Tabletop Mountain

"After yesterday’s 19 mile trek of Skylight and Marcy the three knuckleheads chose to do an easier out and back of Tabletop and Phelps. The Van Hoe trail seemed to be a bit drier and the water level in the brooks receded overnight. What started out as a blue sky sunny day, begging for shorts and t-shirt to be worn, turned to overcast by noon. On Phelps, our second peak, light rain and strong wind was added to the mix. After taking in the diminished view we retreated into the trees to be more comfortable for our late lunch. Earlier in the day we got a fine view near the summit of Tabletop after making our way through the mud and water hazards on the herd path." — Nimblefoot • Oct 24, 2019

"Was a beautiful sunny morning at the summits of Phelps and Tabletop Mountains from the LOJ trail Via Marcy Dam,, Trails were well packed and the views on both summits were amazing,, Found Tabletop a might bit of a slog but with a little determination made it to the summit for my very first Solo winter 46ers,, Excellent Day!" — ramjet1963 • Mar 2, 2019

"This was another fantastic day for this hike. It was cold and sunny in the morning. We had heard that Tabletop was a muddy trail, so we took advantage of the cold weather and the presence of snow to do it.We had let ourselves been told that the view at the top was not that great. We were actually surprised on how nice it was. Maybe it was because of the cold weather and snow. Still we had an amazing day.We returned just in time before the sunset.Oh yes, we also made a detour to Indian Falls.Once again, the Adirondacks offer the best views. My wife Brigitte Doyon and I will remember this hike for a long time.https://www.alltrails.com/explore/recording/tabletop-indian-falls" — CPaquin • Nov 11, 2017

"Solo. First High peaks post-back injury/surgery. Camped out at South Meadows. Out of climbing shape due to muscle loss. Still made it. harder on my legs than it was on my back." — ndru-virus • Aug 27, 2017

"Second high peak of the day, and what a muddy boggy mess !! The last section of "trail" at the top was about 12in deep in thick sloppy mud in parts. We pushed on and grabbed #7 in our quest for the 46ers. A great day to be in the mountains Today, weather was awesome, views amazing. 7/46." — UK-Ranger • Jul 29, 2017

"High Peak #7 - Done with Phelps Mountain. If I were to sum up this hike in one word, that would would definitely be "muddy". But that's just one part of what gives this mountain its "personality" - The great views and the challenging trail are all part of the enjoyment of this peak." — RangersApprentice • Jul 29, 2017

"Enjoyed a great hie with friends as they work towards earning their W46. Base is nice and deep this year, trail was well broken out, temps were frigid and a nice storm was on the way in. Met many folks out enjoying the crispy winter day - nice 10.5 mile RT hike, about 5.5 hours RT" — deb-and-rob • Jan 14, 2017

"Solo. Definitely not one of my favorites. I'm getting tired of hiking the trail in from the Loj. Haha. I started out around 0815, and unfortunately maintained an absolutely ruthless pace through the entirety of the day to avoid hiking *with* other hikers, of which there were a remarkable amount considering it was Tuesday. I did stop to chat with some on the way up as well as the descent, but I prefer to move along alone for the most part. I'm beginning to see that the "trail-less" peaks of the Daks will never be like the Catskills. Upon leaving the marked trail, there was still a blatant trail- "trail-less" just seems to mean zero trail maintenance, and due to overuse, massively rutted trails filled with standing water & mud- and at times trails 3x as wide as they really need to be due to people walking around the mud.. Making more mud! I can't wait until winter. This hike didn't hold my interest very well, but the view at the summit was quite nice despite some trees in the way. I completed this hike in a bit under 5 hours round trip, including stop time talking to some awfully nice folks when I was on my way down. I only took two photos on this hike! 20/46. " — kellieirene • Aug 30, 2016

"Another great hike, had showers early morning and a bit of overcast when Deb and I made the summit of Tabletop but still had good views. The rain made the trails a bit slick and the air humid. After the trek up Tabletop we made our way to Phelps by that time it was a little dryer and the skies had cleared some for even better views. Found the trail up Tabletop very easy, really not steep at all, Phelps was steady moderate and steeper toward the summit." — hbotc • Aug 6, 2016

"After leaving MT. Colden and Indian Falls, we headed towards Table Top. Herd Path was easy to find and follow. Alot of small rock slides and tree roots to traverse. Arrived at the summit around 5:15 I think? We decided not to do Phleps as we were both pretty sore and tired and we wouldn't have made it back before dark. We arrived back at the car at 8:59pm. Misc. Notes: * Temps were low to mid 70's * Mosquitoes were out in full force when you weren't moving * I was having a tough time ascending this mountain because I was so out of breath. I had to keep stopping every so often to rest. This definitely slowed us down. * Total trip time - 13.5 hours and 15 miles (hiked Colden before this)" — jackmhare • Jun 4, 2016

"Solo hike, started around noon, stopped at Indian Falls on the way up and got to the top at about 3:30. I stayed at the top for about an hour. Had a fast pace coming down since its not terribly steep. I did take more breaks on the way out. Got back to my car at the meadows after dark around 8." — country7man • Mar 12, 2016

"Late start from the Loj and I wanted to get this after Phelps and be back by dark. Left Loj at 11:30. Blue Van Ho trail to Phelps Junction (70 minutes) (took two hours to summit, lunch and walk around a bit on Phelps/descend.) From Phelps Jct to Indian Falls and Tabletop herd path (50 minutes) From herd to Tabletop summit (30 minutes) From Tabletop/Van Ho Jct to Marcy Dam (50 minutes) Marcy Dame to Loj (40 minutes) Total time 6:30 (including approx 30 minute summit break) Not a bad day. I ran some of the way up and back. Tabletop herd path was really easy to follow and pretty dry! Go on a wet day or in the spring and this is one nasty, muddy trench trail" — johngilligan • Aug 31, 2015

"After making a wrong turn, I changed my plans on the fly and did Tabletop and Phelps. There were random view points from the trail and at the summit, but nothing broad. The trail had lots of roots to navigate around, since it was a herd path. " — newenglandwarrior • Jul 21, 2015

"weather held on for the duration of my hike. spur to table top was a running stream to the summit. no view and very windy on top. one good thing about hiking this time of year are the lack of crowds. saw very few people on the trail and had a prime parking spot at the trailhead!" — Hillary • Oct 28, 2014

"This was our first 46er hike in the snow. There was snow on the first section of the trail near the Loj in the morning, but it was warm enough that it all melted by the time we made it back down. We had some nice views near the summit." — mrs-beast-of-the-east • Apr 14, 2014

"Excellent winter hike. About 20 degrees and snowing at the Loj TH at 9:30 when we started. Very few on the trails today but the initial trail to Marcy Dam was well worn by snowshoe's. One we reached the dam we took the Phelps trail towards Phelps. At this point there appeared to be 2- 3 hikers ahead of us on shoes and spikes. We reached the Phelps TH and saw that no one had ventured that way - we were headed to TT. The temp continued to drop and the snow gradually deepened a little from this point. Once we reached the TT herd path we saw that the hikers ahead of us were continuing on and we would be breaking trail the rest of the way. The trail up was not hard to follow and although we enjoyed the ice covered summit there was no view with the storm today. Great hike none the less. The temp was falling so we chose to pass on Phelps and we were back down and at the Loj by 4:30 with a temp of 5 degrees. A little longer than expected but it was John's first winter peak so we took it slow and kept it safe and fun. " — deb-and-rob • Jan 20, 2014

"19th ADK Peak! Following our descent of Phelps we lingered at the trail junction for a while. We were feeling quite tired in comparison to other hiking days but knew we needed to move on. There were two chipmunks eating some raisins a few hikers had left behind. We observed them for a while and then decided it was time to move on to our second peak of the day- Tabletop. Once we returned to the main trail we hiked about 1 mile in. We initially had difficulty determining whether we should hike on the main trail leading to Marcy or take the trail marked "ski trail only". We were aware Tabletop was another unmarked, unmaintained trail and therefore we were unsure if the access was off of the ski trail. After several minutes of hiking back and forth on each trail, followed by debating, GPS searching and map locating, we finally decided to take the main trail towards Marcy. We continued on the main trail for a while until we hit an intersection/trail junction with a sign indicating Marcy was further toward the left. A very short distance straight ahead was a cairn by a tree with a sign indicating the trail head for Tabletop. Ironically, just around the corner there was also access from t..." — elizabethsweet • Jul 21, 2012

"Partly cloudy, but no wind and some breaks of sun. We started late for us (10 am), and finished at 5. Walked to South Meadow Road to the Truck Trail to Van Hoevenburg and up the herd path. See my trip report and pictures at: http://www.offonadventure.com/2012/04/table-top-mountain-keene-ny-33112.html" — Telemarkmike • Mar 31, 2012

"Back when I was a senior in High School I took a class called Wilderness Wise. It is the best class I have ever taken. For our "final exam" we hiked 2 High Peaks and then completed a 4 day canoe trip from Long Lake all the way through to Lower Saranac Lake including a stop to climb Ampersand Mountain. Our first peak (my first Adirondack peak ever) was Tabletop. We then headed to Porter for peak #2 for the day" — cuterocky • May 21, 2007

"From the family Journal: 10/10/1999 Dan, Jodie, Joe, and Tam hiked with the Reilly Family our destination, Tabletop. Our first "trailless" peak. THe day was a bit warmer - 40's and pretty clear - the day is supposed to cloud up and rain by afternoon - but someone forgot to explain that because after our breakfast at Marcy Dam, it begins to drizzle. Our favorite trail - Van Hoevenburg - & rain too - what a lovely day. Tammy is not feeling too well and Joe is crabbing - something about Van Hoevenberg & never climbing a high peak again. After I put moleskin on a hot spot on Joe's heel, he was a little better. No Ice! We arrived @ Indian Falls, which as I mentioned in our Mt Marcy climb 7/98 with enough rain the "little stream" really is quite large. We go back about 1/4 mile to a rock cairn that marks the start of the herd path to the summit of Tabletop. The peak is officially trailless but it's obvious some trees have been cleared away and branches cut. Perhaps not official trail maintenance but something. Despite the book's warning about false trails and turning off the wrong way - the trail leads directly to the summit. 1 hour of climbing, hauling yourself over wet rocks &..." — tscha1 • Jul 10, 1997