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| The Trap Dike   | 
| Page Type: Route Location: New York, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 44.12690°N / 73.9603°W Route Type: Scramble, Insanity Test Time Required: A long day Difficulty: 5.5 or 5.6
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| Page By: mtboy417 Created/Edited: Dec 15, 2001 / Dec 16, 2001 Object ID: 156002 Hits: 4129 Loading... Page Score: 20.59% - 6 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Approach
Before starting - make sure you have a group of at leat 3, have a rope, have solid rock climbing expierence, and have guts. This is an amazing expierence that makes for a great day, and a great climb.
Reach Avalanche Lake by way of either Marcy Dam/ADK Lodge or the Upper Works. The route itself can be viewed from both bridges along Avalanche Lake. If, at this point, you can heard a waterfall, it would be smart not to attempt the climb at all, because high water in the dike makes it very very dangerous. At the south end of the lake, leave the trail and head back around the oppisite end of the lake towards the dike. Stay to the edge of the lake until you reach the stand of pine trees. At this point, you have reached the foot of the Trap Dike.
Route Description
Head up. You don't have much route choise, but its best to stay to the right of the stream in the lower section. Once you reach the first step, the climbing becomes hard, technical, and dangerous. Contine up several small cliffs. At the crux is a 30 foot waterfall that should not be climbed in high water. Only go on from here you can are totaly sure everyone can make the top, becuase it is very difficult to go back down. Head up the right side of the waterfall. Above the fall the grade of the dike eases. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO LEAVE THE DIKE HERE. The rock face is too steep and you cannot safely climb it. Continue in the dike, until a wall of pine trees is reached and it is fairly obvious you cannot continue.
Head out to the right, and you will see a small rock face. Head to the right, around the rock face, and out onto a small rock slide. Then head up again. It is not obvious right away that you are on a single rock slide, it seems more like a ptachwork of rock, but the slide becomes more steady and steep as you gain altitude. Awhile after leaving the dike, you should beable to see a bolder appearing at the top of the rock slide. Head for it, for it marks the summit. At the summit, be vary careful not to tread on the alpine meadow, it is very fragile. Desend by the trails off the summit.
IN THE WINTER
Crossing the lake on the ice may be possible, but take caution. The waterfall can be either steep snow or vertical ice depending on the amount of snowfall. Only attemp this with proper gear and a decent amount of expierence.
Essential Gear
In the summer, a rope could be used to protect the waterfall. Otherwise, just bring a lot of water, because it is scarce after you leave the dike, and until you reach lake coldon or one of several small creeks near the base of the mountain.
In the winter, crampons, an ice axe, and all the other ice climbing tools are needed.
Red Tape
Make sure the rangers know your route choise. If possible, stop and tell every ranger you see that you are climbing the dike. Make sure the ranger at Marcy Dam or Lake Coldon also knows you intend to climb the Trap Dike. Also BE SURE TO SIGN EVERY TRAIL REGISTER and state clearly that you are climbing the trap dike. Most rangers will nicely ask you not to climb, esp if there has been a lot of rain. If you are intent on climbing it, then just ignore them. But it is much better to tell those guys what you are doing so that they know someone is up there. If they do know, they will make a point to send a ranger up to Avalanche Lake to look at the route for any signs of trouble later that day, and they will also make a point to check your campsite and make sure you got back safely.
Miscellaneous Info
If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.
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Adirondacks
