Redfield from Cliff's SE slope                                                                                  

17 Photos

Route:

• Upper Works to Flowed Land
• Opalescent River Trail to Uphill Lean-to
• Herd path to Cliff's summit

Numbers in parentheses such as (ADK #123, McM #456) on these and all other pages of Adirondack Journey, refer to trail numbers assigned by the McMartin and ADK guidebooks.

The Trip In A Nutshell

Cliff is one of the "trailless peaks", which only means that the herd path to the summit is neither marked nor maintained.  Having said that, you will find few if any problems following the herd path from the base to the summit.  We hiked in to Cliff Mtn via the Upper Works trailhead, which we figure is the easiest route to Cliff from a major trailhead.  It's a good day's hike from Upper Works to where the ascent of Cliff starts, which is  a few hundred yards from the point where the Opalescent River Trail intersects Uphill Brook.  There is a very handy lean-to at this location.  

From the Uphill Brook lean-to where we camped, it required just a bit over an hour to reach Cliff's summit sign.  Round trip was exactly 2 hours.  

 Difficulty

The last year that Cliff presented problems to the hiker was 2002.  That was the last year that the blowdown in and around Cliff's base resulting from Hurricane Floyd's passage through here in 1999 was a real problem.   There is a draw that starts at the Opalescent River Trail and runs up into the pass between Redfield and Cliff, eventually becoming that pass.  For a few years after Floyd, the draw was virtually impassible due to enormous blowdown, and foot-deep, boot-sucking mud.  

The dead trees are no longer a significant problem and if the spring and summer are not unusually wet the mud should not be a problem.

Despite the easing of the blowdown, we advise bringing gaiters and good boots if it's a wet year when the draw becomes a bog with   In a wet year the draw is a merciless bog.    

Since Hurricane Floyd blew through, the major problem presented by Cliff was severe blow-down that started from the point where you left the yellow trail (at the Uphill Brook lean-to) all the way to the summit.  Today, while few of the downed trees have been removed, the way has been made clear.  The branches on these trees have been trimmed off by some good Samaritans.  Where, previously, it was very difficult to force one's way through, it is now no feat to duck under or over the fallen trunks on the herd path that takes you from the lean-to to a cairn that marks the abrupt start of the upward climb.  From the cairn onwards the herd path is steep requiring hands as much as feet until you reach a plateau that looks lie it might be the summit... but is actually a false summit.   The steep climb to this plateau is short and has no horrific obstacles.  Keep your eyes open and the trail will be evident.  If you take a wrong turn you'll quickly know it.  All in all, the minor difficulties of the blow-down are more than offset by the relative ease of the short climb of roughly 700 vertical feet. (Go to the photos and detailed description for a clearer "picture" of the route.)

At the end of the steep climb you are deposited at a false summit, a sort of plateau.  It is an easy, circuitous, and mostly level walk from the false summit to the real summit only a few dozen feet higher than the false summit.  You're not there until you see the summit sign.

Views?  What views?  There are no views to speak of from Cliff..  Unless you are determined to be a 46'er, you can skip Cliff and save the day for any other peak.  The views in the photos below tell the whole story.  

 Notes 

The start of the herd path to Cliff is almost opposite to the Uphill Lean-to on the Opalescent Trail.  Once on the herd path, it heads S in a straight line for about 10 minutes across an intermittent bog.  Simultaneously,  the path climbs gently.  It is approaching the Cliff-Redfield pass.  You will not continue as far as the actual col, however.  The herd path becomes gradually steeper, then the herd path divides with one branch continuing straight on up into the pass, while the other turns sharply right.  Take either; the herd paths will rejoin each other, although the herd path to the right is a bit more direct.  It goes a short distance to a cairn, where, all at once, it a sharp rocky ascent begins, taking you immediately out of the pass and up the mountain.  This continues for maybe 15 minutes and brings you into a flat area that may seem to be the summit.  It's not.  A careful look will show that another, higher point is about 0.4 miles away through the trees  The McMartin and ADK maps show this clearly.  Continue to follow the herd path.  It will lead off the crest you were just on, taking you on a winding journey through a wet area.  It then climbs a bit again, steeply and briefly to the summit sign.  

Along the trail you may still find bits of orange or red tape and yellow yarn placed strategically to mark the herd path.  We found no bad advice.  In 2001 we were camped down at Flowed Land when a guy happened down the trail whose web name is "Master Grasshopper", a moniker he told me was given to him by his son.  The day that I met this pleasant fellow he had just finished putting the aforementioned tape on the Cliff trail.  At that time, the Cliff trail still suffered from the Hurricane Floyd damage and had for the most part been inaccessible up to 2001.  

As quick as the ascent from the Opalescent Trail to Cliff's summit is, the descent is quicker, although most of it is sliding on your butt..  It ought to take about an hour, whereas, in 2001 due to the mud, it required that much time just to get from the Uphill Brook Lean-to on the yellow trail to the base of the mountain some few hundreds of yards away.  

 Cliff and Redfield USGS Trail Map:

These free Maptech topographical maps are the most recent metric maps, as recent or more recent than those you can buy in a store.  Print them and use them on your hike.  We suggest that if you do use these, that you seal them in a plastic food bag for protection against moisture which will cause the ink to run and the paper to very quickly become one large spitball.  Be sure to set your printer to "landscape" when printing maps.

Map 1: Cliff and Redfield

The Hike In Photos and Text 

Ascent of Cliff (McM #51) from the Opalescent River  

1 Photo courtesy of Elaine Serafini	The RED Opalescent Trail (ADK #121, McM #46) follows the Opalescent River's south bank  from the suspension bridge that crosses the Opalescent just above the Opalescent's outlet into Flowed Land  to the source of the Opalescent near Lake Arnold.	2	The path to Cliff starts at the Opalescent Trail RED (ADK #121, McM #46) within feet of Uphill Lean-to and not more than a few hundred feet from where Uphill Brook crosses the Opalescent Trail.  The path leads straight into the pass between Cliff and Redfield, but you will not walk that far before starting your climb up Cliff.  Expect it to be wet in a normal year.  In a wet year it has typically been a real quagmire.  In that case, stay some hundreds of feet to the left of the trail  on the high ground that parallels Uphill Brook.  As long as you are paralleling Uphill Brook you will also be parallel to the herd path.  Cut back to your right to intercept the herd path when the ground has risen some so that the herd path may be dry enough to resume walking on.
3	This may not look like good trail, but compared to what it looked like from 1999-2001 this is the yellow brick road and Oz is just ahead.  Actually, this is 100% typical of the route that gets you to the Redfield-Cliff col from the Opalescent Trail.  A year ago, though, this was covered by a huge amount of blow-down.  The trail forges ahead on a mostly straight line until a path splits off to the right.  We turned right and in a matter of a few minutes were looking at the herd path that headed directly up Cliff.	4	The herd path is still headed for the saddle of Redfield-Cliff, but it has climbed some, it's more open (due to the hurricane) and it is phenomenally better than it was in 1999-2001.  This section climbs very slightly as it heads into the col so you get dryer ground and no corduroy.  It will climb a bit faster as it approaches the saddle.  But you will leave this path shortly to start climbing the mountain.  You will not continue on this path to the saddle.
5 photo courtesy of Elaine Serafini	Photo #5 shows the foot of Cliff where we leave the path that goes into the Cliff-Redfield saddle.  You'll see a cairn telling you that it's time to start to climb.	6 photo courtesy of Elaine Serafini	The blow-down is everywhere as shown by photo #6, but it has been significantly thinned by someone with a saw, which is an immeasurable aid to climbing.  It's actually fairly easy-going, but the herd path becomes quite steep almost immediately.  As dense as this seems... and steep... you'll move through it quickly.  There is always a clear direction to take.
7 photo courtesy of Elaine Serafini	This photo provides a good perspective of the steep slope during the first 10-15 minutes of the climb.	8	Typical.  It always looks dense, but on Cliff in 2002 there was always a relatively easy way through, despite appearances.
9	On the right side of this photo you see the blow-down as it was in 2001 before the limbs were cut off.  Notice, though, that at the left side of the photo the branches have been removed so that a person can easily duck under the trunk.  I suppose it would be hard to get lost going up Cliff, because only the herd path is passable.  If you deviate from the herd path the brush and blow-down will stop you quick.	10 photo courtesy of Elaine Serafini	At the summit, even though the herd path is clear, the blow-down all around can be thick.
11 photo courtesy of Elaine Serafini	Colden from part way up Cliff.  It's only on the way up or down that you can see anything.  The summit is relatively flat so that you're always looking through trees.  If I had it to do over, though, I would hike toward the pass from the summit until I was looking down the open face that leads down into the Cliff-Redfield pass.  That might have been worthwhile, but it meant going through uncut brush.	12	This view of Redfield is one of the very few views available from Cliff.  We had climbed the first steep section and had ascended maybe 300 feet from the col when we turned and saw this.
13	Taken from the same spot as just above.	14	Once you get to what seems like a summit, just take a look SW and you will find that you have about another 100 feet of vertical ahead of you on the other side of an inconsequential marsh.  The distance from where you are to where you want to go is a bit under half a mile as the crow flies, but further since you'll be winding through the bog and blow-down.
15	David and Elaine at the summit.	16	Just one last, typical photo of Cliff.  All in all, there's no compelling reason to climb this peak unless you need it for your 46 or are writing a book entitled, "Horizontal Trees of the Adirondacks".
17 photo courtesy of Elaine Serafini	Joel and Elaine at the summit.

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