Adventuring with Mel and John

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Adirondack Mountains – Colden

Colden, as seen from Algonquin. The slides are remarkable.

Thursday, August 13, 2026

I’m nearing the end of my summer break, so John took a few days off for a trip to the Adirondacks. We’re SLOWLY working on the 46 mountains over 4,000 feet in New York. We started our trip with 6 under our belts. By the time we made our way home, we doubled our count.

Originally, we wanted to hike Algonquin, Iroquois, and Wright on this day, but we were concerned that the ledge would be too wet from the thunderstorms the night before. We figured there would be less of that going up Colden. We learned that it doesn’t really matter.

We forked over the $25 to park at the Adirondack LOJ. Even though we got a later start (arriving after 8AM), there was plenty of parking. Keep in mind this was a Thursday and would be different on Friday. I signed us into the log, and we were off.

In my opinion, the initial trail is boring; we would be walking this way four times in two days. John loved it, though.

What remains of Marcy Dam
This could have been a loop if Avalanche Pass was open, but there was damage from mid-summer landslides.

What we’ve learned from our travels to the Adirondacks is that there is considerable mud on the trails, even in August.

Let the fun begin!
On the summit of Colden. There are multiple spots to take in the views.
Mt Marcy, the highest mountain in the Adirondacks
Wright, Algonquin and Iroquois are behind us.
Returning the way we came. There is a bump on the way to the summit that we have to go over again, but it’s no big deal.
Lovely bog bridges
Not-so-lovely mud
Almost back to the trailhead

STATS: 12.8 miles, 3,500 feet of gain, 6 hours 12 minutes

There’s a beautiful meadow on the side of the road before you get to Route 73. We stopped here everyday. On this day, sunlight reflected on hundreds of dragonflies hovering and darting in the meadow. It looked like gold glitter suspended in the air.

melissaminery

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