Two weeks after I enjoyed balmy, summer-like conditions, it was back to the Adirondacks again. This trip I would be accompanied by my friends Nikola and Harmony, who had some winter camping (albeit slightly cursed) experience in the past, including an attempt on Marcy in full blown winter. The temperatures were going to be significantly colder with potential for a ton of snow (Buffalo in the west ended up getting 6 feet of snow that weekend) so it was nice to get my first taste of winter camping in a group, to get the feel of how things work so I could go solo in the future.
The plan for this trip, assuming reasonable conditions and no delays/issues (spoiler: there were issues!) was as follows:
Day 1: Drive from Toronto to Adirondack Loj, hike to Lake Colden and make base camp (~9.5km)
Day 2: Hike Mount Colden and Mount Marshall (~12km)
Day 3: Hike Iroquois Peak , Algonquin Peak, and Wright Peak (~12km)
Day 4: Break camp and hike back to the Loj (~9.5km) and drive home
For this trip, I brought my MSR 4 season tent, as well as my -9C bag with liner, along with both of my sleeping pads (one inflatable, one closed cell foam). I also brought a ton of layers, and picked up a couple items from MEC the day before we left – a pair of more durable gaiters, expedition camp booties, a second soft shell/mid layer, and a pair of insulated pants. I also used my brand new Zamberlan Vioz GT hiking boots – these are much more durable and waterproof than my old Vasques. My brother had these for our May Killarney trip and he vouched strongly for them. These boots are quite stiff so I made sure I spent some time breaking them in!
Day 1
I drove up from my place to Nikola’s parents’ house to pick up Nik and Harmony, arriving at about 6:20am. We packed (aka tetris’d) my tiny hatchback and were on the road by 6:40am. Nik and Harmony had really warm -19C bags and Nik wanted to not compress them into the packs for the drive, so they were carried on laps in the large storage bags. Nice pillow for a long drive at least! The entire backseat (save one small spot for Harmony) and trunk were fully stuffed with gear as well – I have never put so many things in my car before. We made a couple stops along the way for bio breaks/coffee/gas, making sure to take advantage of those sweet sweet USA fuel prices. We arrived at the Adirondack Loj at about 12:45pm, a bit later than planned, and after getting our packs loaded, we set off on the trail at about 1:45pm. Was a pretty fun hike in near winter conditions. About an hour into the hike we realized it would be impossible to safely reach Lake Colden in a reasonable time, but there was a really solid backup site near Avalanche Camp lean-to that had access to a trail to Mount Colden as well as a running water supply.
We made it to camp in just over 2 hours and found our campsite covered in a thick layer of completely undisturbed, fluffy snow. We quickly set up our tents (first time for me camping directly on snow!) and layered up before making dinner. Nik and Harmony had prepared some great meals for the trip, but we went with a fairly quick straightforward option for dinner the first night as it was getting dark quickly. We had instant noodles, dehydrated kale and dehydrated vegan protein item. For cooking, Nik brought a couple setups, but for our first meal on the trail he used an MSR PocketRocket stove along with liquid fuel – I did not realize that the standard gas fuels I typically use aren’t really viable for cold conditions. Unfortunately the pot got knocked over when we were about to eat round 2 of the meal, so we ended up carefully scraping the food off the ground. We then disposed of the residual food and juice that had soaked in the surrounding snow to limit its attractiveness to animals, packed away our barrels (I ended up bringing my Contender as well as Nik’s Bear Keg since we had so much food) and went to bed at around 7pm.
Day 2
We woke up at 6am, however Nikola had had a pretty uncomfortable night, feeling nauseous and having an elevated heart rate. His family had all been sick recently (nephew in daycare) so he suspected that this was related. As a result, Nikola felt it was best for him to return to the Loj and not do any long day hikes. I decided to carry on and hike a peak while Nik and Harmony packed up their part of camp and headed back to the Loj. I set off at 8am with a day pack, leaving my tent behind (which I planned to grab after my hike and then join Nik and Harmony at the Loj).
Our impromptu choice of campsite was actually pretty good location-wise. There was a trail just 50m away (Lake Arnold trail) which lead up to the summit of Mount Colden, so my plan was to ascend via this trail and come down the steeper Mount Colden trail, which would have put me at Lake Colden, with easy access to Mount Marshall. The trail was covered in a decent (roughly 3-4 inches) amount of snow so it was slower going trying to avoid any uneven steps. I made fairly decent time up to the junction at Lake Arnold, however it was here I determined that I would likely not have enough time to climb Marshall, so I would just do Colden.
The snow became deeper as I ascended, as well as a bit steeper and icier, but I managed without my microspikes for a while. Eventually, I reached a bare (“false” summit?) lookout area where I decided to don the spikes, which remained on for the rest of the day. I did not have snowshoes (likely not enough snow pack given the amount of rocks to navigate, but probably would have been smart to carry regardless) and also (foolishly) did not put on my gaiters. As a result enough snow got into my boots for my feet to get wet. They weren’t cold though, so I made sure to keep moving as much as possible and only stop for short stretches to adjust layers or grab a bite. At the false summit it was very snowy and windy, with almost zero visibility.
I took some time ensuring I was on the right track and quickly started off on the final push to the summit. Back in the trees the snow wasn’t quite as thick, but it was still slow going. Finally, at around 11am, I was on the top of Mount Colden (1437m), my 14th ADK high peak. Still white-out conditions, with massive near-waist deep snow drifts. I took some photos, was unable to find the summit sign or marker (confirmed via GPS I was indeed at the top) and quickly began my descent down the west Mount Colden trail. The ice up top was very treacherous – my Kahtoola spikes were almost useless – so I took it very cautiously making my way off the exposed ridge back into the forest below, though I did take a hefty fall onto my hip – that’ll leave a mark! There were quite a few large crevasses in the rock which required careful probing with my spikes, and the trail markers (painted yellow onto the rock) were tricky to see, but managed to get through this exposed section and into the steep forested trail.
Here, since it was so icy and steep, and there was a ton of fresh powder, I opted to alternate between glissading and hiking down this section of the trail. It was pretty fun sliding but I had to be careful with obstacles like trees as well as my speed. No issues, but it was slow going. Eventually I ended up descending several wooden staircases and the trail flattened out, and before long I was at Lake Colden and the Avalanche Pass trail, which passed very close to the water. Here, there were a lot of water/mud sections that hadn’t completely frozen over, so my boot went through several times – not really an issue at this point as my feet were already soaked!
I carefully navigated the trail (I had mildly hyperextended my knee on the summit) and encountered quite a few other hikers on the trail. The first group of three guys had come in from the Loj and were looking to do the same trail as me but in the opposite direction. They didn’t have spikes so I warned them of the ice issues and wished them luck. Hopefully they didn’t get stuck! I also ran into two large groups (one from Ottawa, one from the GTA) so it was nice to see a bunch of compatriots on the trail. Once I arrived at Avalanche Lake the views were absolutely gorgeous. The trail was a bit dicey with a lot of icy rocks, but I took my time and eventually made it back to easier terrain.
I pulled into camp after just over 6.5 hours of hiking at about 2:45pm, and quickly broke down camp and packed up. My tent was very frozen (on the outside) and damp (on the inside) so I made a mental note to dry it out asap! I got back on the trail after about 40 minutes, and really trucked it back to the trailhead to minimize my time hiking in the dark. Fairly uneventful hike out – the last 20 mins or so were after sunset so I used my headlamp for a bit.
After arriving at the Loj, I met back up with Nik and Harmony and we decided to book a lodge AirBNB in Wilmington (not in Delaware). We drove over and after cooking a delicious camp meal out on the patio (using his other, more winter-friendly camp stove, the MSR WhisperLite) and making a fire in the fireplace, it was off to bed.
Garmin GPS Tracks: Mount Colden | Camp to Loj
Day 3
Sleep was very good, though I had left the fireplace door open so my wet boots could dry a bit, so the smoke alarm went off in the middle of the night. Nik got a bunch of windows open to let the smoke dissipate, but a lot of our gear smelled like smoke. Oops!
Pretty easy day – the plan was to climb Mount Jo, a small mountain near the Loj, so Nik and Harmony could get a good hike in, and then head home. The hike was really easy and fun, with really good conditions, and we got some great views and photos at the top. After descending, I picked up a pair of Hillsound microspikes (a more aggressive spike than Kahtoolas) as well as some peak patches. My plan is to buy all the patches as I climb each of the 46, and do something creative with them afterward.
We were off on the road at about 3pm, and made it with few issues through NY to the Canadian border. Upon entering Canada the snow began coming down, and based on Google Maps, it appeared that the weather was wreaking havoc on the commute on the 401. We stopped at the Trenton ONRoute and then, after a quick meal and bio break, we began what would be the worst drive on the 401 I have ever experienced.
We were stuck on the 401 without moving for over 1.5 hours! It turned out that there was a jackknifed truck and trailer about 50km ahead, and the traffic we were stuck in had been stuck for 3-4 hours before we arrived. So, luckily, we only hit the tail end, and even though (apparently) the blockage was being cleared right when we got stuck, the sheer volume of vehicles caused it to take a very long time to move. We tried to stay sane by watching the Goofy Movie on Harmony’s phone (we never finished it, so I need to look it up on Disney+ later!), and kept the car off periodically as a precaution to save on gas. Snow was falling fairly steadily, so we had to occasionally run the wipers to clear the windshield. We joked that we had all our camp gear on hand so we were in good shape! I’m so glad that I had friends with me for this…I can’t imagine being stuck like this all alone. We eventually made it back to Toronto at 1am after an over 10 hour drive!
Final Thoughts
Firstly, while we experienced effectively full blown winter conditions, I’d like to point out that my summit of Colden does NOT qualify as a winter ADK 46 summit, as the winter season runs from December 21 to March 21. This great blog post explains some of the issues with the “rules” for the Winter 46 and why I probably won’t go for the Winter 46 either.
Overall, while things didn’t go according to plan, I was still able to both bag another ADK high peak, as well as get my first taste of winter camping, something I’m really eager to build experience in for future mountaineering adventures. I also learned a lot about winter itinerary planning – the route I scoped out (doing Marshall on top of Colden in one day) would have 100% been viable in the summer or fall, but snow/ice/cold conditions really slow you down! Will definitely temper my expectations for future winter trips. Camping in the cold is so much fun and a very different experience to what I’m used to – definitely need to update my gear closet for these types of trips. Finally, hanging out with some great people was the icing on the cake!
I’m planning to do a few more of the 46 this coming winter, so keep an eye out for future posts!
Check out my progress on the ADK 46 here!
Veg 'n' Alpine 