The weather looked good this weekend so it was time to get back to the Dak’s for a little climbing. I’m hoping to finish off “the list” this year and the weather has not been cooperating of late so spying a reasonably dry looking day made me jump at the chance…. As it turns out I would NOT be alone in this thinking. I took a leisurely drive down on Friday after work to the usual camping spot at South Meadow and found it almost full to overflowing. Managed to squeeze in to a spot and got a solid nights sleep before rising with the sun. I had a long day planned heading for Cliff and Redfield so I decided it would be worthwhile to cut a little total distance by parking at the Loj parking lot. Despite the $9 parking fee this would shave a mile off the total hike and every little bit would help. The walk from the Loj to Marcy dam and up through the Avalanche pass was mostly uneventful – lots of campers at the dam slowly stirring from their sleep and gearing up for their day. More of the same as I strolled around Lake Colden. But for the most part the trails were quiet. The trail up the Opalescent creek is one of the more beautiful walks as it skirts along the roaring brook. At a few spots the trail sits on loamy ledges and you can peer down into narrow, deep chasms where the brook crashes downhill. It makes for a nice walk and the trail was in pretty good shape in spite of all the extra rain we’ve had (read typical mud pits only). When I crossed the Uphill brook I had come to the herd paths for Redfield and Cliff - finally the start of the real work. Three hours of hiking to get to the bottom of where it starts to go up…. hmmm gonna be a long day. 
I had heard that you should do Cliff first and then Redfield (cause its easier) but I sometimes prefer to go against the grain so I opted for Redfield first – it’s a lot higher afterall - how can that be easy? The herdpath for Redfield is actually quite nice. It also meanders up a brook and sometimes climbs through it with vignettes of the high peaks through the trees. It starts off slow and gets perpetually steeper but - apart from the increased heart rate - is never overly taxing. I arrived on the summit to find the beautiful sunny skies replaced by dark forbidding clouds (fortunately somewhat higher than the summit so there were still some views to be had). I sat for a while and a family (Dad, son and daughter) joined me on the summit. The son was concerned about the somewhat dubious lunch that Mom had packed for them… not quite a sandwich but sort of the makings of one. I was about to mention that my Mom hadn’t made me any lunch at all!… but the Dad was quick to point out that their Mom had at least been good enough to pack something to eat… Good point Dad. Unfortunately the clouds started to lighten their load on our heads and a light rain began to fall. I opted to start down and 2 minutes after I left the summit a mighty thunderclap echoed through the peaks – yikes… time to get low! As I started to motor down (the family in hot pursuit) the skies opened up and a heavy shower soaked me but as quick as it started it stopped… and soon the sun was shining again. Good news – hopefully the trails didn't get too soupy as I wouldn’t want to have to come back for Cliff. 
As I descend I could see Cliff through the trees and it was in perfect sunshine so I pressed on with the days agenda. Cliff is a different sort of mountain… its not actually 4000 ft but, due to a surveying error, was originally on the list and has stayed there ever since. The approach starts out through a very swampy section of trail (just to get your boots good and muddy) and then – much as its name suggests – it goes up a series of very steep cliffs and ledges. It’s probably the most challenging technical climb I’ve had in all of the 46 to date. It requires all four limbs to come into play. I was sure to keep 3 points of contact at all times as a fall out here would be a bad thing. Careful slow progress and you make your way up only to be greeted at the top by another large, deep mud pit (to prep your boots for the down climb). The top is relatively flat but the true summit is at the other end from the cliffy ascent. The mountain was hit very hard by Hurricane Floyd in the ‘90’s so its quite surprising that any trail could be cut through the mess of blowdown at all but eventually you arrive at the summit sign (with more views of blown down trees). The descent is no easier so again slow careful progress was the order and soon enough I was down the mountain with just the walk out to go. I was dreading this part of the hike (death marches are seldom fun) but it actually went quite well. The closer I got to the parking lot the better the trail condition was and the faster I was able to go. Maybe there’s something about “the horse smelling the barn” there…. I’m just sayin’. In the end I hiked about 10.5 hours and covered something north of 30km with about 4000 foot gain. Good day in the peaks and two more off “the list”.
On my hike in the morning I had seen very few people hiking – too early perhaps. I did run into a few groups on the herdpaths, which is more than usual. Most of hese hikers had camped at Colden, Flowed lands or even the Uphill brook leanto to give easy access to the trails. As I descended the peaks to Lake Colden I started to see how precious a sunny day in the Daks (save for one brief thunderstorm) can be as the crowds started to mount. With campsites already pretty full I saw line after line of college aged backpackers heading in, families – all in tennis shoes and no packs - hiking to the Avalanche pass, climbers and hikers at every turn (some with maps, some without). Amidst it all were wild-eyed rangers telling anyone who’d listen where they could stick their tents. I guess there hasn’t been that many good weekends in the summer and everyone seized the opportunity all at once. When I stumbled out at the Loj I found 12 pages of names in the sign in book from where I had signed in the morning. Clearly a busy night – and probably good pickins’ for the local bear population. For me, I opted to grab some food in town and then headed off to a secret and quiet campsite. I was sound asleep by 9pm and hit the snooze button the next morning.
Redfield - 43 of 46
Cliff - 44 of 46
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