Mt. Marcy via Van Hoevenberg Trail

I did this hike on Monday. I started at 7:15am and summitted at 12:50pm. 5 hours 35 minutes. I was back down at the trailhead by 6:25pm having left the summit at 1:40pm. Till Marcy Dam the trail was fairly normal and what I was used to. Not particularly difficult. It stayed that way pretty much till the split fork for Phelps Mountain. Beyond the Phelps fork, the trail became progressively more rocky and significantly steeper. While this in itself wasn’t a challenge, the sheer height of the rock steps while not being steep enough to scramble was a major issue. Weather was excellent on Monday despite the thunderstorm forecast. Descent was MUCH harder. This is where my ankle support became particularly helpful due to the numerous slips I had due to poor judgement which would have twisted my ankle had it been unsupported. Ensure that your shoes are a comfortable size (ideally 1 higher than your normal size) so your toes don’t smack as hard into the front of the shoe. Cut toe nails are also helpful. It helped decrease impact pressure. This is something I seriously missed that made the descent extremely painful. There is a reason this climb is recommended for experienced hikers only. This was my first big mountain hike and I had been running 5k’s in 28 minutes earlier. So my fitness wasn’t particularly bad. And it was still incredibly difficult for me. You need to be at a very high level of fitness to even consider this hike as anything but a significant challenge. It is however still easier than Algonquin as it isn’t as steep though the final summit scramble is still a significant challenge if you haven’t scrambled before and aren’t in shape. I feel I got lucky on this part because I didn’t find it that difficult considering I had been hiking for 5 hours by the time I reached it. In conclusion, if you’re at a solid level of fitness and have completed 3-4 hour hikes with decent elevation gain before, Marcy will be a challenge but achievable. Having slightly upsize shoes and cutting your toenails will make the descent far easier and less painful. Do NOT skip ankle support. You’ll regret it when you twist your ankle. Aug 9, 2018