Adirondacks/Green Mountains Trip in mid July

[Eric Hine]

Hello,

I am putting together a trip plan for this July and would like to get some input from those who might be familiar with the route(s) or know the area better than I. Open to all suggestions and comments!

Where: Adirondacks High Peaks and Lye Brook Wilderness in the Green Mountains.

When: July 18th – July 24th

Who: Girlfriend and myself; both in our mid 20's.

Day 1: The plan is to drive 4 hours to the Upper Works Trail-head in the Adirondacks High Peaks on July 18th; arriving by 2:00pm at the very latest, but preferably by 1:00pm. From there we will be taking the trail towards Wallface Mountain and the Indian Pass. After arriving at Indian Pass, we would like to take the herd path towards Cold Brook Pass until it connects to Lake Colden. Finally, we'll make our way to Mt Marcy and camp out at one of the available locations prior to climbing Mt Marcy (I am told there are "legal" places near Gray Peak).

Day 2: Day two (July 19th) will start with a morning summit of Mt Marcy and following the trail all the way to John Brooks Lodge. We have already reserved a bunk at John Brooks Lodge from July 19th – July 20th, so the remainder of Day 2 will be spent relaxing at the Lodge and doing a round-trip to Big Slide Mountain.

Day 3: Day three (July 20th) will probably be the most intense of all the days, as we'll be making our way back towards the car via the portion of the Great Range Trail starting with Upper Wolfjaw Mountain. From there we'll pass the Gothic's, Little Haystack, Mount Haystack and others. Hopefully having enough stamina to make it close to Calamity Mountain where we'll look for an available location to camp.

Day 4: Day four (July 21st) will start with a quick hike back to Upper Works Trail and a 2 and a half hour drive to the Lye Brook Wilderness in the Green Mountains. The goal would be to make it to the Lye Brook Wilderness by 2:00pm on the 21st. The adventure in the Lye Brook Wilderness will start with the Lye Brook Trail and end with finding a location to set-up camp near Bourn Pond.

Day 5: Day five (July 22nd) will be aimed at getting to the summit of Stratton Mountain. From there we plan on simply turning around and making our way to Stratton Pond and relaxing there for the remainder of the day and finding a location to set-up camp.

Day 6: Day six (July 23rd) will most likely be the last day of hiking. Depending on how tired we are from the past week, we'll either hike back to the car following the Long Trail to the Road and making a short Road Hike back to the car, or we'll spend some more time relaxing around camp and hike out on Day 7.

Day 7: Will be either hiking out and making the 4 hour drive back home, or leaving from some friends house in Albany that we stayed the night before for a 4 hour trip back home. Either way, this will conclude the trip.

Mileage: While I don't have the exact numbers, I believe the trip in the High Peaks will be roughly 45-50 miles and the hike in the Lye Brook Wilderness will be around 20. Bringing the trip total to roughly 70 miles.

Questions: Some questions I have about the trip are:

1. How is the parking at Upper Works towards Indian Pass, is arriving around lunch in mid July (not a holiday weekend) too late? Will there be anywhere to park.

2. The herd-path/Cold Brook Pass I've heard can be difficult for those who are not familiar with it. If I arrive at Upper Works Trail-head by 2:00pm, can I make the loop to Lake Colden I've described in Day 1 by night fall?

3. What happens if I get to a "legal" camping place in the High Peaks, and there are no places left? Can I just pick another spot?

4. Does the plan sound doable? Won't go into a lot of background, but I'm plenty comfortable hiking 25+ miles a day and spend a lot of time in the Catskills and White Mountains.

5. Is my route missing any really great sights that I should try to add in or modify my original plan?

Thanks for any comments. The whole goal of this trip is to see 2 places I've not yet been to. I don't get a lot of time off from work, so trying to do it all in one week.

[Kate Magill]

It's been several years since I hiked in that area, but I remember there being a lot of beaver activity and flooded out trail between Bourn Pond and Stratton Pond–pretty much impassable without waders and a map & compass. Quite possible that the GMC has re-routed the trail since then, but you might want to check in advance. It's a really nice and lightly used area though. One of my first ever overnights as a teen was in Lye Brook Wilderness.

Overall, sounds like a fun itinerary!

[Kate Magill]

http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?54312-Is-Branch-Pond-Trail-in-Lye-Brook-Wilderness-still-flooded-%28VT%29

sounds like there is indeed a re-route (according to this thread from Sept '14).

[Eric Hine]

Thanks Kate, I've heard nothing but good things about the Lye Brook area. Appreciate the heads up! Sounds like it could be quite a muddy trail, which is not a bad thing in my opinion :)

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