Hiking Guide to Colvin, Blake, Nippletop, and Dial | Adirondack High Peaks

welcome back to the channel guys today we are tackling Four Peaks culvin Blake nipple toop and dial named after verant culvin and Mills Blake coven and Blake Peaks honor their work in surveying the region nippletop and dial however have more of a convoluted naming history this hike spans 18.5 mil with 6,500 ft of elevation gained making it a more challenging hike than most however these Four Peaks can be divided into two different hikes conditions today are very smoky from wildfires and the trails are pretty muddy but we won't let that stop us also joining me today is my good friend James Appleton the host of the 46 of 46 podcast so let's embark on this journey throughout these historic Peaks lace up your boots let's get started [Music] today's hike has Us in the Eastern side of the high peaks region in the alabo valley starting off from the adarand de Mountain Reserve we will hike half a mile to the starting point then walk 2 mi down Lake Road to the gilbrook trail intersection from there we will hike up to culvin which is 6.2 m in and then we'll do a 2.6 M out and back to Blake from cvin making a total total of 4.8 Mi out and back from culvin and Blake together next we will hike 1.9 M up the nippletop descend 2 mies down to dial and then continue all the way back to Lake Road and return to the parking lot it is important to note that there is very little water on this trail with Gil Brook being the only reliable water source it should be noted that the AMR does require you to make a reservation in order to park in their parking lot once you arrive walk the half a mile up the gravel road to the sign which is where you'll begin your journey at the AMR gate walking this road can certainly be monotonous but approximately 8/10 of a mile in you will be met with the HD leech Trail which is where you will be descending back down from dial keep walking past this another mile or so and you will come to the Beer Meadow Falls Trail which is right next to gilbrook this is the intersection trail that you will be taking 2 Mes in down the road this is a beautiful trail that follows gilbrook with both easy and scenic routes lots of water Falls but I also recommend just following the easy signs it makes it easier eventually you'll come to the next Trail intersection and you'll just keep following the signs towards culvin and Elk pass it is important to take note of the many signs that will be along the journey such as Trail markers camping regulations as well as other signs to make sure that you don't accidentally go down the wrong trail it's approximately 2 miles once you go from the gilberg trail to go to the bottom of pulen and Blake this Trail up is pretty gradual and not terribly Rocky one thing I love about this Trail is that this was the very first Trail I hiked when hiking my first high peak back in 2015 definitely a lot more eroded and Rudy but always a good time reminisce eventually you'll make it to the coven Blake nippletop dial intersection for Elk pass so now at the intersection for nipple toop the elk pass left and COV and Blake to the right this intersection has changed so much over the years it's so much wider I remember it just being like a narrow funnel of trees right into here but now it's you could camp here 200 ft from the trail then you can camp here the trail up to culvin starts out very steep it's 1.1 mil but it remarkably goes by pretty fast [Music] green slime you'll be met with plenty of scrambles places to grab trees as well as many mud pits that you'll have to either jump over or walk through [Music] yeah pretty much right before you get to the top you'll be met with a very small ladder which will then bring you up and out to the beautiful view Jonathan's a herck filming me don't you know I'm a podcaster I don't go on camera and we're here woo and it is Smoky today 2 and 1 half hours from Cara Summit we are 6 miles into the day as we stand the top Mount Coven to Mark the Summit is one of the original culvin survey markers like I said earlier it is a very smoky and hazy day but if you look out you can see the great range to the West the alabo Lakes Down Below and just to the right is nipple toop James eating a sandwich one per Summit next we will begin our descent and on our way to [Music] Blake what do you think of that view of Blake it's a decent view of Blake certainly uh I'd say it's one of the better views of the mountain it really just kind of taunts you as it sits in front of you like this knowing what's still to come better to look at it than to look from it the hike down from culvin towards Blake is actually pretty hairy so be very careful of culvin but hey that's why we're here we knew we knew that this is the bottom of Blake this is a fantastic fantastic spot to take a break give your knees a rest if you need to have a sip of water maybe eat something else uh right before going back up this log has been here for a while now we're going to ascend the 600 ft and half a mile to the summit of Blake it should be noted that Blake has little to know views and the only views on Blake is going to be ascending this section of Trail it will be met with multiple scrambles but it's still a very beautiful hike up despite the lack of any views but make sure to look back when you do all right 9:45 a.m. here's the rock on the summit of Lake James with his second sandwich got to have it other sand I'm going to go with a honey Stinger uh before we head down and go back up Colvin the thing that makes covin and Blake very challenging is the fact that you have to go up up and over culvin down and up to Blake only then to go back down and all the way back up culvin and with Blake not having any views or really any water that's why Blake is one of the most hated mountains but you still have to do [Music] it we eventually made our way back up to culvin and descended to go back down and over to elf pass not very 4.8 mile out and back for Blake done seriously though that took like a long two and a half 3 hours it's a long out and back guys seriously it's one of the if you consider the out and back for Blake starting here at the sign it's probably the longest like out and back really you could possibly do in the park it's it's a lot brutal it's brutal no water make sure to pack water and you're going to hit covin twice 1.9 mil to nipple up we'll probably hit it here in about 45 minutes or so I'm not sure why I said 45 minutes here because the average hiker will probably take upwards of an hour and a half to get to nipple toop from this point it's a very gradual and easy Trail into elk pass which is very beautiful but the trail up nippletop is brutal at its steepest section you will be climbing 1,00 ft in 610 of a mile so be prepared for it to feel like it will never end [Music] [Music] upon reaching the top you will see the sign right indicating 2/10 of a mile to the right to the nipple toop Summit something like that yeah two great make your way the 2/10 of a mile where you will be greeted with a short view of the final Summit which then you will make your way to the top and see the gorgeous 180° views the summit of nippletop it's just around 1:15 so that puts us at 7 hours and 15 minutes into the day what a view nice and wide open man this is this is one of the best ones right here yeah it doesn't get much better than this [Music] [Music] we have two slices of pizza I was in Rhode Island all day yesterday I watched the screening of Oppenheimer an IMAX 70 mm amazing but I picked up some pizza from Pizza Marvin uh per recommendation from Dave poroy Dave this is for you one bite everyone knows the rules little floppy but it's better than no pizza I would love to have some pizza myself right now also just on the other side of the Summit is a gorgeous Outlook towards the dicks range I really recommend going and checking it out after you have retraced your steps back to the intersection you will then continue 5.7 Mi along this Ridge all the way back to Lake Road which will include about six uphill sections climbing a total of 1,000 ft on The Descent this descent is very gradual and I'll tell you this is a very beautiful ridgeel line there's so many Ferns and beautiful pine trees it's certainly not to be rushed through on the way to dial you will encounter about three minor uphill sections until you reach the summit dial is approximately 1.9 M from the nipple toop intersection 245 a great time as always coming from nipple toop great range looking absolutely abolutely incredible in front of us another just magnificent view clear the air is Smoky today from the wildfires but all the mountains look pristine and glorious look how far cvin is as expected and cvin way over there I feel good I know you feel good it's a nice day out in high peaks from dial it's 1.7 mil to be denen and 3.8 Mi to Lake Road okay so something with this sign to take note of the summit of nipple toop is 5.9 from the parking lot according to the sign well according to this sign nipple toop is 3.4 this direction and the parking is 3.8 that direction which makes it 7.2 miles from the summit of nippletop to the parking that's a 1.3 M difference that's ridiculous so so I personally believe that we are less distance to the parking lot than I think we are from nippletop or do you think nippletop is closer than 3.4 it does feel like it was a way it might be like 2 and a half after descending off of dial you will go down approximately 1,000 ft before climbing up to be this area suffered a wildfire in 1999 which burned approximately 90 Acres leaving all of this burnt debris and this thriving black Birch Forest eventually the trail will descend back into the valley Crossing back onto the AMR property and through the hardwood forest eventually bringing you to Lake Road from here the gate is 8/10 of a mile this is all I ever look forward to when I go hiking I don't look forward to summits I look forward to this and that is the end of today's video guys I really hope you enjoyed this new style that I'm trying to bring to the Channel please let me know in the comments below what you thought about it obviously it's a little different but I'm really trying to diversify and change my format here for those who are new to the channel make sure you subscribe because why not if you would like to support the channel support me and the content creation up here and delivering this Adera content to the community you can go ahead on to patreon and support me it goes a long way and it keeps me here and being able to create content like this so you guys are awesome thank you so much for your support and watching the video and uh I'm Jonathan's heric and we'll see you next time [Applause] money first so I don't have [Music]

Channel: Jonathan Zaharek

Views: 1,940

Keywords: Adirondacks, High Peaks, 46, 46er, adirondack 46er, Jonathan Zaharek, Lake Placid, Mt Marcy, Vlog, New York, New Hampshire, Great Range, Cascade and Porter, Hiking, Hiker

Id: jvap5eWwAXg

Length: 14min 14sec (854 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 11 2024