This post is a recount of my backpacking trip to Mt. Marcy in New York 08/07/20-08/09-20.
My friends and I planned a trip to summit Mt. Marcy via the Van Hoevenberg trail. The original plan was to arrive on Friday, hike some of the trail, set camp for the night, summit Marcy the following day, and return to camp for our final night.
There were two key issues with the above plan. The first issue is fires are not permitted anywhere in the Eastern High Peaks region (which is where you’ll find Mt. Marcy). The second is bear canisters are required during the summer months, which we didn’t have.
Therefore, we decided to camp in the Western High Peaks region night one, drive to Van Hoevenberg on day two, summit Marcy, and play night two by ear.
Day 1:
I swung by my Jame’s house in South Buffalo to pick him and Pete up. We departed around 9:30 AM and made it to Lake Placid around 3:00 PM. We briefly stopped at Subway along the way for lunch. We stopped at a small shop in Lake Placid to grab some water before heading to Pine Pond trail.
The choice to camp Pine Pond Trail night one was more or less arbitrary, though it was noted that the trail was long, relatively flat, and near a water source. We arrived at the trailhead around 3:30 PM and set out to find a place to camp.
We found a nice spot probably 1-2 miles into the trail. We set up our tents and got a fire going. We had hot dogs over the fire for dinner with condiments, a gourmet meal by backpacking standards.
Day 2:
We rose sometime around 8 am, packed up, and hiked out of Pine Pond Trail. We drove over to the Adirondack Loj area, which is about a 15-minute drive from the Pine Pond trailhead. The lot at the Loj was full, but the individual working the booth at the Loj was very knowledgeable and suggested we take South Meadows Road to park and to begin our hike there, so that’s what we did.
We set out at 10:50 AM and made it to Marcy Dam at 11:50 AM. Marcy Dam is pretty neat; it’s a flat with a creek running through it with a decent view. We took a few pics and carried on.
We made it to Indian Falls around 1:30 PM. We stopped to grab water and check out the view from the falls, which was nice. We snapped a few pics and carried on.
We made it to a sort of landing at the base of the Marcy ascent around 2:30 PM. Individuals who were not doing so well physically seemed to accumulate here, including some heavy-set people and a little man wearing flip-flops. We stopped for a quick break before beginning the ascent.
The ascent to Marcy was steep with many flat faced rocks and was definitely more strenuous than the prior portion of the hike, but nowhere near what was experienced when I hiked the White Mountains. We made it to the summit around 3:00 PM.
There were plenty of people at the summit, but there is more than enough room to not feel crowded. Cankles told us about the alpine vegetation, which we already knew about from the Whites.
We began our descent around 4:00 PM, following the same route we took up the mountain, and made it back to the car around 7:30 PM. Lucky for us, the campsite near where we parked was available, so we set up for the night before heading to Lake Placid to get food.
We made it downtown around 8:30 PM and got a table at The Pickled Pig. I ordered a nacho plate and a burger, both of which were trash.
We headed back for camp around 10:30. Because fires aren’t allowed, we sat in the dark for awhile before turning in for the night. I was pretty beat at that point anyhow.
Day 3:
We packed up and headed for home around 9 AM. We made it back to Buffalo safe and sound around 3 PM. Overall, I give the trip a 10/10.
