Adirondack Mountain Hikes: May 2014

I wanted to try a hike from the Upper Works trail head, as I had never been there before. A trip up Mount Marshall with an overnight stay at the Flowed Lands would give me a chance to try my new camping gear and a herd path. I got to the parking lot around 845 am and was on the trail by 9. It was a beautiful day with rain from the night before all cleared up. It was wet and muddy the whole way.

The trail starts as a gravel road to a river (which was roaring) crossing .4 miles in.

Start of the trail

River is a movin'!

The trail follows the red markers for a time and then switches to blue markers while following the Calamity Brook. The trail is a gradual climb for 4.3 miles to the Flowed Lands. It was very wet and muddy, but it was enjoyable.

Trail follows this brook

Open wetland area along the trail

This little guy was just hanging out

Typical trail section

Footbridge right after trail junction

At this point, the trail crosses a bridge and changes over to the blue trail markers. The water was almost at the bridge level!

Abandoned remains of a bridge

Muddy & rocky trail

At one point, where the trail crosses over the brook, the water was quite high, and I did not want to get soaked. I took the small detour to the high water bridge to cross over.

To cross or not to cross?

Quite a bridge

Trail is a little wet

Snow hanging on tough

The trail eventually comes to Calamity Pond. There is a memorial for David Henderson who tragically lost his life here in 1845.

Memorial in a beautiful spot

After a brief stop here, I reached the trail register at the Flowed Lands. It took me a little over two hours to reach this point. I decided to look for a campsite (all the lean-to's were occupied) to drop some of my heavier items off before I continued onto the herd path up Marshall. There is a campsite .2 miles past the trail register overlooking the water. It is definitely a spot I will come back to.

View of the Flowed Lands next to my tent site

Home for the night (bear canister on the left)

After camp was set, I traveled the .6 miles or so around the Flowed Lands to the herd path up Marshall. It is clearly defined by a large cairn at the start of the path.

Cairn marking the beginning of the trail

While the path is only 1.5 miles, it does climb approximately 1500 feet. The path started gradually following the Herbert Brook. There was plenty of blowdown in the Brook. The path crosses by a beautiful water hole with waterfall. If the water wasn't ice cold it would be a great place to go for a swim. Past this point, the trail really stepped up in difficulty.

Minor blowdown

Picture perfect

Trail is starting to get going

Trail follows along and through the Herbert Brook

Another nice waterfall and pond along trail

Smaller cairns indicate trail crossings

Up we go

Winter refuses to give up

The last portion of the trail had some stubborn snow and ice remaining. I was able to navigate it with only slight difficulty. I reached the summit in a little over 2.5 hours. I was rewarded with surprisingly pleasant views. The summit is not open and other people have reported that the views are not great. A ledge just past the actual summit provides some nice views to the south/southeast.

View just past the summit

Iroquois off in the distance

Pond just below the summit

I enjoyed a snack and the views for about a half hour and then made the trek back down. In two hours, I was back at the base of the herd path. I traveled back to camp, ate and relaxed on the Flowed Lands. The night was pretty uneventful, but I was treated to a beautiful of the sun coming up over Mount Colden the next morning. The hike back to the car was much drier than the hike in. What a difference a night makes! Overall, it was a very enjoyable night in the Flowed Lands area. I'm sure it wont be the last time I camp there.