Mount Colden via the Trap Dyke
11'th highest peak in NY State with an elevation of 4,714 ft.
7-4-12 Our group of four set out to climb Mount Colden via the Trap Dyke at approximately 9:15 am from the ADK Information Center at Heart Lake. Here is a great aerial picture of Mount Colden that was taken by Carl Heilman.
After signing in we set out on the trail toward Marcy Dam.
The hike to Marcy Dam is basically a flat smooth walk and we reached it in about an hour after setting out. I have only ever seen the view at Marcy Dam after Hurricane Irene so I don't know what the former pond looked like but now it is only a mud bowl with a stream passing through it. It is still a great place to take a picture and to get our first glimpse of our goal: the slides of Mout Colden.
Colden is the peak right of center with the whitish rock slopes on the side.
Colden is the peak right of center with the whitish rock slopes on the side.
After the dam, we selected the trail toward Avalanche Lake and Colden. Along the way we had to pass by a pile of debris that was the result of a slide caused by Hurricane Floyd. The anticipation was now building for what awaited us at Mount Colden.
A short distance more and we were at Avalanche Lake. We stopped there for a snack both for ourselves and for the lake steward, a chipmunk.
To get to the base of the Trap Dyke we had to make our way around Avalanche Lake. In several places there are wooden ladders and walkways, called Hitch-Up-Matilda's, fastened to the rock face of the cliffs. Legend has it that many moons ago, before walkways, Adirondack guides might have to carry their customers and specifically women through the water where there was no path on dry land. On one such occasion, a husband called out a warning to his wife, "Hitch it up Matilda!" thus the nickname.
One of the Hitch-Up-Matilda's is directly across from the Trap Dyke and from there we got our first full view of our goal.
There was another little bit of hiking to get around the back side of the lake and some bushwacking to the base of the Trap Dyke. After that, we started the climb. I understand that most consider this ascent a Class 4 climb. I'm not sure exactly what this means other than it is one notch below the level where special rock climbing gear is required. It took us approximately two hours from the time we left our car to get to this point at the base of the mountain.
Now the fun began. Up, up, and up.
All that I read online about others' experiences who had made this climb contained this same warning: Not to exit the Dyke too early because the rock slide was very steep if you got out onto it too soon. We didn't see anywhere to get out of the Dyke until we had climbed all the way to the top. I guess that is why they call it a Trap. Finally, when we got to the end of the Dyke, even though it was a little precarious, we had no choice but to get out and on to the rock face slide.
It wasn't until we finally exited the Dyke that we realized we had missed the slide all together and now had to bushwack through the scratchy scrub brush to get to the slide so we could ascend the peak. Next came the most grueling part of the climb. We literally pushed and pulled our way through the Adirondack brush.
Finally, and I mean finally, we pushed through and got on to the rock slide.
This was much more dangerous climbing than pushing through the under brush but much less painful.
This was much more dangerous climbing than pushing through the under brush but much less painful.
After climbing as far as we could on the rock face, it was back into the scrub once again and then success at last: the peak!
It took us approximately four hours to get from the base of the Dyke to the peak of Mount Colden.
It took us approximately four hours to get from the base of the Dyke to the peak of Mount Colden.
After lunch on the summit we started down by the more traditional foot trail route.
The descent was uneventful but had several nice rock formations along the way.
The descent was uneventful but had several nice rock formations along the way.
All in all, it was about a ten hour day into Mout Colden and then out again.
We started at approximately 9:15 am and then were back to the car around 7 pm. A great day. This was without doubt the most dangerous thing I have ever done and the most unique and exciting peak yet in my quest to become a 46-R.
We started at approximately 9:15 am and then were back to the car around 7 pm. A great day. This was without doubt the most dangerous thing I have ever done and the most unique and exciting peak yet in my quest to become a 46-R.
