to arrange that series in loops that use Johns Brook Lodge as a base." JBL can be a madhouse of activity especially between Fri-Sun.

[BirdBrain]

Lake Placid has been running nightly lows in the low 50's, and I'd expect that temps at the shelters and campsites might be 5 degrees cooler (no more; there's no camping above 3500 feet elevation at this time of year). There's always the possibility of a sudden cold snap, of course.

It's been a very wet year, and the trails have been extremely muddy. The exception is the high ridges, such as the Great Range Trail - all such ridges are bone dry and you sometimes have to lose a thousand feet of elevation to get down to where the springs and streams are. But once you're down off the ridge, the whole place is beaver swamp, and the answer to "where's the next water source?" is likely to be, "you're standing in it."

My maps have more detail about water than the old topos, NatGeo, or Google. You can see that there's water everywhere.

I'm looking forward to getting back on trail. I'm planning the short section from Wakely Dam to Long Lake on the 17th and 18th, as a shakedown to see whether my knee is up to more. It's had me out of commission for about a month. (Memo to self: Don't fall down and sprain a knee when the nearest highway is 15 miles away!) That'll finish up the last part I missed in my unsuccessful thru-hike.

There. I fixed it for you.

[Deadeye]

Myself, I'd park at one of the Tahawus trailheads and go for the less crowded Santanoni and Seward ranges. From these peaks, you really get a sense of the depth of the Adirondack park. From Couchsacraga, you are really in the middle of nowhere. It would be a challenge to get all 7 peaks in 5 days. If you're not obsessed with peak bagging, get a fishing license and spend some time in the water! The trails to these summits are unmarked and unmaintained, but generally easy to follow.