Indian Head - Part 1
We arrived in Keene Valley at around 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 30. The weather was beautiful the whole drive up (about 2.5 hours) -- sunny and near 80 degrees. We headed to the Mountaineer to rent a bear canister and pick up some new gear. I decided to get a larger pack and a new sleeping bag for warmer weather. With a brand new Gregory Baltoro pack, Kelty Stratus sleeping bag, and Ridgerest sleeping mat (and a lot less money in my wallet), we headed back out to the car.
As soon as we stepped out the door of the Mountaineer, we heard the crack of thunder in the distance. There were supposed to be scattered thunderstorms today, but based on the weather earlier we were hoping they had missed us.
We parked at the Lake Road trailhead (across the street from Giant) and I started to load up my new pack. Overhead the sky continued to darken. We set off from the car shortly after 1:00 p.m. and started down the road. After going about 100 yards it started to rain. After the car was out of sight it started to pour -- torrentially. I am quite confident that it is not physically possible for rain to fall any harder. We didn't have our rain gear on (and we didn't have pack covers). After a minute or two of this we took cover in the woods to put on our ponchos. Too late -- we were already soaked.
The downpour continued most of the way down Lake Road. It finally began to slow, but not stop, as we approached the intersection of the East River Trail. Not entirely disheartened yet, this is the way we took (the road is boring after all). We had been planning to hike up to the campsite near Indian Head to set up camp for the night. We were then going to hike Colvin and Blake after unloading most of our gear. However, after that rain, we quickly discarded Colvin and Blake from the plan. Our boots were sopping wet, along with most of our gear. We would set up camp early and hope we had time to dry things off.
The rain had stopped by the time we arrived to set up camp. Despite still being entirely soaked, we didn't want to waste the rest of the day, especially since the weather had cleared. The campsite at Indian Head was only a short 15 minute walk from the Fish Hawk Cliffs. We decided we'd at least have a look here since the mountains we had planned for the day were off the agenda.
The only way to describe the view from the cliffs is breathtaking. Standing at the top, you look directly down on the Lower Ausable Lake with a view of the Upper Ausable to the south. Directly across from you on the west bank of the lake rises Sawteeth and the rest of the great range. Clear blue waters at the bottom with mountains jutting up on all sides of the lake provide a panoramic view that is unmatched by anything I have seen thus far in my journeys in the Adirondacks. I would gladly make this hike again (rain and all) solely to visit Fish Hawk Cliffs.
As soon as we stepped out the door of the Mountaineer, we heard the crack of thunder in the distance. There were supposed to be scattered thunderstorms today, but based on the weather earlier we were hoping they had missed us.
We parked at the Lake Road trailhead (across the street from Giant) and I started to load up my new pack. Overhead the sky continued to darken. We set off from the car shortly after 1:00 p.m. and started down the road. After going about 100 yards it started to rain. After the car was out of sight it started to pour -- torrentially. I am quite confident that it is not physically possible for rain to fall any harder. We didn't have our rain gear on (and we didn't have pack covers). After a minute or two of this we took cover in the woods to put on our ponchos. Too late -- we were already soaked.
The downpour continued most of the way down Lake Road. It finally began to slow, but not stop, as we approached the intersection of the East River Trail. Not entirely disheartened yet, this is the way we took (the road is boring after all). We had been planning to hike up to the campsite near Indian Head to set up camp for the night. We were then going to hike Colvin and Blake after unloading most of our gear. However, after that rain, we quickly discarded Colvin and Blake from the plan. Our boots were sopping wet, along with most of our gear. We would set up camp early and hope we had time to dry things off.
The rain had stopped by the time we arrived to set up camp. Despite still being entirely soaked, we didn't want to waste the rest of the day, especially since the weather had cleared. The campsite at Indian Head was only a short 15 minute walk from the Fish Hawk Cliffs. We decided we'd at least have a look here since the mountains we had planned for the day were off the agenda.
The only way to describe the view from the cliffs is breathtaking. Standing at the top, you look directly down on the Lower Ausable Lake with a view of the Upper Ausable to the south. Directly across from you on the west bank of the lake rises Sawteeth and the rest of the great range. Clear blue waters at the bottom with mountains jutting up on all sides of the lake provide a panoramic view that is unmatched by anything I have seen thus far in my journeys in the Adirondacks. I would gladly make this hike again (rain and all) solely to visit Fish Hawk Cliffs.
posted by mjr at
1:17 PM
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