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Summit of Skylight Peak 

17 Photos

Route:

• Feldspar Brook Trail to Four Corners
• Four Corners to Skylight summit
  

 Peak View Rankings       Printable Skylight

Trip In A Nutshell:  
We hiked in from Upper Works on the Calamity Brook Trail RED & BLUE (ADK #121, McM #39).  This is the shortest, easiest route to the Lake Colden-Flowed Lands area.  From there we followed the Opalescent River Trail RED (ADK #121, McM #46) to the Uphill Brook lean-to at the intersection of Uphill Brook and the Opalescent River.  From the lean-to we climbed Cliff and Redfield Mtns one day and Gray, Skylight, and Marcy on another.  To climb Gray, Skylight and Marcy we followed the Feldspar Brook Trail to Four Corners from which trails to the 3 peaks start, although the trail to the summit of Gray Peak starts some hundreds of yards prior to Four Corners.

Difficulty:
Click on the links just below for description of the Feldspar Brook Trail and Four Corners.  

The climb from Four Corners to the summit of Skylight is straight up on good-to-very good trail with dwarf trees on either side of you until they give out for lack of soil to plant their roots in.  At the start, there is a bed of gravel and rubble underfoot, although this is no problem.  From there on, you are on bare rock that steers you around small gardens of delicate alpine vegetation.  As you climb, the various peaks begin to reveal themselves if you look over your shoulder.  Haystack and Marcy, of course, and then the Great Range.  Even Whiteface to the left of Marcy.  The climb was surprisingly quick, so assuming you still have good energy by the time you reach Four Corners, you should make the climb  

Views:
See the descriptions of the photos below.

Also see:
For the description of the trails that we hiked in on, click on Calamity Brook Trail,  Feldspar Brook Trail, and Four Corners.

USGS Trail Maps:

Map 1: This map shows the route from the Uphill lean-to on the Opalescent River to the summits of Gray, Skylight, and Marcy.  The route shown is a total of 4.5 miles from the lean-to to Gray, then Skylight, and then Marcy summits.  Return trip not included in this distance.

Four Corners
Four Corners deserves a word or two of recognition even though it is just an intersection of 4 trails in the saddle between Mts. Skylight and Marcy.   Sure, in a literal sense, Four Corners is nothing more than an intersection, but the place has a mystique about it, too.  First of all, it's way up there, from the standpoint of elevation at 4250 feet making it higher than the summits of 20 of the 46 peaks.  Second, the two mountains are Marcy and Skylight, which are virtually the heart of the High Peaks region.  And third, it's a real nice grassy, meadowy kind of place; a super spot for lunch.
photo courtesy of Elaine Serafini 1	The saddle between Skylight and Marcy is called Four Corners since four separate trails connect at the signpost in the photo adjacent.  From Four Corners you can go in 4 directions:  North to Marcy (ADK #?, McM #56)   East to Panther Gorge (ADK #118, McM #47),   South to Skylight, (ADK #122, McM #53),   West down Feldspar Brook Trail (ADK #121, McM #47).   The saddle is flat.  Camping is prohibited here.
2	Here's the other side of the sign providing the other two trail directions.
photo courtesy of Elaine Serafini 3	Four Corners is a small meadow, perhaps a half acre, with sandy soil.

4	The herd path to the summit of Skylight is indicated by the NYSDEC sign at Four Corners (just above), the meadow at the top of the Feldspar Brook Trail.  The trail heads straight up the mountain to Skylight's domed summit.  Two-thirds of the way up vegetation ends and open rock continues.
photo courtesy of Elaine Serafini 5	As we climb up Skylight, this view of Marcy's SW slope shows the steep cliffs into Panther Gorge.
6	The summit of Skylight with Gray, Colden, and Algonquin in progression to the rear.  I was happy to have left Skylight to be my  #46 and for the day to be bright and clear.  We had already climbed Cliff, Redfield, and Gray on this trip, and were figuring on climbing Marcy next, either for old times sake or just in recognition of her status as #1 in the High Peaks. My friends wondered why I wasn't excited to have just completed my 46th High Peak.  Well, it was one of the most important events in my life, one I've worked toward since I was about 12 years old, but I'm not very demonstrative, I guess.  It seems to me that having been born and raised in the Adirondacks, but having also moved away to receive my education, serve my country, and make my career; that I may be more attached to the mountains than most people who know them.  They've played such an important part in my life, and not just because I've climbed among them and hiked in them for 40 years.  Rather, they have, in many respects, been the anchor, the solid earth, the touchstone, of my life.  Whenever I lost my way in life I found my way back to the Adirondacks. There's something about walking among the peaks smelling the earth and feeling the presence of millions-year-old rock all around.
7	To the NE, Haystack, and behind Haystack, the Great Range.
8	To the SE, Bartlett Ridge peaks slightly above Skylight.  The Colvin Range and Pinnacle is in the middle distance.  Behind the Colvin's is the Dix Range.
9	Marcy from Skylight.
10	In the SW, to the right of Allen, are Cheney Cobble and the North River Mtns.
11	Redfield in the center looking W.  To the right and behind Redfield is Cliff.  Farther back, the Santanonis can be seen.
12	The MacIntyre's in the far distance.  Colden to the NW.
13	Gray Peak to the N.
14	A closer view of the Great Range.
15	We head back down Skylight's trail to Four Corners.  Gray Peak is immediately beyond Lake Tear below us.  The route down is quick.
16	As I understand it, hikers climbing Skylight are supposed to bring a rock with them or something bad will happen.  David adds a rock, but he may have just been tidying up the summit a bit.
17	So finally, we step on the actual summit and I become a 46'er and Elaine becomes a 45'er.  David, our other hiking companion becomes a 4'er and will become a 5'er before the day is over, but he is smitten by this, his first outdoors trip to the Adirondacks.  It seems a sure thing that he'll come back for some more climbs.

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