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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Avalanche Lake

Location: Peru, NY (High 88, Low 62)

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Last week we did a short hike with the boys. Yesterday we had a more ambitious goal – hiking about 4.5 miles to Avalanche Lake. I have done this hike before, and have been looking forward to doing it again all summer!

 

IMG_6553The trailhead for Avalanche Lake is at the Adirondack Loj in Lake Placid. The first two miles is the trail to Marcy Dam, and from there there are a number of different hikes you can take.

 

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We stopped at Marcy Dam to have a bite of trail mix and enjoy the beautiful landscape.

 

 

 

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You can see in the background the old bridge across. It was taken out by Hurricane Irene.

 

 

IMG_1977We had to hike a short distance to the new bridge across the water.

 

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It took us about two and a half hours to hike to Avalanche Pass, which is just a short distance before the lake itself.

Pictures do not do it justice.

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After Avalanche Pass, we continued the short distance to Avalanche Lake. This 4.55 miles took us almost exactly three hours.

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We stopped here to eat our lunch.

 

Then we had a decision to make. The hike so far had taken us three hours. On the road coming in to the Loj, there was a bridge being worked on. We had been told on the way in that it would be closed, with no way out - possibly until 5 pm. If we continued at the same pace (and the way out is usually quicker) we would be sitting at the Loj waiting for the road to open. So we decided to continue on the trail toward Lake Colden.

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This was a very challenging portion of the trail, with a lot of ladders and climbing across rocks.

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But there were also some gorgeous views.

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After a little over an hour going around the lake, we decided it was time to turn back, so we never did make it to Lake Colden. Another day!

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The hike back to the Loj went pretty quickly, and we arrived back around 4:15.

 

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It ended up being a good thing we took that extra loop, because the road still wasn’t open. We bought a cold drink and a few minutes later saw a couple cars heading out. We decided to take a chance and followed them out, and were happy to see that they had just opened the bridge. Good timing!

It was an awesome day, and another great hike. Smile

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