Trip Reports 2009

Introductory Trip to Marshall

January 2 to 4, 2009. Leader & Cook: Mike Forsyth. Old Hand & Cook: Frank Cabron. New Participants: Margaret O’Keefe, Thomas Denham, Brett Thompson, Jim Papapanu, Patti Pastella, David Colbert.

Marshall holds a special meaning for this trip leader. My RWMS intro trip was Marshall from Upper Works in 1994, led by Jack Freeman. I decided to reprise that climb for this year’s intro trip. Interest from prospective new members was strong, with 6 out of 8 berths taken by new prospects. Frank Cabron, a never-failing pillar of strength on intro trips, did yeoman duty by bringing his tent, cooking and driving.

We stayed at that old RWMS stand-by, the Maple Leaf Motel in Schroon Lake, with travelers converging from Rochester, Syracuse and Albany. The Maple Leaf has microwaves and refrigerators in the rooms, which some used for a quick en-suite breakfast. The rest of us opted for the breakfast sandwich at the convenience store across Route 9, and were at the door when it opened at 5:30 a.m. (The restaurants open much later.) We were at the trailhead by 7:30 and hiking shortly after that in temperatures in the low teens. The trail to Flowed Lands was well packed. We made a stop at the Henderson monument at Calamity Pond and reviewed the circumstances of the naming of the pond and the reason for the monument. We then continued to Flowed Lands, with a photo stop on the frozen lake near the lean-to.

We were leery about making first tracks on the Flow, so kept to the trail until just past Herbert Brook. A lean-to has recently been erected overlooking Flowed Lands near Herbert Brook and the start of the herdpath. Desiring a proper winter camping experience for this intro trip, we did not camp in the lean-to. However, being scrupulous observers of DEC regulations, we did wish to camp in a legal, designated spot. The turn-off from the trail to the lean-to had the yellow disk with a tent symbol and an arrow pointing toward the lean-to. We followed the arrow to the “Camp here” disk, stamped put tent sites in the clearings and made sure not to camp under the “no camping” disks.

We set up camp, had lunch, then made for the summit. The herdpath had previously been broken, had some new snow on it, but was not difficult to follow at first. As we gained elevation, the snow depth increased, and route-finding became more of a challenge. We climbed past the beaver pond, where the RWMS camped fifteen years earlier, well over 3,500 feet and now illegal, and had pretty good going from there to the summit. All the new faces had a turn at trail-breaking and route-finding, and it should be mentioned that Tom Denham showed exceptional zeal breaking the upper reaches. We all made the summit in good time under clear skies, and enjoyed what views Marshall has to offer. We descended the herdpath in about half the time it took to go up, reaching our already-pitched camp just as night fell. There we found a thoughtful little note from a DEC officer asking us next time to be considerate of the revegetation zones and not to pitch our tents on them. Maybe next time they will have put the no camping disks over the revegetation zones and the camp here disks where they want us.

Both cooks (Frank and Mike) received many compliments on the menu and the execution and presentation. We retired to our respective tents for the night. Frank’s tent, which he shared with Brett, Patti and Margaret, maintained a respectable decorum, and some of his tentmates asked the next morning about the raucous laughter and evident high spirits in Mike’s tent through the evening.

The overnight temperature reached a low between -5 and -10 degrees F, according to a pack thermometer. (Saranac Lake recorded -5 for a low.) We breakfasted in our tents, then sat in the lean-to, out of the wind and facing the early morning sun, for a second cup of coffee, or just for the view of Flowed Lands. Temperatures warmed up into the teens on the hike out, under clear skies. We stopped for lunch at the Long Lake Diner, and made the drive home in good time and good weather.

Introductory Trip: Big Slide to Porter & Cascade

via Railroad Notch

January 9-11, 2009

Old hands: Paul Navik (Leader 1), Neal Andrews (Leader 2), Frank Cabron, Paul Sheneman, Gordon, Robinson, Kerstin Navik, Greg Buzulencia, Cole Goughary; New Participants: Jim Fetten, Chris Jones, Rob Mead, Dominic Deriso.

The original trip was planned to hike from the Keene airport up Blueberry, over Porter to Cascade and back. There were lots of beginners interested and, Neal volunteered to lead a second trip to squeeze more beginners in. When all the dust settled we had less than two full trips with some strong beginners. I decided to have two trips but travel together. The relatively strong beginner’s group need more of a challenge so, Frank suggested Mike Forsyth’s beginner trip from 2007. And so the plan changed to climb Big Slide first via the Brothers, and then bushwhack to our first camp in the valley between Big Slide and Porter. The next morning, we planned to find the trail to the summit ridge, climb Porter and Cascade, and then exit back to the Garden.

Friday night we stayed at the Maple Leaf in Schroon Lake. We had planned on meeting Neal, Cole, and Dominic Saturday morning at Joanie’s Restaurant across from Stewart’s in Schroon Lake, but the note on the restaurant door said “Reopening Feb 4,” which might have made us all a little late, not to mention a lot hungry. We couldn’t find a single restaurant that opened before 9am in Schroon Lake, so we ended up driving to Keene Valley, and meeting the Albany/Boston crew there. After a great breakfast, we started from the Garden.

Lots of other groups were dayhiking Big Slide, but no one had recently been into Porter via the Garden. The weather was good --- in the teens with little wind and lots of sun with about 6” of recent snow to break on the trail. We proceeded slowly, but uneventfully, up Big Slide, dropping our packs on an open area of the trail on a shoulder, near the spot where we planned on starting our bushwhack. After reaching the summit of Big Slide, we returned to our packs, and began our bushwhack into the valley. We tried to keep the steep ravine on the right and not lose elevation although a couple of mavericks leading point too far ahead with the wrong compass heading made it a little difficult in the beginning.

Frank had brought his GPS watch, and we followed our compass headings and updated waypoints from Frank’s watch, after catching up with wandering mavericks. We broke trail through about two feet of snow. The terrain was mostly open and easier bushwhacking than we had expected. We never reached the open lake or marsh area where we had planned our first camp that evening, but the land was leveling out and we all felt it was time to set up camp since Frank’s watch indicated we were near the middle of the valley and close to the open ponds and marshes. It was getting dark and the area we were in was clear enough for all four tents.

Cooking was slow for all stoves that night. The temperature was in the negative single digits at least. The Whisperlite and Dragon Fly stoves muddled by. My new XGK did well. We spent between 4-5hrs cooking and melting snow Saturday night. The temperature picked up significantly after midnight, and the frozen condensation inside the tents started to thaw.

Shortly after heading out the next morning, we crossed several open ponds and marshes as we headed north and east. We tried to maintain our elevation as we skirted over to where the trail was supposed to be. The plan had been to drop our packs at the trail and hike up Porter, Cascade and back down to the Garden. We found the one lone tree still marked from an abandoned trail, and thought we had found our trail. In reality, we had probably passed over the trail, missing the blazes and the trail itself, which hadn’t seen hikers recently.

When we dropped our packs at our false trail, Dominic was bushed and had a bad case “shin bang”. (Shin Bang is caused by the tops of plastic double boots being tied too tight and trying to walk normally. The bruising, blistering, and sometimes bloody shins are very painful.) Neil, Greg, and Gordon said they would take Dominic out to the cars.

The rest of us started up what we thought was the trail at 10:30. As it turned out, the one tree we had stopped near was the only one with a marker. We followed axe marks and nails, and worked our way up a series of little cliffs, thinking that this was just a re-routed trail and we would soon rejoin the actual trail. We never found the trail --- we continued to climb up toward Porter, nearing the ridge between Porter and the false Porter summit at noon. Noon was our turnaround time, and everyone agreed that we should turn around; we had not yet found the summit ridge trail, and no one was sure when we might find it. On the way down we had great views of the valley. We made it back to the packs about 12:40 after enjoying beautiful views.

We followed Neil’s groups tracks all the way to the car and never saw any trail markers. I made a few side trips and worked through where we were with Paul S. and Frank. There were several times I was sure we were in easy distance of the marked trail but I could not find it. I did find what I thought was the notch the trail drops down but could not find makers. Neal and crew were out by 2 pm bushwacking through open woods, down driveways and up seasonal roads. Neal felt that he crossed the trail at least twice but missed the markers.

My group was to the cars at 2:45 and picked up Gordon by 3:10 at the Ausable Inn after he had just finished his sandwich and coffee. Neal, Cole, Dominic were off to Albany and Boston. The Syracuse, Rochester portion of the group stopped for dinner at Carl R’s.

I think the whole crew felt physically challenged. The trip ended up being almost 90%+ breaking trail or bushwacking. Each beginner took away positive knowledge about their own conditioning, and gear that only need a little adjusting. We met the goal of the trip and I hope to see everyone again.

Big Slide, Basin, Saddleback and Haystack, too

JANUARY 17 TO 19, 2009. Leader: Reinhard Gsellmeier. Participants: Todd Obbie, Vern Kreuter, Dana Mills, Irene Liberty .

Todd Obbie, Vern Kreuter, Dana Mills, Irene Liberty and Reinhard Gsellmeier started out on the Phelps Trail from the Garden around noon on Saturday, and setup camp near JBL. Later that afternoon the group headed up Big Slide, enjoying a twilight view of the Great Range from the summit. On Sunday, Todd and Vern got a head start leaving camp around 6:45, as they first climbed Haystack before rendezvousing with the rest of the group; congratulations to Todd on becoming the newest Winter 46er when he summitted Haystack!

Meanwhile, just as Irene, Dana & Reinhard were getting ready to leave camp at 7:15, they were joined by dayhikers Kim Goppert and Al Bushnell. Off the group of 5 went down the Phelps Trail, past Bushnell Falls and up to Slant Rock, when an old shoulder injury of Irene's started to act up. Not wanting to slow down the group, Irene and Dana graciously opted to return to camp. Kim, Al and Reinhard pushed on via. the Shorey Short Cut Trail, which was not broken out and was a tough go on the steeps. The Range Trail beyond its intersection with the Shorey Short Cut wasn't much better, with plenty of opportunities for trail breaking. Todd and Vern caught up to the group just below the summit of Basin, where trail breaking opportunities were quickly relinquished to Todd "The Beast" Obbie! The group of 5 summited Basin, where they had to search a bit before finding the trail coming down.

Next up was the Saddleback cliff – which wasn't as bad as all had feared. The cliff was bare rock for the most part, with just enough patches of ice here and there that everyone decided to switch to crampons. That first long step onto the cliff proved to be the most difficult, which Vern managed to scramble up and toss down a rope for the rest of the group. Reaching the summit of Saddleback was a welcome relief for all! Views unfortunately were limited due to low cloud cover - as had been the case for most of the day – but there were periodic breaks offering glimpses of Gothics looming nearby. Mission accomplished, the group headed back down via. the Orebed Brook Trail. Kim and Al proceeded back to the Garden after a very long day hike, and Todd, Vern and Reinhard returned to camp to meet back up with Irene and Dana. Monday the group broke camp and hiked out. It was a pretty decent weekend weather-wise: temperatures ranged between -10 to +10, and there was just enough daily snowfall to keep things "wintery". Overall, a pretty awesome weekend with a really great group of folks!

Whiteface Slide and Esther

JANUARY 23 TO 25, 2009. Leader: Neal Andrews.

canceled due to lack of interest.

Marcy and Gray

JANUARY 30 TO FEBRUARY 1, 2009. Leader: Andy Ryan. Participants: Andy Ryan and Barry Akin

Although the trip was advertised as attempting Marcy and Haystack, Barry Akin needed Grey and Andy Ryan didn't really care, just so long as he got out of the house for the weekend. Therefore, we modified our goal to Marcy and Gray. After much deliberation, the consensus was that our chances of success would be diminished if we attempted to camp out, as all the extra gear would slow us down. We decided to hike in from the ADK Loj, travel fast and light, and hit both mountains as a day trip. Although we had sunny skies, the temperature never rose above 5º and was considerably colder in the shade. Once above tree line, the wind was ferocious (estimated by our group to be 30 mph; estimated by another group to be 60 mph). We were able to summit Marcy with little difficulty, other than it was impossible to speak with one another, due to the roar from the wind.

We went over Marcy and headed toward Gray and at approximately 2:00 p.m., we realized that although the distance to Gray was relatively short, the time and energy expenditure to summit was considerable. We still had a great deal of bushwhacking through very deep drifted snow and estimated that we would not summit Gray until near dark. Discretion proved to be the better part of valor and we turned around, leaving Gray for another day.

There are times in the mountains, particularly in winter, when conditions can be unstable and one has to be highly adaptable just to survive. This proved to be one of those times. We went into Lake Placid for a late dinner, only to find the Brew Pub had a one hour wait. Ouch! Unexpected! Being the adaptable sort, we surveyed conditions, weighed our options, and decided to go to the Japanese restaurant for hibachi and beer. Conditions were not ideal, but we endured and ultimately, we survived. Things went from bad to worse when we retired to the Cascade Motor Inn only to find that the bed sheets were made of plastic. Anyone who has slept on plastic sheets knows that they breathe about as well as Gore-Tex and make for a very sweaty and uncomfortable night's rest. Sometimes, you have to be willing to endure discomfort to achieve greatness, and this was one of those times. We endured, and ultimately survived to tell this story, which will no doubt go down in the annals of this organization as one of the most harrowing epics ever.

We drove home on Sunday. A good time was had by both.

Algonquin, Iroquois and Marshall

FEBRUARY 6 TO 8, 2009. Leaders Paul and Kerstin Navik.

Cancelled due to lack of participants.

Nippletop, Niagara, Camels Hump and Camel

FEBRUARY 13 TO 15, 2009. Leader: Neal Andrews

Cancelled due to lack of participants.

Street and Nye

February 20-22, 2009. Leader: Don Berens. Participants: Greg Buzulencia, Paul Sheneman, Allan Sowinski

The plan was to approach these peaks from the west by trail and bushwhack, and to descend to the east by herd path. After a night at the Sara-Placid Motel, and breakfast at McKenzie's Grill, both in Saranac Lake, we spotted a car at the ADK Loj, then drove to the trailhead at the Averyville Road bridge over the Chubb River. At 7:50 am, we began our snowshoe south in three inches of overnight fluff on the firmly packed Northville-Placid Trail in flurries and mid-teen temperatures. We paused at a 40-acre beaver pond with an osprey nest atop a 20-foot stump.

By late morning, the flurries had stopped and the sun peeked through the clouds as we climbed around the 80-foot high Wanika Falls and prepared to follow the brook eastward beyond its headwaters to the ridge between Street and Nye. The brook generally had two-foot thick ice on its banks and a thinner crust in the center formed when the melt water of ten days earlier had refrozen on top, then drained away beneath. We tried to stay in the brook except where blow-down blocked the way. We tried to stay on the thicker edge-ice, but sometimes tried the thinner center-ice. We broke through into a dozen dry holes and one shallow wet hole. But on the whole, the brook was a beautiful and convenient route.

We climbed east out of the brook valley and at 3:00 pm reached the ridge crest with stunning views of the entire MacIntyre Range under a now cloudless afternoon sky. GPS suggested we were south of Nye, so we bushwhacked north along the ridge in search of that summit or the herd path connecting it to Street. The route took us onto a knob covered with crusty snow over blowdown that gave us 360 degree views of the Seward and Sawtooth Ranges, Whiteface, the MacIntyres and even the Bennie's Brook Slide on Lower Wolf Jaw. An hour later, with no sign of a herd path or Nye, GPS said we were still south of Nye. We pressed on a few more minutes, explored local high points, but found no familiar terrain, no herd path, and no summit marker. Furthermore, the ground to the north was all lower, suggesting we had gone north of Nye.

With only an hour until sunset, no clear idea of where we were, and a forecast for Sunday snow, we decided to return in our tracks to a point where we could see Mount Jo and Heart Lake and then to bushwhack off the ridge eastward toward the lake. As the shadows lengthened, we took visual and compass bearings before stopping at 5:20 pm to camp near the headwaters of a stream that flows northeast. About 7:30 pm we all heard fireworks celebrating the Empire State Winter Games in Lake Placid and Paul, who was outside the tents, saw the them (the fireworks, not the games).

Sunday, we woke at 6:30 and were away at 8:40 am. An inch or two of snow had fallen overnight and flurries continued throughout the morning. An hour of bushwhacking southeast over a ridge brought us to the packed herd path with day-old tracks at about 3,000 feet. We easily followed that herd path east across the Indian Pass Brook, which we forded on an ice bridge past some open water, and back to the Loj at 11:10. After changing clothes, we retrieved the car and headed home. The beginning and the end of the trip went about as planned, but for a good part of the middle we did not go where we had expected. Though we did not reach the planned peaks, we had some spectacular views that few if any people have seen. Sorry, but we can't tell you how to get to all of those views.

Allen (changed to Santanoni and Panther)

February 27 to March 1, 2009. Leader: Jim Dykes. Participants: Rob Mead, Karin Topfer, Greg Brett and Andy Sansone

On Saturday February 28, 2009 Jim Dykes, Rob Mead, Karin Topfer, Greg Brett and Andy Sansone attempted to climb Allen Mountain. As the leader of this trip I had been following the progress of other parties making this climb throughout the season since the bridge over the Opalescent had washed out the previous spring. Unfortunately, our trip wasn’t as successful and lasted as far as this crossing as warmer weather and rain earlier in the week made the crossing impossible.

After the disappointing Allen attempt three of us decided to hike into the Santanonis. Rob, Karin and I made the short drive to the Santanoni trailhead and began our hike in at 11:00 in bright sunny skies and a temperature in the upper teens. The parking lot was very full as many people were out enjoying these perfect conditions. The trail to Bradley Pond was well-packed and we proceeded at a good pace. We looked for the newly re-opened trail to Santanoni along the way. We found some tracks after the pink ribbon marking this route but they quickly ended. We then continued to Bradley Pond lean-to arriving about 2:30. We found the lean-to open, setup, ate and decided to rest for an early start the next morning. Shortly, a French Canadian couple joined us. We ate and retired early. The temperature reached -7 degrees in Newcomb but we were all comfortable.

We arose early and were on the trail at 6:45 on Sunday morning. The trail to Times Square was very well-packed and easy to follow. As we climbed steadily in the bright sunshine the great views began to appear. We reached Times Square at 8:20 and began the short hike to Panther Peak. The summit was reached at 8:40. The views in all directions were spectacular. After some quick photos we headed back to Times Square and on to Santanoni Peak. This trail was also well-packed and easy to follow. It meandered a bit but not too badly. As we broke into the snow fields on the false summits the great views appeared again. We reached the summit at 10:20. The temperature by now was in the low 20’s. We saw some tracks coming up near the summit and we wondered if they were from the new trail. We again enjoyed the views, ate and began our return trip.

Descending from Times Square we took photos of the many ice formations on the cliffs that had formed. We reached the lean-to, quickly packed and reached the car at 3:05. We ate at the Buffalo Head in Forestport to cap a great trip. We discussed over dinner how the disappointing start turned into some of the best winter hiking we had experienced in the Adirondacks. I arrived home shortly after 9:00 a little tired but very satisfied.

Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge

March 6-8 2009. Bill Crowe (co-leader), Mary Warchocki (co-leader), Vern Kreuter, Frank Cabron

After a night at the Cascade Motel near Lake Placid and breakfast at the Noonmark Diner in Keene Valley, we dropped Frank’s car in New Russia and began hiking up the Giant Ridge Trail from Chapel Pond about 8:35. The trail was very well-packed with icy sections here and there. Vern wore full crampons, Mary and Frank had micro-spikes and Bill wore instep crampons. In a few places, some of us had to detour into the woods to avoid ice. All did well and we reached the summit of Giant at 11:35.

We donned snowshoes at the summit figuring the trail would be less packed from here on. The sky was clear, the temperature mild and it looked like we were going to make good progress towards New Russia that day. However, just about 300 feet below the Giant/Rocky junction, Franks snowshoe caught on a tree on a steep icy section and he injured his ankle. After a bit of rest and off-loading items from his pack to the other three and another couple, Frank made his way towards the Roaring Brook parking lot. We chose that destination because it is a much more gradual descent than the steep, icy Ridge Trail we had come up. Vern was the only one who had not done Rocky so he went alone from the injury location to the summit and caught up to us about 3:00.

At the intersection of the Ridge Trail and the Roaring Brook trail, Vern and Bill left Frank and Mary and hiked down the Ridge Trail to move Mary’s car to the Roaring Brook trailhead. They then hiked up to meet Frank and Mary on their descent. Full packs were carried due to the possibility of needing to camp. The four re-united at about 6:10 at a point 1.1 miles from the trailhead. Frank, while moving slowly, was making progress and very much wanted to get out of the woods. We all reached the trailhead at 7:30. We were able to spend another night at the Cascade and drove home safely Sunday morning. On Monday, Frank learned he had broken his ankle.

Donaldson, Emmons and Seward

March 13-14, 2009. Leader: Paul Sheneman; Participants: Jim Dykes, Rob Mead, Karin Topfer

This trip went so well, we should all be made to do it over.

Paul arrived at the Tupper Lake motel, our Friday night accommodations, from Syracuse about 2 minutes after Jim, Rob and Karin arrived from Rochester. We arranged our gear in the rooms, drove over to Saranac Lake for a gourmet Italian meal at LaBella, got back to our rooms early and fell asleep watching SU play in the NCAA tournament.

On Saturday morning, we awoke early and refreshed, had another great meal in Tupper Lake and headed for the trail. Although the road was not plowed for the last mile, we drove fairly easily to the gate, donned our gear and were headed down Corey’s Road by 7:15AM under clear skies with temperatures in the mid-teens. Corey’s Road was alternately bare ice, then bare gravel and Yak-trax were enough for easy going from the gate to the start of the herd path off of the Calkins Brook Horse Trail. The start of the herd path, which was marked with an old steel pail hanging from a tree for our convenience, was reached by 9:45 under mostly sunny skies with temps in the 20’s. While we took a short water/food break at this junction we were overtaken by a young, energetic couple carrying small day packs who were headed for (of all places) Donaldson, Emmons and Seward.

With our fortunes looking better all the time, we proceeded along the herd path for ¾ of a mile or so, made camp at a boulder field just off the path and set off with lightened loads at 11:00 AM to try for all three peaks. Around 12:15, we met a solo hiker who had just completed Donaldson and Emmons and was looking for the herd path to Seward. We had a way point for the junction of this path and we sent him off with our thanks in what we thought was the right direction. Fifteen minutes later, we were on Donaldson looking east with clear views of the Macintyre range to the east. After soaking in the sun and the views for a few minutes, we headed off on broken trail to Emmons, passing the young energetic couple on the way, reaching the peak by 1:30 and enjoying great clear views all the way across Long Lake to the southwest.

Returning along the path across Donaldson and following broken trail north and east, we met the young energetic couple one more time and reached Seward by 3:45 to enjoy more fantastic views to the northwest and northeast.

Back at camp by 5:45, we settled into warm, dry clothes and prepared our dinners. Jim and I had a broiled salmon and rice dish accompanied by a nice Riesling. On Sunday morning, the young energetic couple returned and carried our packs back to our cars.

Wright Peak Ski Ascent

March 20-22, 2009. Greg Buzulencia (Leader) and Tim Howland

The standard RWMS format was followed for the trip, with one exception: skis were our mode of transportation vs. snowshoes or crampons. Although crampons would have probably been the preferable foot accessory of choice had this not been a ski trip. We stayed at the Maple Leaf Friday night without a hitch and with clear weather and literally no traffic on Route 8, we made it there with a record time of 3:50 including one stop. As we unfortunately found out, this would be the main highlight of our trip. Saturday morning we ate a relatively late breakfast at the Noonmark Diner around 7:15 and then opened up the Mountaineer at 8AM to rent Alpine Touring skis for Tim.

Arriving at the State Truck Road on the Loj Rd around 8:40 we soon found the road and trail to be 100% glare ice with bare patches 50 yards long. So we donned crampons and walked to Marcy Dam where we set up camp and lightened our loads quite a bit. Skins were put on the bottom of our skis and we toured up the Whale’s Tail Ski Trail, only to find ourselves running out of snow again. We skinned off into the woods over rocks, through leaves to find more snow, but alas, near the top of the Notch we ran out! Gaining the hiking trail the skis were put on again where we had mostly ice and rocks to contend with. Further up the coverage got better but once we got to the Wright Peak Ski Trail we were met with boilerplate ice. We kept on until about 3800’ where it was determined to be useless to go to the top as the ice got worse and worse and skiing down would be more of a survival ski than an enjoyable one. With sharp edges we made it down the ski trail and hiking trail until more and more rocks popped up and decided to sharpen our edges for us.

On Sunday Angel Slides was the destination and we skinned up from Marcy Dam alongside a tributary to the base of Angel Slides. For the first time that weekend we had a close-up view of the slides. What we saw was frightening, cascading waterfall ice on the bottom 2/3 of the slide. Since neither of us had our ice axes handy and even if we did get up to the top we weren’t sure how we were going to ski down, we decided to enjoy an icy ski back down through the woods to Marcy Dam, which was actually the best skiing we probably had all weekend. Camp was packed up and we skied out as far as we could before hiking became optimal. As a side note this exact trip was done with another ski partner on the same weekend last year and there was between 3-6 feet of snow coverage and 1 foot of fresh snow on the slides. I guess you’ve got to take the good with the bad.