"Courtney and I intended to hike Marshall and Colden in a big loop from the Loj. An ambitious plan, but today was not the day. The forecast promised clouds in the morning possibly clearing by noon to partly cloudy. There was no rain in the forecast the night before or that day. Well, it rained a lot that night apparently, and we had a little rain off and on during the hike. But mostly it was just WET. We started from the trailhead by the Loj at 6:15 am. When we got to Marcy Dam there were hints of blue sky and among the clouds and we were hopeful. The beginning of the hike was great. We headed to Avalanche Pass and Avalanche Lake, which both of us were looking forward to as we hadn’t seen them before. And they were amazing. Avalanche Lake and the trail with the “Hitch-up Matildas” (catwalks anchored to the cliff wall), with the view of Colden across the way was incredible. Colden had clouds at the top but it was still looking promising for us to get there later in the day. We saw the Trap Dike across the way – something I wanted to hike (with a guide) and had planned at one point this summer - and it looked so menacing and inspiring at the same time. We could hear what was eith..." — kvander • Sep 3, 2021

"16 miles in 10 hours. Humid but not too hot of a day. Launched out of Upper Works Trailhead along the Calamity Brook Trail until branching off to the herd path to the Summit. Muddy everywhere, steep ascent on the herd path. Wooded summit, but a few lookouts with a decent view of Iroquois Peak. Continued northeast from the summit and met up with Cold Brook Trail, stopped by the plane wreck. At the end of Cold Brook, stopped by the DEC Outpost at Lake Colden. Met back up with Calamity Brook and continued back to Upper Works." — gregoryskiba • Aug 22, 2021