New Yorkers have a tough reputation. Their mountains deserve the same. Mt. Marcy is one of the most challenging hikes in the East. We labored over 17.4 miles and climbed some 3,274 vertical feet to enjoy it's lofty vistas. It is indeed worthy of the name "Cloud Splitter".
Almost from the start we were cautioned on what we may or may not encounter. The ADK's are infested with bears and Marcy Dam (our campground) is Bear-Central. Not ten minutes into our hike, a ranger at the sign-in post recounted how the bears this year are more aggressive than ever. Apparently they have become so accustomed to people that they no longer rely on smell to guide them to you and your food. They associate the packs and your tent with food. So even if you are carying none, or have a bear-proof container, there are no guarantees that you will not be paid a visit by an hungry, salivating bear. If you have a pack and they see it, it sounds like you can expect a visit.
"One hiker even had a bear came up and lick his leg the week before," relayed the ranger as we listened on intently. He stressd that the bears have become so brazen at Marcy Dam and Lake Colden, that is is not uncommon to have them laying in sort of ambuscade for you. The ranger detailed as such by explaining that the bears will hang around places like Avalanche Pass and just wait for hikers to come by and give up their packs. Not exactly comforting news to say the least.
But we put bears out of our minds for the time being as we marched the 3.7 miles from the South Meadows lot to the Marcy Dam Campground. It was noon o' clock when we arrived and several tents were already there to greet us. I picked the flattest spot I could find, lightened my load by many pounds, and headed up to the summit with my cousin.
The trail from the campsite's to the summit of Marcy is a fairly non-descritp trail. It is neither exceedingly steep nor terribly rocky. In fact, it has little to distinguish it from many of the other woodland paths I have followed on hikes past. Indeed the only real attraction bewteen the Dam and the peak is the impressive outlook at Indian Falls
The trail flattens for a while just up from the falls and it did get buggy and muddy here. That was the only real obstacle/inconveince on the whole trip. But such annoyances are soon forgotton as you emerge in the krummelholtz on the last 1/2 mile of the trek. Here Marcy and the other High peaks come alive and proudly annouce their presence. To the South is Haystack the 4th highest ADK peak. To the North is AlgonquinNew York's second highest. And to the east is the phenominal view of the Great Range which is sure to inpire awe in even the most traveled veteran of thses hills.
After ample rest and some interesting chatter with the ADK naturalist on the summit, we headed back down towards camp. We made pretty good time all told. It had taken us 2 1/2 hours to hike up from Marcy Dam. We made it back down in about the same time.
Back at camp, bears were soon on our mind again. After cleaning up a bit and swailing down a freeze-dried dinner, I secured our food and garbage well away from camp (per the advice of the ranger). Alan then shoved off to catch a few ZZ's while I sauntered down to check out the goings on at the dam. Several groups of people were hanging out at Marcy Dam. Some were fast at work securing there food. Others just admiring the view. I traded some stories with several folk. One couple from Buffalo retold how they had lost most or their food to bears last night. If not for the geneosity of fellow hikers, they said, they would have had to marched out of the woods and cut their trip short. Another camper told a different tale. He was in camp when a bear marched into his tent and off with his back... He provided some heavily gnawed articles as proof. He didn't need to. I belived him.
As dusk gave way to night, tensions mounted. Flashlights and eyes nervously scanned the banks of the stream and the sides of the dam for bruin activity. The darker it got, the closer everyone on the bridge seemed to huddle. And then it happened. Casual and aloof, a big old bruin waltzed out of the woods to check out tonight's menu of bear bags strung teasingly across the dam. To the accompaniment of flaslights and flashbulbs, he sniffed about before determining it was not worth his effort and headed back into the cloaking forest. It had been quite a day up until then. I could think of no better nightcap !
