Mountains Climbed: Marcy
Date of Hike: Friday July 23rd and Saturday July 24th

Trail Conditions: Were very good for the most part. Some spots were muddy due to the recent rain and some of the laid timber through Marcy swamp was very slippery.

Comments: The trail was beautiful. There is definitely more elevation gained going to the Panther Gorge Lean-to then there is exiting the trail. We ran into a few guys from Massachusetts, Nate and Neil, whom we shared the lean-to with (hope you guys made it home safe). The weather was a little crazy Friday with rain off and on, however, it turned out to be pretty nice by the end of the day. Over the course of the night the winds started to pick up. By morning there were slight gusts here and there near our elevation but nothing serious. We left camp around 0600 and took the trail to four corners to climb the south trail to the summit of Mount Marcy. As soon as we approached the Alpine line and left the comfort of any cover we were bombarded with huge gusts of wind (I would estimate up to 60mph gusts). Hands down, the strongest I have ever dealt with on a summit. Frankly, I was not too comfortable being on the summit with such strong winds. We took a few photos and got off the summit after about 15 minutes of leaning into the wind. As we descended the mountain the sky started to break slightly and a few visible sightings of Mount Haystack were well appreciated. When we got down to four corners we made the administrative decision to head back, pack up, and conquer Skylite another day because the winds were crazy, the weather was turning, and we wanted to cherish the view on another day. Personally, it's more of a reason to go back and do some more hiking another day. I would rather be safe and wrong about the weather then to be caught up in a bad storm 9 miles from my vehicle!

Special Equipment Required: I would highly recommend gaiters for many reasons to include the overgrowth along the Panther Gorge trail and the vast number of 747 size mosquito swarms that were eating my friends and I up. Trekking poles are a must if you plan on balancing yourself on the slippery laid planks along Marcy Swamp.

Jbell

Jake, thanks for the trail report. Not many people go on up to Marcy via Panther gorge so nice to see the trail conditions. Myself and Barkeater were sitting on the summit of Big Slide on the 24th and we had crystal clear views around 11:00am to about noon and we could see that the only two summits to be in clouds was Algonquin and Marcy. Haystack was standing out in brilliant sunshine. We could see the clouds were moving but didn't realize that the winds were that strong as we just had a slight breeze. Good call on Skylight as it does have a large wide open summit and may have had problem winds also. The m9ountain will always be there and a safety turn around just gives us a better reason to go back up to those beautiful summits. Ed

Thanks for the words of encouragement Ed. Trust me, it was a bummer to walk away but like you said... the mountains are not going anywhere. I really did like the panther gorge trail. It would make for a real long day if someone wanted to do a day hike from Elk Lake but it is definitely doable with a light pack and some seasoned legs! Thanks again.

Good Post. Heading up there this week-end. Cold snap should quiet the skeeters!
Hoping to make it Skylight, Gray, Marcy, and Haystack.