T.R. Mountain, NY
Date: 5/13/2007
Persons in Group: Brian and Greg.
Weather Conditions: 60 Degrees, Sun
Route: Van Hoevenburg trail through Marcy Dam, and within 500 feet of the herd path to Table Top. From there, we headed essentially began bushwacking west to the untrailed summit.
Notes: We hit the trail at roughly 8AM after driving over from St. Albans, excited for our first hike of the year. The forcast was looking good, nothing but sun and clear skys, and in Vermont, there wasn't much snow on the mountains that we could see from the drive over. We weren't sure what the conditions in the Adirondacks would be, so we packed snowshoes just in case. We got the Lodge around 8:30, and were on the trail around 9:00. We made solid time to Marcy Dam as usual, with no snow in sight. We continued in, past the Phelps junction, and then the final river crossing before the Table Top herd path. From here, it was hard packed snow the rest of the way, some snow as deep as 2-3 feet. Our plan was to get as high as we could on the trail before getting to the Table Top herd path, and then head due west up the untrailled summit of T.R. Mountain. After much debate, we settled in around 500 feet or so from the Table Top herd path, and started bushwacking. The snow here was deep, and we needed snowshoes. However, the woods were thick, and the blowdown was tough. We actually angled more north, almost backtracking down the trail a bit to attack from a different side. On this side, there wasn't enough snow to use snowshoes, and the woods were a little more open. However, we would continue to hit drifts the entire way. We strapped our snowshoes to our pack, and started bushwacking. Eventually, after pushing through some pretty thick stuff, we came accross a 10-15 foot high rock wall. Here, there was a break in the snow, and we could see a slight herd path along the southern part of the wall, climbing around and over it. We scaled the steep wall, and kept pushing east. The woods through here were pretty thick - but not to steep. The major problem was the blowdown and snowdrifts we had to posthole through. Eventually, we could tell we were closing in the peak, and located another slight herd path to the summit.
The bushwack down, we angled more north/east, we found this route much more open. Another great day in the Adirondacks, another peak bagged.
A view of the rarely climbed T.R. Mountain from the descent of Table Top Mountain.
Marcy Dam, in the AM. No snow around here, although portions of the water were frozen. You can see some snow still on Colden from here as well.
Just passed the junction to Phelps, the snow started showing up.
The last brook crossing before the Table top herd path - from here the snow was all around.
Nearing the Table Top herd path, and the start of our bushwack.
A view of Marcy from the bushwack up T.R. Mountain
My dad (sporting his new NE111 club patch) at the summit of T.R. Mountain. One of the very few peaks in the area he hadn't climbed before.
Marcy from the summit of T.R. Mountain.
A clearning in the woods on the bushwack down, just before re-joining the Van Hoevenberg Trail again.
My dad has pictures of all of these! Ha!