Avalanche Lake - Adirondacks

I spent last weekend in the Adirondacks with some friends hiking and having a good time.  We headed up to stay at the Adirondack Loj for our base camp and hiked out from there each day.  It was a cloudy day with rain predicted and we had already encountered rain on the drive up.  We got to camp around 9:30am or so and found places to park.  After checking in and seeing camp the group I was with decided to head out to see Avalanche Lake.  It is about 4 miles to the lake passing Marcy Dam and then on to the lake.  We made good time to the dam and continued on.

Once passed the dam there are numerous camping spots along the trail, a few had tents set up as we passed by. The last mile before the lake the trail begins to climb to avalanche pass slide. You can see where slides have happened here in the past.  There is a lot of debris on either side of the trail.  The mountains rise up on either side with shear rock faces. It is an impressive sight.

Once past the avalanche slide area we descended to the lake.  It is a beautiful spot.  We decided to find a place to sit and have lunch and stay out of the weather.  It was still pretty wet out and it had showered on us a few times. We found a spot to enjoy lunch and a few of the guys took a quick swim in the lake. We were wet anyway. 

After a brief lunch break it was time to make our way back to camp.  The rain became more steady as the afternoon wore on and we were getting wetter as well.  The trail was pretty muddy or running with water in spots. The trail was a little slippery but is fairly flat and we had no trouble keeping a steady pace. Eventually we made it back to camp and were able to get out of the wet clothes and boots.  It was a nice 8 mile round trip even though it rained.  The lake is a very pretty spot and would be nice to visit on a sunny day.