Off on Adventure: Log Bay Island

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Shelving Rock Mountain - Lake George - 4/30/13

What beautiful weather this week in the northeast this week. I took full advantage of the 70 degree weather on Monday night by going over to the Shelving Rock area of Lake George. Accessed from Route 149 in Fort Ann via Buttermilk Falls Road and Shelving Rock Road, it feels like the road will never end. Once you turn off Route 149, it is seven miles on pavement, then 2.5 miles on gravel to reach the Hogtown parking lot. It is an additional 2.5 miles on gravel to reach the Shelving Rock Mountain trailhead, and another 1+ miles to reach the gate at the end of the road. Those 13 miles take about 20-25 minutes by car.

I took the road all the way to the parking lot 7, just before the gate. I wanted to walk down to the lake from there to see how hard it would be to carry my kayak to the lake. I was excited to see that there is a gentle path that can be followed for perhaps 500 feet to reach a perfect launch location. From there, I followed the old carriage road to Log Bay, stopping to take numerous photos

Looking south from the shore near Hens & Chickens Island

Huckleberry Island in the distance (and Dome Island way in the distance)

Huckleberry Island

The carriage roads would be great for trail running. Once at Log Bay, I turned around at went back to the car so I could move it to the Shelving Rock Mountain trailhead. It was 6:30 and I wanted to get up the mountain to catch the early part of sunset. I forgot to bring a headlamp with me, so I wouldn't be able to stay on top for the red orange afterglow, but it was a beautiful evening to head up.

Rev's always the first one to take a look

It took Rev and I 30 minutes to quickly hike up the 1.7 mile carriage road trail to the summit. We had a little time to relax and have a snack before the sunset began. It was an amazing night, still 70 degrees, the sun sun in the west was still warming the eastern face of Shelving Rock. There was no wind, no bugs and no motor boat noise. All was quiet.

What a view to the south

Rev was content to just stand and look around, as was I. We had no reason to move off our rock viewpoint. Next time, the headlamp comes with me.

Perch Islands in the foreground

Sunset was starting!

Time to head down (It killed me to leave this. I wanted to watch the sun sink below the mountain)

At 7:30 it was time to head down so we wouldn't get caught in the darkness. I was glad I was able to get up there for the time that we had and you can be sure I'll be back.

P.S.

I went back to the summit on Friday 4/30 with headlamps to stay for the full sunset. Hear a a couple pics as it got dark. On the way down, we could see the ongoing forest fire on the summit of Sleeping Beauty Mountain. Apparently a fire started accidentally and about 6 acres burned at the summit. I'll have to head that way soon to see the damage.

Looking south

View to the west

Crane Mountain in the distance

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Kayaking Lake George - Pilot Knob to the Narrows - 9/18/12

Sometimes my little adventures happen on the spur of the moment. This was the case on Monday. I was at work eating my lunch and looking at the weather forecast and thought... geez... this is the last day in the upper 70's in the 10 day forecast. I should be going out for a paddle. The next thing I knew, I was leaving work and heading for Lake George, NY to drop the kayak in the water.

My launch point at the north end of Pilot Knob Road

I had a new trip in mind and thought it would work out perfectly. I needed 3 hours to do an eight mile loop and have some time to explore a few islands. The plan was to launch from the little beach at the north end of Pilot Knob Road and paddle north to the beginning of the Narrows and back. This would provide me with the chance to paddle past 6 state owned islands that have campsites on them. On this Monday in September, I figured nobody would be there and I could explore each of the islands to see which ones I liked. It turned out I was right... all the islands were empty.

Looking south from Perch Island

With a three hour trip planned, I launched the kayak at 4 PM. Twenty minutes later, I had circled around Point Comfort and landed on Phelps Island. Phelps has 7 sites and is in a relatively quiet spot (considering it's on south end of the lake). I liked site 2 and the north end and site 6 at the south end. I noticed that most of the docks have just been rebuilt and are in excellent condition. Many Lake George Island campsites have tent platforms, and I believe all have a fire ring and a picnic table. The docks are sometimes shared and sometimes private to the site.

The one site on Recluse Island... quite nice!

I continued my journey by paddling further north past Watch Point to the next island, Recluse Island. Recluse is a 1-site island and is very nice. It has a great area for a tent and also has a nice rock point at the north end. It's also great to have the whole island to yourself! The only downside (in my mind), is that it sits close to the shore, and there are several rental cottages nearby.

Looking north from Recluse Island

My next stop was Perch Island, another 1 site island. It's a nice island, but is somewhat close to Log Bay and Log Bay Island (a popular cruiser island). The sites on Log Bay are cruiser sites, meaning that you tie your boat to the dock and sleep on your boat. You have a picnic table on the island, but you sleep on your boat. This area gets quite busy and sometimes quite loud during the summer season.

Also adjacent to Perch Island is a small island called Iroquois Island. Iroquois does not have any facilities for use by the public. Back in the boat once again, I paddled past Log Bay Bay Island and out to Huckleberry Island. Huckleberry has three sites. It was 5:20 at that point. I had just enough time to swing around Hens & Chickens Island (actually comprised of five islands), but just one island with campsites (2).

The north end of Recluse Island

After my pass around Hens and Chickens, my time was half up and it was time to retrace my route more or less. I passed the opposite sites of the islands on my way back. The return trip was into the wind, and there was a little choppiness, but I still made good progress. A beautiful sunset was developing. Without any stops on the return trip, I made it back in just over an hour. Funny how 2 or 3 hours out on the water can feel like such a long time away from the busyness of life. What a great afternoon-early evening.

Looking south on Recluse Island

I loaded the boat back on the car and watched a pregnant woman doing some swimming exercises and yoga in the water as the sun was dropping down. All was quiet.