This nearly 20 mile loop is the absolute best way to do Marcy and grab a little extra along the way. Mount Marcy can be done by itself but Skylight and Grey are pretty deep into the woods, and far from any other good parking location – so you might as well grab them while you’re out there. The other option is to take the Elk Lake trail up to Skylight and Grey, which is a long trip from either the LOJ or The Garden Lot, or wherever else.
Marcy is a classic and one of the most rewarding climbs in the ADK. If you only ever end up doing one (as is the case with most people), this one is almost certainly a safe bet. Mount Marcy towers above the rest of the range and offers great 360 views. Although this climb is very long, it isn’t particularly difficult, with the most elevation and scrambling occurring in the final mile or two. I’m not saying it’s easy, but it’s nowhere close to the hardest among the 46.
Skylight and Gray are seated behind Marcy and are both quite tall and close to Marcy. Skylight is open and sprawling, with spectacular views looking back at Mount Marcy or south out of the valley. Gray is almost completely the opposite, offering very little to see,being mostly wooded, it has a few challenging scrambles and is totally unmarked – even by herd path standards. Not bad or anything, but not as good as Skylight and Marcy.
The offshoots to both of these peaks can be missed, especially Gray, so make sure you’ve got some map and terrain awareness going into it. There are options getting back to the lodge after you’ve hit all three, the most expedient being through Lake Arnold and the most beautiful being through Avalanche Pass. Lake Arnold is nightmare fuel, anyone who has been already – knows. Calling it “lake” and not a “bog” is incredibly generous.
King of the Adirondacks, highest point in the entire state. I know those boys out west feel a certain way about what we call mountains, but hey, this one is as legit as they come. It does kind of feel special to step foot here, and we’ve done it in blistering hot Summers and in the midst of a literal winter storm. They say it’s lonely at the top, I say it’s beautiful.
Skylight is arguably one of the best high peaks with top 10 views and a wide open peak. This is one of Kevin’s favorites and the odds are pretty good that we’ll be making a few more visits to this one, either as part of the loop or on its own. I, unfortunately, passed out while we were on this peak for a quick nap, but what little of it I did drink went down smooth.
Gray has the unfortunate position of being the weak link of this trifecta, and it’s really not even that bad. You can see a pretty cool view looking back up at Mount Marcy, but that’s really about all there is to say. It’s a tricky climb but still worth it, especially if you’re already all the way out there.
Rating considers trail conditions, difficulty, views and other notable characteristics
