Hike Up Mt Marcy in New York

Group Members
Bill Yacovissi
Mike Reilly
Bob Alspaugh


Mount Marcy is the highest point in New York State with an elevation of 5,343 feet.  We made the 8 mile, 3,224 foot ascent using the Van Hoevenberg Trail which begins at Heart Lake near Lake Placid.

Click the map and pictures a larger view.
  
Left Wellsboro, picked Bob up in Binghamton, and met Mike at the Albany Airport.

We drove to the Adirondak Loj where we had a lean-to reserved for the night. 

We went to dinner in Lake Placid.
Next morning started drizzly but cleared as the day went on.

The first 2 miles is an easy hike from Heart Lake to Marcy Dam.
Bob took a nice picture of Mike and I on the dam and ready for the hike.
From Marcy Dam the trail starts up the mountain side.  The trail occasionally shifts from one side of Marcy Brook to the other necessitating a stream crossing.
Mike took a very nice picture of Bob on one of the stream crossings.  In fact Bob looks like he might have been photo shopped into the picture but he's really there.
Eventually the trail takes you up onto an area less steep but still uphill. 

Above tree line you can see the peak in front of you.

As you can see the trail was wet and flooded in some parts.
Climbing mountains can be frustrating since most of the time you climb what you think is the peak only to discover the real peak is behind the false peak and still up from where you are and some distance away.

Before you can assault the summit the trail works it's way through all this pine growth.
Mike and Bob are through the pine field and ready to summit.
Mt Marcy is not a technical climb but the last part is steep.
I'm scrambling up to the summit.  I know, you can't tell whether I'm climbing forward or backward.
At last the summit and time for lunch.

Marcy is also know as Tahawus, meaning cloud splitter.  It was strange in that the entire area was cloud covered except for the top of Marcy. 

Best guess is that the granite dome heats up causing an updraft that pushes the clouds away.  I couldn't find anything on the internet about this.  Maybe the hole in the clouds was just a coincidence,
More stream crossings on the way down from the peak.
Finally got back to Marcy Dam.  Only two more miles to go but they were hard miles at this point in the day.
We had a tent cabin after the hike which was good.  The old guys needed a bed rather than the wood floor of the lean-to.

Went into Lake Placid for a nice after hike dinner.

Next day we retraced our steps dropping Mike off at the Albany Airport and Bob at his house and arriving home around 4pm.

All in all it was a successful trip.
The End