Important info for anyone hiking in the High Peaks.

To: 46ers
Sent: Tue, Aug 30, 2011 6:00 am

Subject: from DEC

Flew the high peaks this afternoon. Lots of slides in the High Peaks Region - Wright, Colden-north, Trap Dike, Basin, Haystack, Wolfjaws, Dixes, Giant ... I lost track after a while. The bridge over Marcy Dam is gone and the dam is leaking significantly. There are numerous washouts on the Marcy Dam Truck Trail. Marcy Brook between Marcy Dam and Avalanche Camps jumped its banks, carved a new channel and wiped out much of the trail. The VH trail above Marcy Dam is eroded 1-3 ft deep in many places. The handrails on the suspension bridge on the Calamity Pond trail are gone and the trail is not passable. The biggest news was that Duck Hole Dam breached and the pond dewatered. The Adirondak Loj road is closed at the bridge crossing just south of the South Meadows Rd. Interbrook Rd (access to the Garden) is not passable past the Johns Brook Bridge. DEC has closed all trails in the eastern management zone of the High Peaks Wilderness, Dix Mtn Wilderness and Giant Mtn Wilderness. The press release should be going out tomorrow if it has not already. Tom: I'm sorry, we did not fly west to Duck Hole, so I am unsure what the Cold River Valley is like,, and I have not looked at the trail through Moose Pond and Wanika Falls.