Cascade and Porter Mountains - Adirondacks

Day 2 of my Adirondack weekend, a few of us decided to hike Cascade and Porter Mtn.  It is about 6 miles round trip for both peaks.  For us this was an out and back hike.  We arrived at the trailhead on route 73 around 9:30am with sunny sky's and temps in the low 60's.  The trail was wet and muddy as it had rained heavy the night before.  We met a member of the ADK 46ers group at the trail head and chatted with him for a few minutes.  Then it was time to hike and after signing the register we were off.  We made good time on a fairly steady climb.  Once we got toward the top we had a nice view from a large rock.

The trail continues on to a junction heading toward Mt. Porter.  We decided to head that way first, completing Mt Porter before Cascade.  The trail descends into the col between peaks and was wet, often with running water, and lots of mud.  It is about .7 miles to the peak from the junction and we were soon at a large boulder with great views.  We stopped here for a snack before continuing on to the summit.

We stayed a short time on the summit of Mt. Porter and had some water, then we hiked back through the mud and water to head up Cascade Mt.  There were a lot of people on the summit so we took some pictures and enjoyed the view but did not stay long.  It was windy up top and some clouds had moved in. There was a mountain steward posted on top and he answered questions for us, pointing out the prominent peaks of Mt. Marcy, Algonquin, and Whiteface.  The views were spectacular.

We made our way down in good time.  There were a lot more people on the trail then when we went up, but we were able to get around the slower hikers and soon we were back at the trail register.  I was surprised to have to turn back three and a half pages before finding our names to sign out.  This is a popular trail! I really enjoyed this hike and my first 2 peaks of the ADK 46ers.

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.