August 21: Panther Gorge Lean-to
 
Miles Today : 9.5
Total Miles : 46.0
Wow, I woke up bright and early today and looked up to see blue sky! I walked 100 feet over to the dam, where the best views are, and I was totally and completely blown away. I mean it, I almost fell backwards when I got to the dam and looked across the lake. It was as if I was standing in a postcard, or a full-page photo in Backpacker Magazine. The lake was glass smooth and it was framed at the northern end by two steep mountains. The sun was just about to poke up from behind Colden Mountain to the right, and Mt Algonquin to my left was bathed in the early morning sun. This was not at all what I remember seeing last night, and it was absolutely fantastic.

Back at the campsite, though, all was not well. I walked over to the bear wire to get my food and eat some breakfast and what I found was a pile of scattered trash that looked like it was once food. Thankfully, my food back still hung securely from the wire, but a bear and other animals had made quick work of a college group’s foodstuffs. He even managed, amazingly enough, to unscrew the lid on the jar of peanut butter and lick all of the golden goodness out. How did this happed, how did a bear manage to get to food that was hung 12 feet above the ground? Well, despite the huge climbing rope that the group used to hang their food, apparently they had tied several bags of food together with a tiny piece of string and tied that to the climbing rope. The small string was no match for the 50 pounds or so of food and gave way, probably about 9:00 last night. Afraid to leave their tents as well and encounter a bear at night, all their rations for the next four days stayed on the ground and became a picnic dinner for the local inhabitants.

After a small breakfast and one last look across Colden Lake, the first item on the agenda for today was Colden Mountain, just east of the lake. The climb up was good and steady the entire way, but there was nothing too crazy, fortunately. The view from the top was nice, but the clouds were again closing up the view. The climb down was also not too tricky and the trail went over a smaller, sub-peak of the mountain, where I got a much better view as it was just below the clouds.

The next few miles of hiking was a nice valley walk along side mountain brooks. I went by Lake Arnold, which is a very small mountain lake, and followed water running from the outlet. It was turning out to be another great day down low. Soon, I arrived at Lake Tear of the Clouds. Again, it was another very small mountain lake, but with two notable exceptions. First, the lake is located at over 4000 feet and second, it is the highest source for the Hudson River. Technically, this little swamp is where the Hudson starts. Also, there just happened to be a great view of Mount Marcy from the shore, which for the moment was out of the clouds and in full view. I had a nice break here and a very good conversation with a family before heading up to Gray Peak.

Gray Peak is a 4000 foot mountain but does not officially have a trail to the summit. However, since it is on the list of the 46 4000 foot mountains in the Adirondacks, there is a herd path that has formed from years of people finding their way to the top. It is also the highest peak in the park without an official trail. The climb up was an interesting one, but not quite as hard and technical as I imagined it was going to be. There were some blow downs, parts of the trail were difficult and washed out and there was one section where I had to crawl under a downed tree, but for the most part is felt just like a normal trail. There was actually a pretty good view from the top as well, and a great look over at the summit of Mount Marcy, which was still out of the clouds by the way.

Bear and I then descended Gray peak down the same trail and then headed over to Skylight Mountain, just a short half mile off the main trail. This was a nice, big mountain with a full view of the High Peaks. Marcy was now back in the clouds but I could still make out most of the Great Range and I could essentially trace my route from Elk Lake to where I was standing.

After Skylight, it was a long drop down into Panther Gorge, a steep ravine that separates Marcy and Mount Haystack. There is a nice, new shelter here and Marcy Brook runs almost right in front of the lean-to. There are two other backpackers here tonight, Gary and Mark. Overall, it was a nice, relaxing day today for the most part. I thought about hiking a few more miles and bagging Haystack, but I am pretty tired, Bear looks whipped and the weather is still questionable on the higher peaks.

I am, after all, out here to enjoy myself, so I might as well relax a little bit and enjoy myself. I am also not on a specific long distance trail, but rather just exploring a new area. It is a little different mentality and I don’t feel the need to push myself quite as much. Tomorrow should be a pretty easy day, as I only have 9 miles of mostly flat hiking to make it back to my car at Elk Lake. It has been a fantastic trip and I am sorry to have to leave this great place so soon. As for now, I am just going to enjoy my last night on the trail with a couple of new friends.

-Chomp

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