Phelps Mountain

"Every mile is two in winter."

 - George Herbert

The VanHoevenberg Trail is the most used trail in the Adirondacks, and for good reason.  Starting at the Adirondak Loj, this trail is the primary route up Mount Marcy.  Along the way, it also bring you to Marcy Dam, one of the major trail hubs, a popular camping spot, and a common final destination for novice hikers or those without much time to spare for a longer trip.  Some hikers and backpackers, however, call the VanHoeverberg "The Adirondack Highway"; in some spots it is as wide as a road, there is very little elevation gain from it's start until Marcy Dam (2.3 miles in), and packed down about as hard as concrete.

In early 2009, my buddy Kaleb and I planned a winter ascent of Phelps and Tabletop Mountains, which are both reached by following the VanHoevenberg.  Winter hikes have proven to be much more difficult to me than my summer backpacking trips.  Even with trekking poles, you posthole all the time in the spaces between boulders filled in by snow drift.  Try as hard as you might, and even bringing extra hats and mittens/gloves, I've always gotten every piece of clothing I brought soaked through.  Most of my food becomes frozen, even though I do my best to keep it warm, and even keeping the lid of your nalgene from freezing shut is a chore.  On my winter hike of Algonquin and Wright, Kaleb and I had planned to stay overnight at Marcy Dam.  Even using my ice axe, it was basically impossible to break through the surface of the lake to make getting water easier.  Everything was a huge pain.  We had also kept an eye on the forecast that week, and every day the forecast for the day got colder and colder.  Even still, it wasn't supposed to get colder than 0 degrees, and my sleeping bag was rated to 0, Kaleb's to -20 degrees.  I brought a fleece liner and figured I'd be ok.  Neither of us could stay asleep at night, however, waking up several times due to the cold.  At one point, my feet had extreme pins-and-needles pain and my buddy couldn't stop shivering.  It was at that time we decided to pack up and head back to the trailhead, even though it was 3 am.  When we arrived back at the Loj, we checked the thermometer and it read -15 degrees.  Even though we had prepared, winter camping is very uncomfortable and highly dangerous.  But I digress...

So Kaleb and I hiked in from the Loj, sights set on two peaks for the day.  By this point we were fairly seasoned hikers and we arrived at Marcy Dam in no time.  The skies were overcast, leading us to worry some about summit weather.

We took a quick break to fuel up at the Dam before continuing onward.  It's important to stay hydrated and also to eat enough while winter hiking, even more so than while hiking in the summer.  It is estimated that a person of average size burns between 450 and 500 calories per hour of snowshoeing, and you also dehydrate faster because the air is so dry and it's windy, both of which suck the moisture right out of your skin.  Continuing past the Dam, stay on the Marcy trail.  In another 0.8 miles you will come to the trail junction with the Phelps trail.  From there it is only another 0.6 - 0.7 miles to the summit.

Phelps Mountain is named after Orson Schofield Phelps, also known as Old Mountain Phelps.  He's a prominent figure in Adirondack history.  He boasted of climbing his favorite mountain, Marcy, over 100 times and in 1850 guided two women to the top and back, gaining local renown for guiding them safely there.  

I look pretty much the same, right? 

Phelps Mountain is the 32nd highest mountain in New York State at an elevation of 4160 feet.  Although it is only #32 in height, it has wide expansive views of Mounts Marcy, Haystack, the McIntyre Range, and more, with an incredible perspective looking right down Avalanche Pass.  It's summit is very small, though, only the size of a standard kitchen.  On a day such as when we hiked, there were many people up there, which caused some traffic jams on the trail near the top and made the summit somewhat congested.

We stayed on the summit longer than planned in order to get some solitude.  We waited out everyone else who had summitted that day to get the peak to ourselves.  Partly due to how long we stayed on the top though, and partly because of the added physical demands of hiking in the winter, we decided not to attempt Tabletop; eight miles in snowshoes was enough for one day.  I will say, though, that winter hiking gives you a crisp feeling that's hard to come by in other months.