LOCALadk Magazine
Issue link: https://localadkmagazine.uberflip.com/i/481033
LOCALadk Spring 2015 LOCALadk Magazine 25 Fisher and Keller could begin paddling, while the rest of the team traversed along the bridges on the lake's western shore. They reconvened at the south end of Lake Colden where the upper section of the Opalescent drains the shoulder of Mt. Marcy. They began hiking up-river, in search of any extra rapids above the gorge they might be able to paddle as a warmup before the next day's big paddle. After running a short section of the Opalescent above the Flowed Lands, the team set up camp at the Flowed Lands Lean-To and prepared for the big day. Fisher and Keller were not the first to explore the upper reaches of the Opalescent. In the early 2000s, Adirondack local and all around wildman Dennis Squires left the Upper Works trailhead with an inflatable kayak on his back and his friend Tony Malikowski in tow. They spent the night in the very same lean-to Fisher and Keller did, and paddled from shortly below Hanging Spear Falls to the takeout several miles downstream. It was an audacious approach for the time because the whitewater below Hanging Spear is some of the most difficult in the state. Squires and Malikowski had wanted nothing to do with the gorge above Hanging Spear. Nearly a decade later, Lake Placid local Matt Young joined a team to paddle the same route. They had hopes of putting in further upstream than Squires and Malikowski had, and maybe even running the falls. A thick blanket of snow made their hike especially difficult, and it rained hard through the night, flooding the river and making all but the tail end of the river navigable. They were forced to walk to the very bottom of the gorge, putting in only where the river became wide and meandering. Young had not been satisfied. A year later he returned with Bill Frazer (of Placid Planet Bicycle fame) and out- of-towner Morgan Boyles. The river then had low, but manageable, water levels. They put in at the base of Hanging Spear Falls and navigated a short section that Squires and Malikowski had found their ability levels at the time, as well as the portion below, which had seen one prior descent.