Avalanche Lake Trail Run

Wednesday, 8/19/2020

The solo adventures continue! I had somehow never made it out to Avalanche Lake before, but it had been on my list for a while. My tendons had been feeling good so I decided to go out for a hike/trail run to see the Adirondack classic for myself.

I arrived around 5:45AM at the Loj. It was surprisingly busy for this early on a weekday, but I had no trouble finding a spot. 90% of people were heading towards Marcy, Colden, or Algonquin. Once I got off those trails, I was actually alone for most of the day.

I made good time in the morning, running through the busiest section of the trail from the Loj to Marcy Dam.

Marcy Dam is one of the most popular backcountry spots in the entire park, but it sure is beautiful.

The last mile to the lake was steep and rocky. Not long before the lake, I met Jay who was supporting Sarah Keyes on her Supported FKT 46er attempt! He had a massive backpack full of gear and told me I would have the lake to myself (except for a beaver)!

Excited to see the lake, and maybe even a beaver, I pushed on.

It was so blue in the early morning light!

The weather changed like 30 times on this run, even briefly raining for a little bit.

The Hitch-up Matildas are boards connected to the rock around the lake. They get their name from an old Adirondack legend, Bill Nye.

Nye was an old-timey Adirondack guide (and the namesake of Nye Mountain). Nye carried his client, Matilda, across this section of the lake on his shoulders. In the old-timey times (1868), they didn't have these fancy boards to walk on. Matilda's husband was watching on, and saw that her dress slipping down towards the water. So, he called out "Hitch up, Matilda!"

Hiking on around the lake, I saw Mount Colden's Trap Dyke for the first time! This 4th class scramble looked pretty wet on this day. I could hear the water flowing down it from across the lake.

The lake was super peaceful and I did in fact have it to myself. I hung out for a while, taking in the views and hoping to find the aforementioned beaver. Eventually, I decided to head back when I heard some voices echoing around the lake.

On my way out, I ran into Tyler Socash from Foot Stuff Podcast! He was on his way in to summit steward Mount Marcy. I had no choice but to stop, wide-eyed in my tracks and exclaim, "Foot Stuff Podcast sent me!"

We had a nice chat and he was kind enough to give me a shoutout on Foot Stuff Podcast's Episode #106: Quicksand. Definitely give them a listen. They're a funny, entertaining, and educational group of guys!

Total:

11.30 miles and 2,542ft of elevation gain in just over 4 hours.