# ADK Favorite Hike



## highpeaksdrifter (May 6, 2008)

What's your favorite hike in the High Peaks Region of the ADKs?


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## MichaelJ (May 6, 2008)

Tough, tough call. It will probably be Haystack when I do that later this summer, but for now I'd have to say out on the road then back on the ridge, Pyramid-Gothics-Armstrong-Upper Wolfjaw.


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## andyzee (May 6, 2008)

Was up there for the first time last year. Did three hikes; Algonquin, Gothics, and Big Slide via Three Brothers. Of those, by far Algonquin was my favorite.


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## Mike P. (May 6, 2008)

I'd have to saw Wrights & Algonquin doing it as a loop.  Still have 18 of the high peaks left though.  Haystack is my favorite summit but the distance makes it too long to list as a favorite.  Colden is very nice too.

For shorter hikes, I really liked Hurricane & Vanderwhacker.

Out of the high peaks, I have to list Allen as my least favorite hike.


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## MichaelJ (May 6, 2008)

True, Haystack will be quite the haul. Oh, Giant was absolutely fantastic ... I should get that up on the list.


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## andyzee (May 6, 2008)

Mike P. said:


> I'd have to saw Wrights & Algonquin


 
To do that one right, you have to come down along Avalanche Lake..


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## Stache (May 7, 2008)

Haven't done that many (Wright, Algonquin 2x, Marcy, Phelps 2x, Whiteface, Cascade & Porter) of those I enjoyed seeing Cloudspin in the summer and Phelps has been my overall fav.


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## highpeaksdrifter (May 7, 2008)

andyzee said:


> To do that one right, you have to come down along Avalanche Lake..



I havn't done it that way yet, but would like to. I've done it from the ADK Loj on the Van Ho trail. We did Wright, Algonquin then went over and got Iroquois. We came back the same way.


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## highpeaksdrifter (May 7, 2008)

Stache said:


> Haven't done that many (Wright, Algonquin 2x, Marcy, Phelps 2x, Whiteface, Cascade & Porter) of those I enjoyed seeing Cloudspin in the summer and Phelps has been my overall fav.



Of those you mentioned I enjoyed Phelps the least. They have a couple of overhangs with good views, but nothing but trees at the true summit. I'm all about the view.


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## andyzee (May 7, 2008)

highpeaksdrifter said:


> I havn't done it that way yet, but would like to. I've done it from the ADK Loj on the Van Ho trail. We did Wright, Algonquin then went over and got Iroquois. We came back the same way.


 
It's a nice trip coming down trail between Algonquin and Iroquois (forget the name) down to Avalanche Lake. Add some nice diversity with a narrow trail at the top between trees and over granite, then it actually widens and goes through streams and stuff. The lake itself is beutiful, but decieving. You figure once you hit the lake you have some nice flats and a restful hike, not the case. There is a fair amount of rock scrambling and ladders. Some pics from my hike: http://killingtonaccess.com/cpg/thumbnails.php?album=99


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## Greg (May 7, 2008)

It's probably been 20 years since I hiked in the ADKs. I'm not even sure exactly what routes we took, but I remember hiking a few high peaks including Marcy, Skylight and Haystack and base camping near Indian Falls. Gotta get back up there someday.


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## Mike P. (May 7, 2008)

Greg, you're right it's been many years, camping at Indian Falls is frowned upon these days.

I've been to Wrights & Algonquin from the Loj & back the same way.  2nd time added Iroquois & did come down to Avy Lake & through Avy pass!

With Allen, the summit (or the views) around it are nice, it's the trip in that's bad, the trail uses logging roads, & paths through old clear cuts that are a pain on sunny hot days or rainy days.  

I'd have to say Table Top's summit out of the 28 I've been to so far is the weakest.  That said, I did it will Colden, saw the view from Indian Falls & at one spot when I did it a 6' hiker in a couple of spots could look over the tree tops for a partial view which was better than I expected.


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## Stache (May 7, 2008)

highpeaksdrifter said:


> Of those you mentioned I enjoyed Phelps the least. They have a couple of overhangs with good views, but nothing but trees at the true summit. I'm all about the view.



Mustaben the company I was with or the things we saw. Was way back when and I was shooting lots of pictures with a 35 SLR (or at least I thought I was). Then I got back and went to change the film I found out the camera was empty all day.:angry::sad:


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## takeahike46er (May 9, 2008)

Colden--  From the Loj, ascend the 1990 slide to the summit.  Descend to Lake Colden and travel through Avalanche Pass.  Its one of my favorite loops.


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## andyzee (May 9, 2008)

takeahike46er said:


> Colden-- From the Loj, ascend the 1990 slide to the summit. Descend to Lake Colden and travel through Avalanche Pass. Its one of my favorite loops.


 
I've considered that one looks interesting. But it's a pretty steep descend,no?


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## catskills (May 11, 2008)

andyzee thanks for posting the photo of Avalanche lake - Its been a few years since I have been up there.  Avalanche Lake is one of my all time favorite spots in the Northeast. I have been through there at least 6 time.  When my son was 12 (now 29) I took him backpacking up past Avalanche lake.  We camped between Avalanche Lake and Lake Colden closer to Avalanche Lake side .  Nice camp site at the time.  Next morning tied up all our food and left campsite to climb Algonquin.  I never seen my son so proud of what he had accomplished when he got to top of the Algonquin.  He was walking around talking to everyone at the top.  I have a photo of the two of us at the top of Algonquin from that day in the dining room.  After we hiked down I noticed a lot of tree bark on the ground where our food was hung up.  I could not remember seeing that much bark on the ground.  That night I got a lazy and did not tie the food up as high.  Sure enough a 400lb black got into it (DEC ranger estimated his size at 400+lbs).  He was still there eating our food in the morning.  We got a real close look at this guy.  I shoosed him off with banging pots and pans. He left us with one hot chocolate  package.  We packed up and hiked out.  We were leaving anyway .  We hiked out hungry but with the experience of seeing a huge animal in the wild next to our campsite.


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## ComeBackMudPuddles (May 21, 2008)

This is a tough one.  Answering which are my favorite summits would be a little easier.

For favorite hikes, there are so many variables.  

Marked or unmarked?  Street and Nye can test your trail-finding/compass skills.

"Bang for the buck" (short/steep ascent -- Giant of the Valley) or sense of isolation/solitude (Santanoni and Seward Ranges).  

Time of the year?  (fall colors - hike over the Three Brothers to Big Slide with a view of the Great Range is particularly nice; hot summer day - any hike ending with a refreshing swim in Johns Brook is nice, as is hiking Whiteface via the rock slide facing Lake Placid and ending the day with a swim in the lake)

I like Wright-Algonquin-Iroquis with descent via Avalanche Pass, but I've done it so often and been surrounded by so many hikers doing the same thing that it's lost its "specialness".

Hiking Colden via the Trap Dike is a fun/challenging hike.

*It's all good....*


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## andyzee (May 21, 2008)

ComeBackMudPuddles said:


> Time of the year? (fall colors - hike over the Three Brothers to Big Slide with a view of the Great Range is particularly nice; hot summer day


 
Scenery was great on that one:


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## Mike P. (May 22, 2008)

Andyzee, you're right, I don't know how I forgot that one.


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## andyzee (May 22, 2008)

Yeah, views were nice:


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