Editor’s note: Since this post was written, the bridge and trail have been opened.
I hope you’re not planning to climb Mount Adams this weekend. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has closed the trail that offers the easiest access to the 3,520-foot summit in the High Peaks Wilderness.
DEC spokesman David Winchell said the trail will reopen, probably within a few weeks, after the department finishes work on a new bridge that spans the Hudson River at the start of the trail.
The old bridge was destroyed during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. This summer, the Student Conservation Association installed a new bridge, but the department still needs to anchor the structure to the banks with steel cables and construct ramps.
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Winchell said hikers have been using the bridge even though it remains closed. “We’re just afraid that it’s going to collapse and somebody is going to get injured,” he said.
He also advised hikers against fording the river, given the cold water this time of year.
The East Side Trail, as it’s called, begins south of the Upper Works parking lot in Newcomb, crosses the Hudson, and continues more than eight miles to the Flowed Lands, passing Hanging Spear Falls en route. Winchell said there is no concern if hikers take the trail in the opposite direction as long as they don’t try to cross the Hudson.
At 0.7 miles, the East Side Trail passes the trail leading to the fire tower on Mount Adams.
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I am missing something here. If they advise against fording the Hudson there what are you supposed to do when you get to the Opalescent River? Or is that water warmer?!?!