French Point Mountain and First Peak - Tongue Range - 1/1/2019

I had intended to hike elsewhere on New Year's Day, but when I woke up, there were some really interesting skies that made me think I should hike somewhere to try and capture some really cool pictures.  The Tongue Range in the Lake George Wild Forest immediately came to mind.

French Point Mountain and First Peak are the best viewpoints on the range, so that is where I headed.  After parking at Clay Meadows, I opted for the Northwest Bay Trail as opposed to the Five Mile Point Trail.  The Five Mile Point Trail is often icy, and it would be on this day.  I also didn't care to climb Fifth Peak.

The Northwest Bay Trail isn't that exciting, but it gives a jumping off point for a bushwhack to where I wanted to go.  The bushwhack starts 2 miles from the sign-in register.  As measured from the sign-in register once you turn onto the Northwest Bay Trail, there is a footbridge at 1mile, another at 1.75 miles and a 3rd one at the 2 mile mark.  These footbridges cross small drainages.  At the 2 mile drainage, there is also a large cairn about 100 feet up the drainage, that is visible from the trail.  Most likely someone built it to mark the logical point to begin a bushwhack!

The cairn 2 miles down the NW Bay Trail

The route is pretty easy from this location.  I chose to go up French Point Mountain first.  The interesting skies that I was hoping to catch had gone away but there is never a bad day on these peaks. 

Looking North.  Black Mountain on the right.

Most of the pics below are looking south  on Lake George, but from a few different viewpoints (and of course Rev gets in a few photos).  

After going down to to First Peak, I bushwhacked back the way I had come.  Rev could smell the scent and she took us back on the exact route we took on the way up.   

Surveying her territory...

The keeper of the lake...

Most of the rock faces had ice flows

Hike Stats:
Hike Distance:  9.2 miles
Hike Time:  5 hours
Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 2300'

The Route

Tongue Mountain Range - Lake George Wild Forest - 1/25/15

I try to make an annual pilgrimage to the Tongue Mountain Range in winter.  Last year, I went on New Year's day in beautiful fluffy snow conditions.  This year, I sent on Sunday and I was exposed to a variety of conditions.  The snow pack was old and crunchy.  The sun drenched south facing slopes revealed more grass than snow, and the north facing slopes were cold and windy.  Some spots were icy.

The early morning hours were spent doing some projects for work, which translated into a 10:30 start at Clay Meadows on Route 9N.  There are only 2 trailheads (by land) to the Tongue Range.  The other one being at the northern terminus of the Tongue Range, much further north on Route 9N.

My goal on Sunday was to hit Firth Peak, French Point Mountain and First Peak (all peaks with great views).  Once I reached First Peak, I knew it would be early afternoon,  If I bushwhacked to Northwest Bay from First Peak, I could eliminate the trek to Montcalm Point and save a couple miles. I don't normally look to eliminate miles, but I wanted to finish before dark.  As partial bushwhack would also mix things up a little.       

The first sign on the way to Fifth Peak 

It was a frigid morning even though it was a late.  I normally dress light and adjust my pace to keep warm.  This meant a quick pace due to the cold.  As usual, Rev was OK with this.  We gained the ridge in less than an hour and made the Fifth Peak lean-to in one hour.  We passed 2 groups along the way and that that was it for humans for the rest of the hike.

    

The Fifth Peak Lean-to offers the best view of any lean-to (IMHO), but it needs some repairs.

The section of trail between Fifth Peak and French Point Mountain is 2.3 miles, but it feels longer. There are 3 unnamed bumps that you have to go over and psychologically it wears you down.  I'm always surprised at this.  Maybe next time I'll remember. 

The view from French Point Mountain 

Since last year's trip, a lot of limbs have fallen on the trail.  A good day or two of trail work is now needed to clean up this trail.

Northwest Bay and NW Bay Brook

Tricky descent through an icy rock cleft here  

The Mother Bunch Islands

Black Mountain

The Narrows from French Point Mountain

Where can you beat this lake view?

The snow is almost gone from the warm south facing slope

The traverse from French Point Mountain to First Peak is a shorter one (1.4 miles) and is less rugged than the first leg of the ridge.  The views continue to amaze me as I move along on this ridge in winter.  The lake is totally quiet in winter which is probably why I chose to do this hike this time of year.  Summer motorboat traffic isn't so appealing to watch,     

First Peak  from French Point Mountain

A last look south from the ridge

From First Peak, I began a bushwhack NW towards the Northwest Bay Trail and a return to Clay Meadows.  It had taken 3 hours, 15 minutes to get to First Peak.   I wanted to shave some time off on my return.  The snow depth was such that I could continue to wear microspikes off-trail.  I picked my way through the forest, finding easy walking by weaving around obstacles.      

A nice cairn along one of the drainages 

I reached the NW Bay Trail just north of Bear Point.  This left me a short couple miles back to the car for a 3:30 return.  Another annual pilgrimage complete. 

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance: 9.4 miles

Hike Time:  5 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  ~2650' 

The route (click image to enlarge) 

A closer look

The route on the National Georgraphic map

Tongue Mountain Range - Lake George Wild Forest - 1/1/14

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope everyone has a great 2014!

I began 2014 by getting a cardio workout on my one of my favorite local mountains, the Tongue Mountain range.

The Tongue Range in Bolton, NY has something for everyone.  The entire range lies in the Lake George Wild Forest.  There is a fabulous ridge trail that has tremendous views of Lake George.  The ridge trail also has lots of vertical for those looking for a good workout.

On this day, I chose the Tongue Range because the forecast called for mostly sunny skies this morning and I wanted to get some sunny pictures from the snowy viewpoints along the ridge.  The workout didn't hurt either.

I parked at Clay Meadows on Route 9N and began with the 2.6 mile climb to Fifth Peak.  The trail climbs 1400' to Fifth Peak.  It was 0 degrees at the start.  I was surprised that I was not the first one on the trail. I started at 9 AM and there was already a man and women ahead of me.  I soon saw them coming out.  They had gone to Fifth Peak to catch the sunrise.  Cool idea.

 

Trail signs near the start

 

I moved at a good pace to stay warm.  I typically just wear one techwick layer and a shell, even if it's cold.  I find I can regulate my body temperature by the speed that I move.  Dressing light makes me go faster. 

There was an inch or two of fresh snow on the ground and I wore my microspikes the entire day.  The snow was not deep enough to warrant snowshoes.

It took me an hour and 10 minutes to reach the lean-to.  It was mostly sunny at that point, but the sun began to disappear to the south.  In fact, it began to look quite dark.  It's funny, my pictures taken facing north show blue skies and the pictures taken facing south show the dark skies.  They look like they were taken on two different trips.

    

The Fifth Peak lean-to has the best view of any lean-to I know

 

Looking south from Fifth Peak (just before the skies began to darken)

 

 

From Fifth Peak, I began the roller coaster walk to First Peak and back.  With 3-5 inches of snow on the ground, the walking was perfect.  I did slip 4-5 times when I was on a downhill, and there was ice under the snow.  I fell once on the way back, but landed on my back on my pack.  No injuries.

 

 



The fresh snow really stuck to the trees.  Very pretty.

 

Black Mountain

 

Ice on some south facing rocks 

 

It took me an hour to go the 1.9 miles to French Point Mountain.  This portion of the ridge has lots of ups and downs.

  

Fifth Peak

 

When I reached a knoll between French Point Mountain and First Peak, I came across 5 fresh deer beds.  They had settled on a spot with a great view.     

 

Looking North from French Point Mountain

 

 

 

 

The 1.4 mile portion of the ridge between French Point Mountain and First Peak felt a little easier than the previous stretch since there weren't so many intermediate false summits.



 

Clouds coming in to the south...

 

 

 

I snapped a lot of pictures on this walk.  It's nice to pick out the best ones and delete the rest.

  

 

 

 

 

 

At 12:30, I was on First Peak.  Rev got some snacks and I had a Vitamin water and some trail mix.  At this point, I decided to return the way I came instead of going down to Montcalm Point and looping back on the trail along Northwest Bay.  I wanted to stay on the ridge.  It is a much prettier route.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

At 2:30, I was back at the col ready to drop back down to Clay Meadows.  Shortly after starting down is where I slipped and fell.  We could use a little more snow to really cover up the ice.  Hopefully the pending storm will take care of that.

 

I you haven't done this ridge, add it to your list of places to hike.  You won't be disappointed.

 

 

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  11.4 miles

Hike Time:  6 hours, 20 minutes

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 3300'

 

 



My route (Click image to enlarge)

 

 

My route on National Geographic Topo