The Adirondack High Peaks Region and Andrew's 46er Page -

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Climbing Log Search

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1 Climbing log entry Found.

Jun. 27, 2015 (Sat.)

Mount Colden

Elevation: 4714 feet; Order of Height: 11

Participants: Andrew Lavigne, Jennifer Innes, Caroline Doucet, Peter Bujold, Brian Connell

A return to the Trap Dike - this time in summer - to explore the aftereffects of the 2011 landslide.

Curious to see the state of affairs after 2011's huge Irene-caused landslide on Mt Colden's northwest face (and in the Trap Dike), we organized an outing to repeat a classic route I've done many times now - an ascent of Mt Colden from Avalanche, up the Trap Dike, and up the new 2011 slide scar.

After reports of muddy trails and a forecast of cloudiness, we were pleasantly surprised to find not much of either, nor of bugs. Our hike from the ADK Loj area to Avalanche pass was very rapid.

After working along the rough trail alongside Avalanche Lake to a point opposite the Trap Dike, we stopped for a good look - what a huge difference from pre-2011: virtually all of the vegetation scoured out of the dike, and lots of fresh bedrock visible. The dike looked a lot more imposing now.

Bushwhacking from the lower end of Avalanche Lake to the base of the dike, we began our ascent. The newfound openness in the dike meant there were many more scrambling options. The straightforward lines of ascent remained, howeve, and an easy 3rd-class scramble brought us over the first step and to the base of the second. Here we encountered another party who were a bit unsure of their climbing abilities. We gave them some mild assistance we they climbed up the crux second step; we followed shortly thereafter.

The upper dike was equally blasted bare by the landslide; wide open stretches of rock and slab led up - now less steeply - to the base of the new slide. It was wide, white and clean: our highway to the top.

A bit of routefinding was required to surmount the first steep pitch on the open slide. Thereafter the climbing was steady but relatively trouble-free until the very end, where the grade steepens again. There are a few ledges and cracks to assist the final bit to the top. A quick break and a rapid hike down to Lake Arnold and beyond brought us back to the trailhead around 5:30 pm.

Please refer to the link below for the full trip report with lots of pictures.

Trip Reports, Image Galleries or Other References:
Image Gallery: June 2015 Trap Dike and New Slide Climb on Mt Colden

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