Mt Marshall

Well, the mountain goat and I went on our second annual overnight backpacking trip and had a great time. We were joined by Roger and his son Joey as well as Brian and his daughter Erin. This was Joey's first high peak adventure and probably the longest hike Erin had been on. I had picked Mt Marshall earlier in the year for it's proximity to camping areas and it's relatively short hike to the summit. It was not to be as easy as I would have expected. We came in from the Upper Works trailhead and followed the Calamity Brook trail to the Flowed Lands. We were well prepared with a bear proof canister for our food and after hearing the stories from hikers on their way out, I was glad we were. Many of the people we talked to had lost their food despite their best attempt at hanging it. I was actually excited at the possibility of seeing a bear or two. We found the lean-to closest to the Flowed Lands dam to be open and claimed it for the night. After replenishing our water and stashing our food, we headed for the wooded summit of Mt. Marshall. The mountain is named after Bob Marshall who along with his brothers was the first to climb all of the Adirondack Peaks over 4000'. He also went on to become a great contributor to outdoor causes and a famous "mountain man".

The trail is considered one of the "trail-less" routes and the summit used to have a canister at the top for hikers to register for their 46er list. I believe most of the canisters are now gone. The trail to the summit has such a well defined herd path that it is shown on the latest ADK maps, however, it is not maintained and therefore still offers some challenging sections. It follows Herbert Brook most of the way and at times you can hike right in the small slide created by the brook. There are some nice cascades as well as deep clear pools. We encountered a few sections where the vegetation and moss were as green as I have ever seen. Nearing the height of land along the creek, the trail turns sharply left and up to reach the true summit. Views of Iroquois can be seen along the way and it looks daunting. There are no views from the true summit, but a short path toward the east offers a wonderful panoramic view. I need to say here that the mountain goat truly impressed me on this trip, he keeps a blistering pace for a little guy. More than a few times I had to catch up to him and then we waited for the others to catch up. I will most definitely be getting him a good youth pack so that I can load him up more and hopefully slow him down.

Well, after a good hike with some nice views, the goat added Marshall to his list (#5) and I am now up to 11. We have some work to do and many more Adirondack adventures ahead of us. Oh yeah, the bears visited us. Brendan heard one behind the lean-to early in the morning, it sniffed and huffed and went away (I think it smelled my socks). It did managed to get our garbage, but didn't even bother with the canister. I am not a bear expert but I think it was a big one, check the photo below of the footprint.

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