The Trap Dike

By:  Greg
August 2, 2010


For a long time I’ve been wanting to ascend the Trap Dike. When Lionel’s Forecast came in off the press last Thursday, I knew the green light had been signaled; it was on; it was time to HIKE THE DIKE! As you all know, this is an online skiing magazine, so you can probably guess my first motivation for wanting to get over there and check it out. That’s right: I want to go down this with some skis on my feet someday. My second motivation however is that The Trap Dike of Mount Colden in the Adirondack Park is just plain old cool. It is an obvious weakness on the north east face of the mountain. It rises abruptly from the high elevation Avalanche Lake, and winds an improbable route through a sheer cliff face up into the bare open slab faces of the mountain. The first ascent was recorded by a group of iron miners at the McIntyre Iron Company in 1850. Upon their return to the valley they killed a deer and had a wild celebration at the base of the mountain. Yeah that’s right: this dike is tres chic!
tres chic dike
(Copyright: Google 2009)

Our trek began (that usage of the word “trek” is for you Canadians!) when we crossed Lake Champlain at Crown Point from Vermont to New York. It was a beautiful crisp morning around 6am. The vibe of an excellent day was definitely in the air, similar to the last time we were in New York for mountain adventure.
crossing Lake Champlain at Crown Point

After a little confusion due to lack of navigational planning, we set out from South Meadows around 8am. About 45 minutes later we were greeted by Marcy Dam. The water it held back was still in the early morning, and satisfactory views of Colden were available in it’s reflection.
Colden in the reflection behind Marcy Dam

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Read about the author:   Greg
Enjoy this TR? Read another: TR: Yet Another Large TR

Related Stuff:

  1. TR: Skiing Mt. Colden’s Trap Dike
  2. HIKE WEEK! TR: The Trap Dike
  3. HIKE WEEK! Carried (Away) Up the Trap Dike
  4. Skiing Mt. Colden’s Trap Dike
  5. Carried (Away) Up the Trap Dike
  6. HIKE WEEK: SPA Trip #12 Windows on the World

5 Comments

  1. Lionel Hutz
    wrote on August 2nd, 2010 at 9:51 am  
    1

    Another note, if you look at the picture of the foot of the Dike…likely taken from Hitch-Up Matilda…you’ll see that there aren’t that many trees. Well a few years ago, this little grove was chocked with trees and one winter day, a large avalanche came ripping down the dike and opps…no more trees.

    Great job though!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  2. Porter Haney
    wrote on August 2nd, 2010 at 11:23 am  
    2

    Ahh. Would have been great to hike the dike. Too bad I was stuck in the pit toilet all day!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • K_C
      wrote on August 2nd, 2010 at 2:01 pm  
      3

      Fear not, you guys had a good time with a few more adventures along the way, more pics will be added later

    • Porter Haney
      wrote on August 2nd, 2010 at 3:20 pm  
      4

      Did Dwyer demonstrate his qualifications to be named the Friction King?

    • Greg
      wrote on August 2nd, 2010 at 3:28 pm  
      5

      As soon as I get home, I’ll flesh out the adventure of the BYO Haneys

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