Mount Skylight

Many climbers carry a stone to add to one of the two immense cairns on Skylight's summit. Supposedly failure to do so will guarantee rain on the descent.

Routes

Four Corners approach

35 summits • 19.0 mi • 4,635 ft gain • 11 hr 21 min

Gray Peak > 4 Corners

5 summits • 18.0 mi • 5,174 ft gain • 13 hr 23 min

Mount Skylight 23.8 mi route

2 summits • 23.8 mi • 4,083 ft gain • 17 hr 35 min

Mount Skylight 20.5 mi route

1 summit • 20.5 mi • 5,527 ft gain • 14 hr 19 min

Latest summits

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"Three knuckleheads tried to do a loop of Gray, Skylight and Marcy in a high water situation do to recent rains and snow melt. Almost every trail was a stream including the Skylight spur. Tedious day of boulder hopping with wet feet practically the whole day. Fortunately we got splendid views from both Marcy and Skylight which was great for the two knuckleheads who did these for the first time. Left Loj PA at 7am and returned close to 7:30 pm. We bailed on Gray, our first peak, as it was it was already afternoon and we still had the other two peaks to do and we had to do Marcy in order to get back to our car." — Nimblefoot • Oct 23, 2019

"We took advantage again of a 3 day weekend to do Gray, Skylight, Cliff & Redfield.We arrived on Friday at the Upper works trail-head and started around 1h00pm. We set out to camp at the Up Hill Lean to. It took us about 5 and a half to get there. The weather was hot and it slowed us down during mid point. Still we felt good about the hike. We intend as always to camp in our tent. luckily, there were not many people (benefits of arriving on a Friday afternoon).We were glad that the camp site was next to the uphill brook. We had fresh water to filter.We started our hike on Saturday morning around 8h00am. First we headed for Gray mountain. Our pace was good. There were some good climbing near the summit. The last main one appear quite difficult and a little bit dangerous. Fortunately, someone that was already at the top of the section, told us of a passage on the right.So at 10h30 we were at the top of Gray. We took a 30 minutes break to take some pictures and snack. Next stop: Skylight. The hike getting there was absolutely amazing. We kept stopping to gaze at the view and taking pictures. It took us 2 hours to get at the top of Skylight.After staying a little. We started to descend..." — CPaquin • Aug 2, 2019

"What an EPIC Day! With three w46er Mountain summits climbed, Grey Peak, Skylight and Mount Marcy highest point of New York State. 18 miles covered with Matt Topgun Peacock. Snowshoes most of the way, good pack trails, Started around 7:30 am till 8:30pm, out in the dark and totally exhusted but we did it! It was steak for dinner tonight! Enjoy" — ramjet1963 • Mar 9, 2019

"What was a questionable start to the day quickly turned into the perfect day to climb some high peaks. Summitted Marcy and Skylight before spending the night down at Lake Colden." — Right-On • Jun 15, 2018

"#45, with Caet Cash. The beginning of this day can be found on my Gray Peak log. After summiting Gray Peak, we headed down rapid fast out to the trail to the 4 corners. The trail conditions were still great, all hard packed, only spikes required. The 4 corners sign was pretty close to being underneath the snow. We made a relatively slow ascent of Skylight as the snow was a bit snotty and boy this sucker was steep! When we topped out, we were reminded of the sub zero temperatures as the wind was really blowing, and we took in the amazing scenery around us while looking for a good wind block (which we found). We relaxed for a few minutes and enjoyed the incredible views, we had such great visibility. We hit the summit at right around 15:00, so it took an hour and 15 minutes to get from Gray Peak to the summit of Skylight. We took a bunch of photos and headed back down around 15:30. It grew dark right around the time we were closing in on Flowed Lands, and Caet and I were really hustling despite my sore legs. We got back to the car at exactly 20:30. Due to the re-route on Gray, we wound up with 22 total miles, in 13.5 hours including an hour of summit stop time. Pretty proud of that. ..." — kellieirene • Mar 5, 2017

"Unbelievable hike, my third time was a charm! This was my wifes 1st time, we went up the Phelps trail, a moderate hike all the way. It was cool and partly cloudy skies but the clouds were high and the views were plenty. When we summited Marcy we figured we were feeling good so we decided to do Skylight and Gray. Skylight was another Gem and really not much effort coming from 4 Corners. Gray was actually the toughest of the three because it was steeper and more rugged terrain plus we were already 10 miles and two mountains in. But all three were worth every step, we then went out via the direction of the Felspar Lean-to and then to Marcy Dam and the ADK Loj. Actually that part of the trip was tough on the feet and legs. Glad we went up the Phelps trail, much nicer." — hbotc • Jul 30, 2016

"Probably the furthest mountain from any roads. The second peak of the day. Incredible views all around. Worth going back to on a sunnier day. Went back through Avalanche Pass." — newenglandwarrior • Jul 22, 2015

"Enjoyed an excellent day on the trails with our son and two friends hiking the Loop for Gray, Skylight and Marcy from the Loj. We started out at the Loj around 6:30 am and took our time through the floating bridges to Feldspar L2 and then onto Gray and the 4 corners to Sky and finally Marcy. The day was hot and humid (~85) but it was sunny and beautiful with bright blue skies. A great day!" — deb-and-rob • Jul 11, 2015

"trail conditions are muddy. a section of trail between uphill and feldspar is washed out. bushwhacking is required for this section. trail up to skylight is steep but fairly easy. " — Hillary • Jun 4, 2015

"Enjoyed a weekend backpacking trip through the ADKs where we hiked Gray, Skylight, Marcy, Haystack, Redfield and Cliff. The hike in from Tahawus was low, steady gain until the Flowed Lands with intermittent mud areas. The next 3 or so miles to Uphill L2 has some gain to it :) The junction for Gray is about 1.6 miles from the L2 area and is a slab type hike that is short and steep but it is not too difficult. After this we continued past Lake tear of the Clouds towards 4 corners and crossed over to climb Skylight. This trail was a bit longer and more of a rubble stream hike. The last part of the approach is a massive open rock summit and was awesome! We had the windy summit to ourselves and enjoyed a snack while we watched all of the people on Marcy. After that we hiked back down to 4 corners and started the ascent to Marcy. This approach to Marcy is a steep slab hike that leads to a very steep open rock scramble which was a bit tough but fantastic. After enjoying the crowded summit we went over and down the VH trail side towards Haystack. This route to Haystack is about 2.2 miles and is very steep but it is well worth the views - amazing. We returned to Marcy and back t..." — deb-and-rob • Jun 21, 2014

"Climbed Cliff, Redfield, Gray and Skylight from Upper Works. See my trip report and pics at: http://www.offonadventure.com/2013/02/cliff-redfield-gray-and-skylight-22613_26.html" — Telemarkmike • Feb 26, 2013

"kevin and myself start in the dark came out in the dark just under 12 hrs kevin twisted his knee last 6 mi were very painful for him but great hike otherwhise beatiful views prob. my fav. hike to date " — loonee1 • Nov 7, 2012

"This was the 2nd of 3 summits planned for the day. I did Marcy 1st and headed back down to Four Corners to Climb the .05 mile trail to Skylight. This may have been the easiest of the 5 summits I did this weekend. A simple trail up the east side of Skylight and I was at the summit in no time! It was a very spacious, flat summit with great 360 degree views of all surrounding high peaks including the party that was reaching maximum capacity on Marcy." — johngilligan • Sep 2, 2012

"The second of a three mountain hike - Gray, Skylight and Marcy. Started off at 6:10am; the hike officially ended at 8:35pm along the shoreline of Heart Lake. Made record time leaving the summit of Mt Marcy at 5:15pm, with a 15 minute break at Indian Falls. Awesome day. Skylight is one of my favorites!" — hikerchik46 • Jul 6, 2012

"Skylight was my first Adirondack High Peak. Frank and I came up from Panther Gorge where we were tent camping. I expected to like mountain hiking, but I loved Skylight, Marcy, and Gray so much that day that it started a lifelong passion. Sadly, I've never been able to return to Skylight." — barbaratraver • Aug 7, 1985