Lake Arnold again?!?!

Following my recent half successful hike of Skylight and Gray, I had to go back and finish the job. Since this weekend marks the combined celebration of Canadian and American holidays I opted to take the less travelled Lake Arnold/Feldspar approach. Less travelled perhaps except by me. This would be my third trip along the Lake Arnold trail in a month (Cliff, Skylight and now Gray). As I made my way along I wondered to myself if this qualified me for some sort of discount or maybe helicopter ride back from the Feldspar lean to??

The holiday weekend solitude was complete as I didn't encounter a soul all the way to summit of Gray. There were however a lot of different kinds song birds chirping and singing as I followed these familiar trails which made for nice company. The herd path to Gray is steep, wet and muddy but mercifully short. I managed to stay dry and made it to a short cliff section where there is a tenuous detour around to the right. I was almost more nervous on this stretch than I would have been on the cliff as it does not appear to be very stable. I bet it will itself need a detour in the future. The summit itself has some surprisingly nice view, especially of the slide on the back of Colden and from a distance of Big Slide. It is always a highlight for me to get a view of Big Slide from a peak.

I gave some thought to the bushwack over to Mt Marcy but after about 50 yards I decided not. I met my first person of the day on the way back down the herd path. Back at Lake Tear I gave some thought to returning via Mt Marcy but it was hot and I figured by then it would be a carnival up there. I stopped at the Feldspar lean to to see if that helicopter would show up. I spent a half hour snacking and easing my sore feet in the soothing waters of the Opolescent Brook but the copter never showed. A slow slog out on a hot afternoon and I'm happy to say that I won't be walking that trail again for a long while.

Next stop ... Allen ... who's in?