"Started around 730 from Upper Works. It was a cold and windy day, but at least we were protected by trees and had peaking sun spots. The first 6ish miles to the Lake Colden area were gradual but felt like it took forever dodging pockets of ice, mud, rocks, and tree roots. Missed a turn just prior to the Cliff / Redfield junction which added about a half mile, wish there was better signage. The ascent Cliff was steep with tough icy cliffs to climb, including a false summit, and only a few peaking views. Redfield ascent followed a creek and was a higher but more gradual climb than Cliff. The views were at least incredible. Lost my phone on the way up but thankfully spotted it on the way down. The way back to the car took what seemed like forever, especially with 3 hours of it in the dark with our headlamps. Ended up being more like 20 miles in 12 hours. Glad these two are done." — gregoryskiba • Nov 16, 2024

"Rained very heavy all night long, started from Uphill Lean-to once the rain dissipated at 9am. Very wet and muddy trail. summited Cliff at 10:45am. Slow going due to conditions - slippery, muddy. No view at summit. Did not get back to Loj until 8:45PM. Very long day. " — catearonson • Sep 26, 2024

"We camped the night before near Colden Lake. We started by hiking to the summit of Cliff: We had to go through a pool of mud at the base of the mountains, then climb a few cliffs or go around them. Overall, it went better than I expected. There is a false summit before the summit of Cliff. There is no view on the summit, but you can see Colden mountain while going down. Then we went for Redfield. The path follows the Uphill brook for a while, which is nice. The path is literally just big rocks almost up to the top and it seems like it will never end. There is a view at the summit on a lot of mountains that I didn`t know. On the way down, there is a view on Algonquin and Iroquois which is nice. " — hiking-Brigitte • Sep 23, 2024

"This was an absolute grinder of a day. Busted out of the lean-to around 9:30am and didn't get back until twilight around 8pm. Ran/fast-packed and filtered water the whole way. I made a loop out east of Colden Lake area and was able to pick off 6 of the Adirondack 46'ers (46 peaks over 4,000') on this route - Colden, Tabletop, Marcy (the NY state HP), Gray, Skylight and Cliff. Running through deep mud, rocks, climbing some class 3 rock faces (Cliff was a bitch!) and hiking/running up and down tree line. Long ass day, but wouldn't have it any other way. " — wiweasel • Aug 26, 2024

"Coming from Lake Colden, you will have a stunning hike along the Opalescent River which features numerous waterfalls and gorges. When you reach the uphill lean-to area, the trail is somewhat hidden on the right. Shortly down this trail you will reach a pile of rocks which is the crossroads between Cliff and Redfield. Go right for Cliff, left for Redfield. I would recommend doing Cliff first, as it is the more challenging of the two. Cliff Mountain Trail is very muddy in wet conditions and hard to follow in certain spots. GPS is very helpful on this trail. There are many sections of the trail that are steep rock faces, and you will need to climb them on all fours. This summit is wooded and offers a limited view. The trail up Redfield is much more consistent and moderate in grade and is less muddy. Most of the trail has you following the Uphill Brook. It is much more pleasant and less challenging than the trail up Cliff. The summit is similar to Cliff's and offers a decent but limited view to the south." — ThermarestCompressiblePillow • Jul 2, 2024

"We were on the trail at 5:37 am with a temperature of 45 degrees. We have been fortunate to have had such cool temperatures for our last three hikes and this makes it four! Bugs have been virtually absent from all four of these hikes and for June in the Adirondacks, that’s pretty rare! Since we did Redfield on 6/5, we knew the majority of the trail except after the cairn indicating the split between Redfield and Cliff. Our research had made us aware of a muddy “bog” shortly after the split, and then several series of “rock scrambles” that comprise the “cliffs”. There is really nothing to say that hasn’t already been said about this hike by others….mud, mud and more mud…”cliff” sections that are tricky to negotiate and pretty much no view at the summit. But…if you want to be a 46’r, you need to do it. We were at the cairn that defined the location of the herd path (7.6 miles in) at 10:20 am, so we were pretty slow. This was due to several breaks we took along the way that were longer than we normally take. We had a snack and started up the herd path at about 10:30 am. About 10 minutes later, we hit the 2nd cairn which defines the Redfield/Cliff split. Shortly after going up this tra..." — TJandMS • Jun 30, 2022

"We joined Erik B's team for Cliff and Redfield. The group included Molly and I, Lynn K, Nora, and another lady. We left the ADK Loj shortly after 6:30am. We headed to Marcy Dam, then Avalanche Pass. The pass and lake were beautiful with all of the ice. We crossed the center of the lake, then headed out of the pass. We skirted along the edge of Colden Lake, then made our way to the lean to to start the herd paths. We went up Cliff first while we were still fresh. Tough hike. Crampons were used and it took us awhile to get up the icy ledges. We reached Cliff in the clouds. Surprisingly, coming down was a lot easier. We then headed up Redfield and it was a long slog. Easy going, but a lot of up. We had some undercast while we were up there. We came back down and took the same route out. We crossed Colden Lake in the dark and Avalanche Pass in the dark. We got back to the Loj just shy of 8pm. Long day for a 21 mile hike. I gained +2 on my 46r winter. I also set a new personal record of 121 4000 footers in a single year. Molly and I headed home the next day." — newenglandwarrior • Dec 29, 2021

"Came in through Upper works night before. Set out in morning with on and off mist throughout the day. Climbed Redfield first which wasn’t too bad. Then hit Cliff, lots of mud to begin with and some fun scrambles. Stomach not feeling good made a long hike out after packing up. 39 and 40" — bbergman • Sep 3, 2021

"We hiked in the day before from Upper Works and our goal was to reach Uphill brook. About 20 minutes into the hike, it began to pour. We hiked the 8 miles to Uphill brook in pouring rain. When we arrived at the campsite, there were a few groups there and it was misty and cold. We were frozen to the bone. We camped that night in our hammocks and then did Cliff and Redfield the next day. Cliff's herd path was another truly terrible one. Mud, roots, water the whole way up. Redfield only slightly better." — hanawalton • Jul 28, 2021

"Tom and I did the trio of Cliff, Redfield and Gray on a cloudy drizzly day with wind on the summits. No views and plenty of water and mud on the trails/herd paths to soil ourselves quite well. Puts Tom at 39 peaks towards his 46r quest." — Nimblefoot • Sep 1, 2020