Winter Hiking in the Adirondacks: Indian Head and Rainbow Falls

They say there are two seasons in the Adirondacks. Winter and July.

It was the day after Thanksgiving and I was stuffed with turkey and about all the festive partying I could handle. So I decided to head up north for some peaceful solitude among the snow-covered mountains of the Adirondacks.

I had done cold weather camping in Norway years earlier while in the Marine Corps, but that was with the support of an entire battalion behind me. This would be my first attempt at solo winter camping, and I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous about it. I can’t say it was preferable but  I learned a lot of lessons from it, and that deserves its own separate article.

I picked a campground I was familiar with, Adirondak Loj near Lake Placid.

This was the same spot I started my backpacking trip last summer exploring the High Peaks Wilderness.

It looked a bit different 5 months later.

I arrived late in the afternoon. After finding a decent enough spot, I got a fire going and began setting up camp. It was already 15 degrees and the sun was going down so I warmed up some thanksgiving leftovers on the fire, and prepared to cocoon myself in my sleeping bag. With the early onset of night in the winter, I planned on being plenty well rested for the predawn wake up and the ten-mile hike the next day.

Part I: Hiking in a Winter Wonderland

There were only nine and a half hours of daylight to work with, so I knew I had to time this right if I didn’t want to hike back in the dark. 

As I exited my tent, my lungs were shocked with the stinging cold of the 5-degree air. In the pitch-black early morning, the light from my headlamp reflected back at me, bouncing off all of the ice crystals that had formed on everything overnight.

I hopped in the Jeep, turned the heat up, and drove to the trailhead as the sky was brightening up over the eastern mountain tops.

The hike began at a parking lot off of 73, just South of St Huberts. But before I was able to get into the woods, I had to first walk eight-tenths of a mile past the Ausable Club golf course. When I finally reached the Adirondack Mountain Reserve gatehouse, I signed the register and was on my way.

I followed a dirt road for about a quarter mile before turning North to cross over a small stream and then shortly after, over the Ausable River.

There wasn’t much elevation gain at this point, but the terrain was sometimes a challenge as the trail had a lot of brief ups and downs along the side of a steep incline to avoid obstacles along the river.

At 2.7 miles in, I got an up-close view of Wedge Brook Cascades in the process of freezing over while flowing through a break in a boulder. 

Just a half-mile beyond that was the larger Beaver Meadow Falls. It was covered in ice, but still had water running over it. I was surprised by how much water was still flowing given how cold it had been. 

As I continued on, the steep hills to my right turned into ice-covered cliffs. As the sun was now beaming overhead, I would occasionally see icicles breaking off from the rest and smashing on the rocks below. It was pretty cool to see, but I made sure to keep my distance.

Part II: Off-Trail to Rainbow Falls

4.2 miles in, I came to the East Branch Ausable River Dam. It was here that I was planning on taking a small detour up Cascade Brook to check out the famous Rainbow Falls, hidden inside a canyon. 

But first, it was time to take a breather and sip on some coffee I had tucked away staying warm in my hydro flask.

I took in the scenery and checked my map. This was taking longer than expected. Traversing over the snow and ice was slowing me down way more than I had thought. I would definitely be hiking out of here in the dark.

I had my headlamp, and the last quarter of this hike was on a dirt road back, so I wasn’t too concerned. What I was way more concerned about was the fact that I was working up a sweat hiking over the difficult terrain.

Winter hiking is tricky. You have to be very careful to take off layers before you start sweating. You want to hike the entire time while being comfortably cool, never warm. If your base layer starts to get wet from sweat, whenever you stop to cool down (like now) your body temp is going to drop rapidly.

So before I entered the shade of the canyon, I took off everything but my base layers, stood in the sun. With steam coming off my back, I let the moisture-wicking merino wool do its thing

And there I stood. Like a starfish shivering in its pajamas.

It must have been quite the sight to see. Unfortunately, no photos were taken of this spectacle. Sorry to disappoint.

After bearing all I could handle of the cold, I put on a few layers and headed into the canyon for a quick side quest. 

As I made my way through, the canyon curved left and the view of this massive frozen waterfall revealed itself suddenly. 

As I got a little closer, I was surprised to find two other hikers breaking for lunch. These would be the only two other people I would come across all day.

Katie and Greg, originally from Minnesota, now living in New York, they spend a lot of their time exploring the Adirondack Mountains. Very friendly people.

After lunch we went our separate ways and continued on our own respective adventures.

Part III: The steep climb to Indian Head

Once I returned back to the trail from Rainbow Falls I crossed the dam.

The trail up until this point had been relatively even with little elevation gain. But that was all about to change with the steep climb up to Indian Head.

The climb up had some great views.

The trail curved up to a dirt road briefly. Had I stayed on East side of the river. I could followed this dirt road all the way from the parking lot and had a much easier time. But I would have then missed out on all the waterfalls, and what’s the fun in that?

Once the switchbacks began, things started to get a bit precarious. 

The large rocks and boulders I had to climb up were completely covered in ice. So I took my microspike crampons out of my pack and attached them to my boots.

This was my first time using microspikes and I was amazed at how much traction they gave me. I could walk up a slanted sheet of ice like it was nothing. Amazing piece of gear. There were more than a few spots that I would not have been able to get up without them.

Finally after a mile climb, I made it to the top.

The trail evened out and turned right. As I stepped out of the tree line and onto the overlook, the sun, shining in my eyes, temporarily obscured the view. 

Once my eyes adjusted I was treated to one of the best views in the entire Adirondack park. Gothics Mountain to my right, Mount Colvin to my left, and Ausable Lake down the middle 👌.

Mother Nature is one hell of an artist.

I stayed for a bit to take in the scenery. But the sun was getting lower and the air was getting colder.

After taking a few more shots of the landscape, I began my descent along the Northern approach.

Part IV: The Journey Back in the Cold Winter Night

The North side of the mountain was considerably steeper. 

The whole way down was punctuated with more ice covered boulders. I came across one particularly perilous down-climb, so I took a moment to plan it out.

I put my trekking poles on their lowest settings and would use them as make-shift ice axes, stabbing them into whatever I could to ease the descent.

That was the plan at least.

Knowing I had to have good footing, I jammed the spikes of my left boot into the ice to give me traction. That boot wasn’t going anywhere. Perfect. And that’s when my right foot slipped.

The whole force of my body weight fell with my left foot still jammed into the ice, twisting my knee.

Ouch. That did not tickle.

So there I was on the side of a mountain with a messed up knee, temperature dropping, sun going down, and four more miles to go.

I pulled myself back up to a stand and realized there was only one thing to do in this situation: Keep doing exactly what I was already doing. Go that way.

So I hobbled my way down to the Gill Brook Trail with a slight limp the entire way.

There were several times where the trail split with a sign reading “←Easy Way, Scenic Way→”.

I’ll take the easy way, thank you.

I finally made it out of the woods and as the sun was setting. I linked back up with the dirt road that would take me back to the trailhead in two and a half more miles.

With my headlamp on, I continued the rest of the way in the dark.

At about 5:30pm, I made it back to the Jeep with icicles hanging from my beard and made my way back to camp to rest my knee and warm up by the fire.

What I thought was going to be an easy day hike turned into a ten-hour ordeal. And was totally worth it.

Hiking Guide:

Alltrails.com

Distance: 10.1 Miles
Elevation Gain: 1880 ft
Peak Elevation: 2680 ft

Miles:
0.0 Start the the hiker parking lot off of State Hwy 73, South of Saint Huberts. Walk up the road towards the Ausable Club golf course.

0.6 Turn left on Lake Road Way

0.8 Arrive at the Adirondack Mountain Reserve gate house, sign the register and follow the dirt road into the woods.

1.1 Turn right and cross a bridge over a small creek, then turn left onto Ladies Mile Trail

1.3 Cross over the Ausable River and turn left onto the West River Trail and hike parallel to the river for an additional 1.4 miles.

2.7 Wedge Brooke Cascades. Cross the bridge and continue on the West River Trail

3.3 Beaver Meadow Falls. Get a good up close look at the falls and keep heading down the West River Trail.

4.2 With the dam in sight to your left, you’ll cross a bridge over Cascade Brook. Turn right onto the A.W. Weld Trail for the side trip to Rainbow Falls.

4.3 The A.W. Weld Trail split, keep right for the Rainbow Falls Trail (or continue on for a view of the falls from above).

4.4 Rainbow Falls. Rest here and take in the view, then head back down to the dam.

4.6 Cross the dam over the Ausable River just below Lower Ausable Lake. Climb a short way up a dirt road, then continue the hike up a footpath.

5.5 Indian Head! Check out one of the most iconic views in the Adirondacks. Once you’re done here, head back off the cliffs to the intersection of the Indian Head Trail, Fish Hawk Cliffs Trail, and the Indian Head Crossover Trail, and take the Crossover.

5.9 Check out the North Overlook, then take the steep stairs/ladder down.

6.3 Link up with the Gill Brook Trail and turn left to head North.

7.4 Turn onto the dirt road and ride this sucka back out to the AMR gate house.

9.5 Turn right at the Ausable Club golf course

10.1 Congrats, you made it back to the hiker parking lot! Go celebrate.