Colvin and Indian Head

Giant from the Colvin trail

Last week I joined some of my new hiking friends from my Nippletop hike to make a wintry ascent of Colvin and Blake peaks. We got a late start, leaving the Ausable club parking area at about 9am, which would cause us to leave Blake for another day. The lake road was covered with a thin layer of sticky snow with a layer of ice underneath, slowing us down a little as we had to constantly stop to knock snowballs off of our microspikes. Once we reached the trail the snow was deep enough to afford better traction and we walked wirthout any traction devices for the first mile of the trail. This entire section felt like deja vu, as we had taken this exact route to Nippletop just last week, only this time the trail was much more enjoyable with a fresh layer of snow covering the ice. Once the trail began to steepen two of us put our crampons to use, while our third partner stayed in microspikes. Once again crampons were definitely the best footwear to have for the day, as there were a number of steep sections along the trail that would have been much more dangerous without them. Our pace for the day was much slower than a week before, mostly my fault because I had been fighting off a cold for two days and wasn't at full speed. My legs felt like lead going up the mountain, and I wondered if I was going to make it. Fortunately one of my companions had a 5-hour energy bottle in his pack, and kindly offered it to me to help. I was skeptical of consuming a bunch of ingredients I can't pronounce, but I was desperate, so I took it. It turned out to be a good decision, because it definitely gave me a burst of energy to move me forward. I now think that keeping one of those in my pack is a pretty good idea, and just may start doing so.

The slide of Nippletop

Cliffs below the summit

With a new burst of energy we continued up the mountain. It was a fair day, with the sun peeking in and out of the clouds for most of our ascent. The forest was alive with the sounds of birds calling, more so than any other winter day that I've hiked this year. We came across numerous flocks of Pine Siskins and chickadees, heard one Boreal Chickadee, and even saw a few flocks of White-winged Crossbills. The crossbills were actually singing, which I rarely hear, so that was a nice treat. The trail up Colvin isn't nearly as scenic as Elk Pass, but within a half mile of the summit we began to get gorgeous views of Giant. The first view came just after the first of many steep icy sections, where we had a clear view of the sun illuminating Giant in what was an otherwise shaded landscape. That was good motivation to move forward and reach the summit while the sun still shined.The summit, though not far from there, proved to be the most challenging climb I've done from a technical standpoint. The last two tenths of a mile was full of steep sections that skirted the rock walls just below the summit, requiring careful footing with the snow and ice. One section in particular was downright scary, as it required crossing a very narrow steep ledge across a crevasse in the rock that would result in a 20 foot drop if either of my crampons didn't hold. Thankfully I had someone braver than me to coach me across, and once we were across the summit was right above us. The view from the summit was gorgeous, a snow-encrusted landscape of the Great Range and the Ausable Lakes below. Nippletop loomed over us to the left, and we had a great view of the slide on it's north face. At this point we were still thinking of continuing on to Blake,  but when we computed how much time it had taken us to ascend Colvin and how much time we would need to ascend Blake we realized there wasn't enough daylight remaining. So we relaxed on the summit for a bit, and then headed back down. Traversing the 20-foot ravine was even scarier on the way back, and we all breathed a sigh of relief when we all crossed over it safely.

Panoramic view of the Great Range from Colvin

Lower Ausable lake from Fish Hawk Cliffs

 We still had a good amount of energy remaining (yay for energy drinks!) so we decided to loop over Fish Hawk Cliffs and Indian Head on the way back, which would add another mile or so to the trip. It sounded easy enough, but we didn't expect the trail to be nearly as steep as it was. The walk to Fish Hawk Cliffs was mostly level, and the view down to the lakes was well worth the effort. By this point a storm had started rolling in, however, and we couldn't see the peaks on the other side. We continued onto Indian Head, which ended up being just as steep as the trail to Colvin, and created many new challenges. By the time we reached the top the storm had arrived and the snow and fog obstructed our view from the cliffs completely. We quickly started our descent, which involved a few more challenging steep sections, including a fairly long ladder that took us a while to climb down. But the fresh snow at least provided traction and cushion for our feet, and made the woods a beautiful sight. By the time we reached the lake road darkness started to set in, and the snow had turned to rain. Needless to say the 3 mile walk back was not the most enjoyable part of the hike, but surprisingly we passed two other groups of late hikers on the way, so we were not alone in being late in the day. We got back to our cars and headed for the nearest restaurant, the Ausable Inn, where we all dried ourselves by the fireplace while we waited for our meal. Wet, cold, and starving, the hike was still worth all the challenges of the day.

 
Sadly the hike up to Colvin is the last hike I'll be able to do this winter, as I'll be away from the Adirondacks for the next two months. I'm writing this blog from the upper peninsula of Michigan, where I'll be working until the end of April. I miss the Adirondacks already, but at least when I get back spring will have arrived, and I'll have plenty to write about.