After almost three years away due to COVID-19 border closures, we finally made it back to the Adirondacks!

We booked site 23 at the Heart Lake campground for the Victoria Day long weekend. We had never been hiking in May before and were worried about snow and ice in the mountains, bugs, and rain but none of these were problems. May camping is a good option! The ADK Loj had made some improvements since our last visit- there is now a snack bar at the High Peaks Centre called the Hungry Hiker, new bathroom facilities, and they have wifi!

We had been saving Table Top and Phelps for when we needed an easier hike and decided this was a good way to ease back in. We departed the High Peaks Centre at 9am, starting with the easy walk to Marcy Dam. Pretty soon after, we arrived at the turnoff to Phelps, but we kept going straight along the Van Hoevenberg trail towards Table Top. This followed the advice of a friendly parking lot attendant who recommended we do Table Top first. He suggested we would be feeling “sassy” after coming off the boulders from Phelps only to still have the longer out and back to Table Top to go. In the end, we agreed this was the right call!

After the turnoff to Phelps, the climbing became a bit more steep. Only then did we pull out our poles. Eventually, we arrived at the turnoff to Table Top, but we were ready for a little break, so we continued just a little further to the lookout at Indian Falls. It was well worth the visit! Fantastic views of Iroquois, Algonquin and Wright – which Allie was able to correctly identify. We could see some snow still visible on Algonquin and also Marcy. Also, notably, there is a thunder box there!

After our snack, we headed up towards Table Top along an unmarked, but pretty easy to follow, narrow trail. Most of the way, we climbed along a stream bed, but the rocks were not too slippery. Parts of the trail were really pretty, with the trees on either side forming a bit of a green tunnel.

As we approached the top, the trail flattened out, hence the name Table Top. The summit was small and treed, but had good views. A little earlier, we had been passed by a couple of guys in their 20s who turned out to be part of a group of four hikers of very different speeds. We shared the summit with them as we both ate lunch. Eventually their other two buddies caught up. After lunch we retraced our steps back to the turn off to Phelps.

Ascending Phelps was a pretty sustained, steep uphill with boulders and slabs, but nothing super scary/challenging. The summit isn’t totally exposed like on Wright or Marcy; rather, there was just a big ledge with great views the whole Great Range and the MacIntyre range. We met our friends from Table Top again and ate our chocolate bars. The wind started to pick up as we made our way down from the summit. The forecast had called for thunderstorms, but they never materialized apart from a little bit of rain that didn’t really even call for raincoats.

The descent felt longer than expected – especially more than the 1 mi reported on the (questionable) sign. Once back on the main trail, the going was pretty easy. We were glad to see the ADK parking lot. Total time with our breaks was just under 9 hours.

Back at the campground, we took advantage of the shower facilities and built a fire.

The next day, we headed home, satisfied to have knocked off two more high peaks. 27 down! We stopped at Fusion Market in Saranac Lake for lunch on our way back – a great option! It’s right on the main drag across from the waterfront park. They serve all sorts of sandwiches and the owner was very friendly.