This was an excellent hike that took ADK high peaks. The ascent is a little steep but once you get to dial mountain the walk over to Nippletop is essentially all along the ridge line I would recommend a side trip to Indian head on the walk back to the Au Sable parking area
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This was a very challenging but spectacular hike. Background : we are both in our early 60s, very experienced regular hikers.We went with our able hiking dog via Avalanche Lake, which is amazing. You need to traverse several ladders and catwalks bolted to sheer cliff down to the water. This section is only a mile but took us 45 minutes due to many boulders to scramble over. IF YOU ARE BRINGING A DOG: there are vertical ladders. Be prepared to be able to lift or boost your dog up. We used a RuffWear harness with a handle, which was excellent. Be prepared for amazing scenery.
The 2.1 mile trail up to the col between Iroquois and Algonquin is unrelentingly steep and pretty much wore us out. At the top we took the unmarked trail over to Iroquois and Boundary Peak, about 2 miles out and back. This is an unmarked trail but very easy to follow. There are some scrambles.
Returning to the main trail we continued about a half-mile to the summit of Algonquin, 2nd highest peak in NY. This is all exposed alpine summit but well marked with paint blazes and rock cairns. Phenomenal views 360 degrees.
The 3 mile trail down from Algonquin was a workout on 60 year old knees; we watched as young hikers rock-hopped down while we picked our way down. Seemed a lot longer than. 3 miles down. But all in all a great hike.
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Pretty challenging. Cold Brook trail is very tight lots of wet evergreen to fight through. Plane wreck near too is very cool and right off the trail. The hike to Marshall had me turned around a couple times trying to get over the first peak. Someone had it marked with pink tape. I think there is a second trail down the path a small ways. Foggy summit but would have not been a lot to see anyways. Hike down the brook and out to Indian falls trail very nice. Rocky Falls is an awesome spot for a swim.
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Very scenic, however a long difficult loop. Was closer to 14.5 miles.
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Round pond lot is small - show up early. Bushwhack up Gravestone Creek is easy to follow, just follow the creek (duh) but can be tight in places if you don’t pick your spots. Keeping the creek on your left seemed the answer.
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Easy hike to the two shelter lean-tos near each other (.8 mile)
Seymour is first very easy until the last thousand feet of elevation, but steep slabs do offer easy enough traction with good soles and plenty of handholds.
Coming down was much easier than expected!
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Calkins Brook trail is a great way to get out to the three peaks in the Seward Range. I don’t recommend coming down the backside of Seward though. Very wet conditions as you walk down a cascade and through an abundance of mud. If you want to do the loop, go up this way if needed. For all four in the Seward Range, I’d recommend hitting Seymour and then going up Seward.
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Trail was easy to follow. Depending when you get to Skylight Brook, the crossing will need to be waded across. I ended up having to take my boots off. Other than that, the trail map was spot on throughout the hike!
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Totally underestimated this winter hike. After Rooster Comb junction trail was mostly unbroken. The two thousand foot climb was very difficult. At 4 miles in I had to attempt to find trail on my own. This app was very cool. Kept me on track. Time constraints made me turn back a half mile from summit. Lovely day though. All sun and maybe 15 to 20 degrees.
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Hiked it after a couple of days of pretty solid rain, so the trail was a creek from Marcy Dam all the way to the top summit blocks. I get the impression this is pretty normal. Unfortunately we didn't have the best views that day.
I'm told there are better, prettier hikes in the area, but this is the iconic one so we chose to do it anyway.
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