The Pinnacle - Bolton Landing, NY - 8/1/15

I don't know of a better viewpoint for Lake George that can be reached so easily.  The Lake George Land Conservancy just acquired the Pinnacle in Bolton Landing and it provides access to a glorius view.  A trail has already been opened to the public, with the trailhead starting across the street from 139 Edgecomb Road in Bolton Landing.  There is a small parking lot if you drive in a 100 feet or so.  Alternatively you can park at the Bolton Conservation Park just to the south.

The trail follows an old woods road for the most part.  There is a short footpath section to avoid a neighboring property.  As you climb climb the woods road there are multiple switchbacks to east the grade.  After 0.7 miles and 480' of elevation gain, you reach the viewpoint.  The climb took us about 20 minutes.  This would be a fantastic climb for sunrise!

The Pinnacle, as seen from Bolton Conservation Park

The trailhead gate

A welcoming pointer

The view is a panorama from the Narrows and Tongue Mountain Range all the way to the southern tip of the lake.  While we were there, a quick rain passed through the Narrows.

Looking East - Green Island in the center left foreground

Looking NE into the Narrows before the rain

during the rain

Looking SE

Don't miss this short hike when you are in the Bolton area.  It's well worth taking an hour out of your day.  You may even decide to come back as we have. 

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  1.4 miles

Hike Time:  1 hour 

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 400' 

Cat Mountain - Bolton, NY - 8/11/14

I've written about Cat Mountain before (and the Cat & Thomas Preserve) so I won't give an extensive description again.  Monday I was in the area and had a couple hours to give the dog some exercise, so we did a walk/trail run to Cat via the yellow trail which is an old logging road.   

 

It was hot and dry so I didn't push Rev too hard.  All the creeks and water flows were dry.  The only water was at the beaver pond near the start of the steep uphill climb to Cat.  It was 1 PM and the sun was directly overhead.  I had a hip belt with 2 water bottles, one for her and one for me.

 

We jogged on the flats and downhill sections  and walked up the steeps.  There were a half dozen cars in the lot when we started and we saw 3 groups on the trail during our hike.  

 



 

The blue trail climbs to the summit of Thomas and follows the ridge from Thomas to Cat

 

The yellow trail to Cat follows an old logging road and is ideal for trail running, walking or XC skiing in the winter.

 

The orange trail to Thomas splits to the right; the yellow trail is straight ahead 

 

 

 

 



A view of Cat Mountain in the distance.  The only water source for Rev on the day is in the foreground

 

Once past the beaver pond, the trail climbs approximately 730' to the 1956' summit.  At the top is a 270 degree view, including Lake George from the Tongue Range and the Narrows, on down to almost Lake George Village. \

 

 

The distance from the trailhead to the summit, following the yellow trail is approximately 3.5 miles.  We reached the summit after an hour and 10 minutes.  If you do it at a leisure walking pace, plan 2 hours each way.  

 

 

The Narrows and the Tongue Range

 

There was a nice breeze at the top and Rev found a bed of grass under a big pine tree.  We had our water and I took my usual round of pictures from every direction.  Lots of boats were out on the lake, even though it was a Monday. 

 

a closer look

 

Southern Lake George 

 

Dome Island

 

The summit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A nice shady spot to view the lake (Rev appreciated this)

 

Going down was faster since the route was not so steep or rocky as to worry about foot placement.  We did the reverse hike in about 50 minutes.

 

Not a bad way to spend a mid-summer afternoon.  If you're ever in the vicinity of Bolton Landing, don't miss out on a trip to Cat and Thomas.  The are was formerly owned by the Lake George Land Conservancy, but is now owned by New York State.  

 

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  7 miles

Hike Time:  2 hours (as a trail run)

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 1000'

 

The Route (click image to enlarge)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tongue Mountain Range - Lake George, NY - 11/22/12

Last year on Veteran's Day, I hiked the lower portion of the Tongue Mountain Range in Lake George, NY for the first time.  It was a strange weather day with hale and snow squalls followed by sun and then more snow squalls.  

Today I did the same loop with Leesa, only we went clockwise this time instead of counter-clockwise as I did last year.  Three reasons for this:  1)  We'd catch more sun that way; 2) We would do the most rugged piece first, and 3) We'd be looking towards the view coming down the ridge. 

The map below shows our route.  We started at the Clay Meadows parking lot on Route 9N, north of Bolton Landing.  The trail crosses the Northwest Bay inlet creek almost immediately before beginning the climb to the Tongue Range trail.  We hiked quickly, and reached the intersection with the ridge trail in 55 minutes.  I noticed that there are new signs and trail marker discs on the trail.  Last year, I remember there were long stretches with no markers.  Good to see the new ones.

 Our approximate route for the day

A new sign at the intersection with the ridge trail

At an hour and 15 minutes we were at the leanto on Fifth Peak.  As far as I can recall, no leanto in the Adirondacks offers a better view than this one.  If someone else can think of one, let me know! 

The view from the Fifth Peak leanto!

From the leanto, it is a downhill roller coaster hike to Montcalm Point at the tip of tongue.  We followed the trail south to French Point Mountain (FPM), which offers an even better view than Fifth Peak.  From FRM, you can see the Mother Bunch Islands to the North, and the Narrows Islands to the south.  Black Mountain is across the lake on the east side.  Leesa was thoroughly impressed with the view.

The view from French Point Mountain

We paused for a while on FPM.  It was warming up quickly from our 27 degree start.  It must have been at least 40 degrees already by 10 AM.  

Looking north to Fifth Peak from FPM.  The Mother Bunch Islands down below

As we made our way further down towards First Peak, we had views most of the time since the leaves are off the trees.  At First Peak, we enjoyed another fantastic spot.  It is hard to pick a favorite between FPM and First Peak; both are awesome.

We ate our lunch at First Peak.  We only saw one boat out on the lake.  All was quiet, except Rev whining for more food.

View south from First Peak

More food please!

Some of the Narrows Islands

Time to take Rev's coat off.  It was getting warm

Surprisingly, the steepest part of the ridge is probably the last rock outcrop heading south before you get to the point of tongue.

Leesa making her way down the last rock before Montcalm Point

At Montcalm Point, the sun was strong and the waves were lapping the shore.  It was almost like summer.

Looking south from Montcalm Point

 

 

From Montcalm Point, we followed the shoreline route back to the car.  Don't be fooled that the shoreline route is an easy walk along the water's edge.  There are quite a few ups and downs and some parts have a lot of rock in the trail.  Not difficult, but not a stroll either.

Allow a full day for this hike and enjoy all the ridgeline views.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  12.9 miles

Hike Time:  7.5 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  3600'

Our route as shown on National Geographic Topo

See more pics on the Picasa Web Album

Cat Mountain - 7/4/11

This trip was a chance to explore the entire Cat Mountain & Thomas Mountain loop in the Cat & Thomas Mountain Preserve.  Leesa and I stayed at the Thomas Mountain cabin on 7/3 and were on the trail by 6:30 AM headed for Cat Mountain.  We decided to take the gravel path (orange trail )to the summit and returned via the ridge trail (blue trail) back to Thomas and down.

You could not see Lake George down below from the cabin on the night of 7/3.  Low clouds had settled in. 

You can almost see Lake George from Thomas Mtn.... still some low clouds

Interesting clouds

Looking SW from Thomas Mtn

 The morning of 7/4 promised to be nice. As we headed up Cat, we saw Adirondack photogragher Carl Heilman coming down. At that point we were about 20 or 30 minutes from the summit. He had already been at the summit to take sunrise photos. You can see them on his facebook site Carl Heilman II Photography - Wild Visions, Inc.

We reach the summit around 8 am and got some great views. The clouds were settled in down below, so you couldn't see the valley, but it was great anyways.

Is this heaven?

Leesa taking a great from her own picture taking

Looking W SW from Cat

I should know my flowers, but I don't.  What is it?

The ridge hike back to Thomas Mountain was more difficult, with some ups and downs, but the terrain was varied and interesting, and a couple viewpoints to the west were along the trail.

The entire loop was about 6.5 miles and took about 4 hours at our leisurely pace.  A great trip.

Thomas Mountain - 6/24/01

Thomas Mountain is part of the Cat and Thomas Mountain Preserve in Bolton Landing, NY.  The preserve is owned by the Lake George Land Conservancy and it contains some 1850 acres.  It is located just east of Exit 24 off I87 and just west of the Town of Bolton Landing.  The land conservancy website has a full description and trail map.

My destination was the Thomas Mountain cabin which overlooks the southern portion of Lake George.

Thomas Mountain Cabin

It was late in the day and I was headed to the cabin just before dark.  A storm was coming and the wind was picking up.  Clouds were down below in the valley.  I arrived at the cabin at about 7 PM.  Vilibility was nil.

Not much of a view from Thomas Mtn upon arrival

Shortly afterwards, the clouds began to clear, and I could see the lake below as dusk settled in.

Looking at the southern portion of Lake George at dusk from Thomas Mountain

Shortly after dark the rain came in and the wind continued to howl.  The rain on the metal roof made quite a racket.  Although I was a mile from the road, I felt like I was a million miles from civilization.  It was great!

The rain stopped shortly before morning, but the clouds were once again down below and the lake was was not visible.

Cat Mountain rising above the clouds at sunrise

Only the top of cat mountain could be seen rising above the clouds.

Cat Mountain again

8:30 AM and it was time to head out, but what spectacular weather and a great trip.