Hiking NY: Climbing Marcy (Tallest Peak in the State!)

Belated post from mine and Brad's camping and hiking trip a couple weeks ago! Right after my birthday we packed up the car for a "glamping" trip with my buddy Ken in the Adirondacks to finally summit the TALLEST peak in NY state--Mount Marcy! At 5,344ft it is the tallest of the "46" peaks in the state over 4,000ft. Not the hardest however, so that was some relief.

For this trip we set up camp at a roadside primitive spot on South Meadow (see my post here about the last time Brad and I camped in this same area....) and made ourselves right at home. I cooked dinner our first night and made stuffed burritos that Ken grilled on his stove.

We got up bright and early in the morning and hit the trail at 6:30am with our packs full of supplies for the day. We signed in at the first of two trail registers and continued on to our destination.

We passed several beautiful creeks and rivers, and beautiful forests along the way. As we got further in, the trail become more rocky and strenuous.

Several miles in we took a side trail to Indian Falls where we rested and refilled our water supply. It was an amazing overlook from the top of the falls to the peaks in the distance. After a snack and a rest, we hit the trail once again!

About a mile and a half from the summit we were just about above the treeline, then the rock slides started where we had navigate up steep inclines in the exposed hillside. Brad was full of energy so he went ahead of us and I occasionally caught glimpses of him on the open rocks. See if you can spot him!

The weather and the views were absolutely breathtaking all the way to the summit, but the trail just seemed to keep going and going!!! We could eventually see the actual summit getting closer.

Finally after one last difficult push we were at the final summit!! I got a picture of the summit plaque with Brad sitting right on top trying to stay warm in his fleece from the cold wind.

After getting our pictures out of the way, we sheltered behind a rock to block the wind and had our lunch and rested for awhile. And took our boots off!!! Unfortunately all good things come to an end and we had to suit back up for the long trek back to camp.

We clocked exactly 12 hours from start to finish including breaks, and we got back to camp at 6:30pm. Ken cooked us dinner this night which was delicious bacon cheeseburgers! The perfect meal after a long day.

Our final mileage count was approximately 15.6 miles with an elevation gain of 3,533ft. This mountain puts me at #20/46 and Brad at #6/46.