Adirondacks: Avalanche Lake

First Painted Trillium of the Season

This morning, Marc and I woke up around 4am to get up, pack, and go hike up in the Adirondacks. The drive took about 3.5 hours to get up to the trailhead that we wanted to get to. Our goal for today was a day hike up to Avalanche Pass and Avalanche Lake in Keene, NY. It is just north of Mt. Marcy. The weather was pretty poopy - cloudy, cold, and potential possibilities of rain. But we still wanted to try and go and hike; at least get out of town for awhile. This was not one of my best hikes - my allergies were getting pretty bad, so breathing was not so fun on this hike. I kept having to stop, blow my nose, or shoot snot (sorry if that is too graphic). But along the way, I noticed that phenology up here is a little bit later than what we were seeing in New Paltz. Super cool to see things 'all over again.' Trilliums were out and Pink Lady Slippers were still developing their flower buds...definitely want to come back later in the season to see things in full bloom.

View From Marcy Dam

As we were approaching the Pass, there was still snow in some areas. We did not prepare for that - so I was definitely slipping and sliding from lack of microspikes. But when we got to Avalanche Lake, it seemed as if winter was still up here. Nothing was really in initial growth and everything was just cold and wet. I would definitely want to come back to see this place at its fullest. The lake was super cool; it is wedged between two huge mountains. I believe Mt. Colden and Algonquin? If you continue farther south (as the direction we were hiking), you can get to some campsites and extend your visit. This is definitely something I want to do when we decide to hike up Algonquin or Marcy at some point.

Avalanche Lake