Hiking in the White Mountains: Van Hovenberg Trail

Date of Hike: 12/21/13

Van Hovenburg Trail: 3.2 miles / Phelps Trail: 2.4 miles / Van Hovenburg Trail 3.2 miles
Total Miles: 8.8 miles (2,200 feet elevation gained)

Trip Report:
- After two years of putting off winter hiking in the Adirondacks it was finally time to head up to the High Peaks and tackle the Forty-Sixers. I was looking forward to snowy conditions and dramatic views, however, the weather had other plans as a warm front came through turning the trails into a sloppy spring conditions mess!
- Temperatures were in the forty's throughout the hike, there were no views, and there was a light drizzle and showers that fell throughout the hike.
- I started off on the Van Hovenburg Trail that leaves from the ADK Loj trailhead. The ADK Loj and the Van Hovenburg Trail are usually some of the busiest places in the High Peaks, but today there wasn't much activity. I packed up my gear in the iced over parking lot and chatted with a guy who was planning to spend a night with his buddy and attempt to ascend Mount Marcy either today or tomorrow.
- I set off just before 8:30 in the morning and put on my microspikes right away as conditions were a little whacky to say the least! Ice, snow, slush, and standing water blanketed the trail as I made my way to Marcy Dam. The Van Hovenburg Trail is pretty tame, it's a nice walk into Marcy Dam with a few ups and downs and the trail is marked with blue plastic discs.
- Around Marcy Dam there are designated campsites and lean-to's everywhere, usually these are bumping with activity but with the awful weather blanketing the region no one was to be found.
- I forged my way past Marcy Dam, crossed Phelps Brook on a snowbridge that was still stable, for now, and made my way to the Phelp's Trail Junction.
- The Phelp's Trail is just over a mile to the summit and never gets too steep. The trail was a mess as the warm weather ruined the packed snow. It was the equivalent of hiking through a Layer Cake, as there were a couple of inches of standing water, with a couple more inches of slush on top, with yet a couple more inches of snow on top. I started punching through pretty badly so I put on my snowshoes, which only helped a little. I kept falling through but I wasn't slipping around anymore so that was a plus.
- I finally reached the summit and wandered around for a bit before heading down. It was raining pretty hard and the wind was whipping but I wasn't too cold since it was unseasonably warm out.
- I booked it back down the Phelp's Trail, slipping and sliding every couple of steps, by now I was soaked, even my waterproof boots started leaking as every other step I sunk in about a half foot into freezing water.
- Back at the Van Hovenburg Junction I decided to head back to my car instead of heading up to Table Top Mountain. I was hoping there would be some other crazy hikers out there wanting to do both but I didn't run into anyone until about a mile and a half from my car.
- The walk back was uneventful, I did get a decent view of the Wright Peak slides from Marcy Dam.
- Back at the car I changed into dry clothes just as it started to pour, perfect timing!

Entering the High Peaks Wilderness

Van Hovenberg Trail

Snow and slush mix in the middle of the trail

Iced over Vanhovenberg Trail

Marcy Dam

New bridge that crosses the Marcy Brook downstream from the dam

Marcy Brook Footbridge

Marcy Dam

Snow bridged Phelps Brook

Slush conditions

Phelps / Van Hovenburg Trail Junction

Melting ice flows on the Phelps Trail

Phelps Trail

Gaining the ridge on the Phelps Trail

Just below the summit of Phelps Mountain

Beautiful views from the summit today!

Phelps Mountain

Snowshoe posthole

ice, slush, and snow descending the Phelps Trail

Postholing with snowshoes??!!

Phelps Brook

Van Hovenberg / Avalanch Pass Trail Junction

Wright Peak slides, one is called Angel, the other one I forgot, I want to say squirrel but it looks like a rabbit or dog to me!

Marcy Dam Pond and Wright Peak

Marcy Dam

Marcy Dam, used to be a bridge over it but Hurricane Irene destroyed it

Marcy Dam

Date of Hike: 6/2/12

South Meadow Truck / Van Hovenbrg / Phelps Spur Trails: 9.4 miles (2,000 feet elevation gain)

Trip Report:
-Saturday was a wash with a steady drizzle and low lying clouds. I had no intentions of hiking a mountain so I decided to head over to the Ausable Club and stroll down Lake Road and if the clouds lifted a little I would head over to Indian Head, Fish Hawk Cliffs, and maybe Rainbow Falls. As I parked my car and put on my backpack the drizzle was now heavier so I thought what's the rush, let me wait in the car a little longer to see if the steady drizzle tapers off. I threw my backpack into the back of my Jeep Compass, closed the hatchback and immediately said "Oh Sh!t." My backpack had my keys in it, my car was locked! Luckily enough I was at one of the very few trailheads where civilization was in abundance, the private Ausable Gulf Club, so I went into the main building, called AAA and within an hour of locking my keys in my car a truck came, the guy got out this cool contraption that looked like a canvase like sleeve which he wedged into the door jam, then squeezed a rubber valve which blew air into the sleeve expanding it creating a tiny open space into the car where he then took a long wire and snaked it into the car was able to tap the wire on the unlock button and BAM I was saved!
- After all this hoopla I had no interest of walking Lake Road in the drizzle and oddly enough I was now 0 for 2 at the Golf Club, last year I backed the Xterra into a rock in an embankment, leaving a cool looking dent. So I decided to cut my losses and head north to see if if it was any dryer.
- Luckily as I drove out of Keene Valley the rain stopped and actually it was relatively dry so I pulled onto Adirondack Lodge Road, banged a left onto South Meadow Road, and started hiking on the South Meadow Truck Trail to Marcy Dam.
- The dam is still compromised and the bridge over it will not be replaced (I think), the DEC are in the process of building a bridge downstream from the dam but it's just not the same as the bridge over the dam. I was lucky enough to get to hang my feet off the bridge last year and enjoy the views of Marcy Dam Lake and the mountains before Hurricane Irene swept the bridge away, damaged the dam, and drained the lake.
- I decided to head up the Van Hoevenberg Trail to the Phelps Spur Trail to the summit of Phelps Mountain. I was amazed to see about two dozen hikers on the Van Hoe Trail with the weather being so crappy. Most of these hikers were teenagers trodding through the mud with that "will this ever end" look on their faces!
- The trail up to Phelps starts off ok but then becomes muddy and rooty. It's not a fun trail but not difficult at all and there are pretty good views from the summit ledges, however on this day it was heavy smoke/white colored clouds. So I snapped a few pictures and jetted back down to the Van Hoe Trail and back to Marcy Dam where I took a quick break before trail running the final 2.5 miles back to the car as the rain started to fall.
- It was a no views hike but I was really happy that I was out there on the trails considering I went brain dead and locked myself out of the Compass!

Pictures: Click here for all pictures