Tongue Mountain Range - 11/11/11

The Tongue Mountain Range on the west shore of Lake George provides without a doubt the best views of Lake George.  It's not a short hike.  The loop trail covering the lower part of the range is 12.3 miles long.

I did this loop as a trail run to make it a half day trip instead of a full day trip.  It was a day of wild weather.  When I started in the morning the temperature was 38 degrees.  At the finish, it had warmed to 45 degrees, but while I was at the viewpoints on First Peak and French Point Mountain, snow squalls came through mixed with sunshine.

A lot of the pictures below show the same view but with changing weather.  It was really quite interesting to watch.  The images don't quite capture it, but they give you an idea.

Trailhead Elevation:  415'

Max. Elevation: 1815' (Fifth Peak)

Distance Traveled:  12.3 miles

Hike Time:  5 hrs 25 minutes (Trail ran where possible)

Total Vertical:  3209'

Trail sign at the southern end of the Tongue Range (Montcalm Point)

View south from Montcalm Point - Dome Island in the distance

Another view south from Montcalm Point - Pilot Knob on the left

An old trail marker being swallowed up!

View south as I climbed towards First Peak

Some of the islands of the narrows

Looking NE

View south from First Peak

The sky was pretty dark at this point, but it quickly changed

Look at all those islands

A panorama looking south from First Peak

The squall on the horizon

It's coming in

Another panorama

This picture was taken within minutes of the others.  There were quick breaks in the clouds.

Sun and snow at the same time

Look at the squall moving through

Snow squall blowing through

Fascinating to watch

This hike is among the best in the Lake George area.  For my trip, the weather made it that much more fascinating.  I didn't see another person on the whole trip.

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If you want to see all the pictures from the trip, you can view them here on my Picasa Web Album.