Rocky Peak Ridge - 10/10/11

Let me clarify... this wasn' t just Rocky Peak Ridge (RPR)... this was RPR, Giant Mountain and Hopkins Mountain, for a total of 12.4 miles and 6000 vertical feet total elevation gain.  There was also a 55 % grade going down Giant Mountain towards Hopkins Mountain.

We had 2 cars this weekend, so Leesa chose this thru hike to utilize them both.  RPR is about the finest open ridge walking in the Adirondacks.  With the leaves and the nice weather, we wanted an open ridge hike.

By the time we dropped the 1st car in Keene and got over to New Russia, it was 9 AM.  We started at 9:10.  

After one hour of hiking you reach the 1st viewpoint and from there on you are treated to views quite often. 

Parking spot where we dropped the 1st car (off Beede Road in Keene)

Just past Blueberry Cobble

At noon we were on Bald Peak which has great views from it's rocky summit.

Summit of Bald Peak

Leesa on Bald Peak with Rocky Peak in the center background and Giant farther back on the right

Large boulder just past Bald Peak as you head west

Looking west towards Rocky Peak from Marie Louise Pond

At 2 PM we were on Rocky Peak and 3 PM we were on Giant.  We stopped on Rocky to eat.  We didn't take any pictures on either since we had been there before and needed to keep moving.

Blowdown north of Giant

As soon as we headed north from Giant there was quite a bit of blowdown all of the sudden.  It had already been cleared off the trail (thank god).  The northern descent from Giant is quite steep (55 % grade for a ways).

On the way to Hopkins from Giant

We reached this sign at 4:20 PM... and still had 4 miles to go to get back to the car!  We reached the summit of Hopkins at 5:30 PM and stayed long enough to get some incredible pictures just before sunset.  We then quickly descended the last section of trail, coming out on a gravel road at dusk.  It was't the road we wanted, but from there I knew where to go.  It was after 7 PM when we reached the car.

Looking West from Hopkins

Looking South

Just beautiful views West.  We didn't want to leave Hopkins, but daylight was fading

Looking South.  Giant Mountain in the background

Click to enlarge and see our route in blue (12.4 miles, 4 peaks and 6000 vertical!)

A 3D view looking south.  We hiked from left to right on this image.

This was just an incredible hike.  We will go back to just spend some time on Hopkins.  It is a great summit and we didn't get to stay there as long as we wanted.  The perfect ending to a wonderful stretch of fall weather.

Kayaking Northwest Bay - Lake George - 10/9/11

Lake George in the Adirondack Park in New York is just a spectacular place.  With the best weather of the year lasting all weekend, the lake was calling out to us.  Motor boat traffic was pretty light, making it an even better day to paddle. 

Leesa and I launched about 12:30 from the Northwest Bay parking lot on Route 9, a couple miles north of the Town of Bolton Landing.  Our route consisted of paddling south on the Northwest Bay Brook to where it entered the bay, then continuing south on the east side of the bay along the Tongue Mountain range to Montcalm Point at the tip of the range.  We then rounded the point and entered the Narrows, where we paddled past Pine Island before landing on Turtle Island for a break.  The docks have already been pulled in on many of the islands including Turtle.  We noted that campsite 33 on the SE corner of the island has an especially good spot with a nice rock outcropping on which to sit and view the lake.  We then continued into the middle of the narrows, circling around Juanita Island before returning the way we came.  We paddled a leisurely 12 miles total and returned to the parking lot around 6 PM.

Car top boat launch parking

Click to enlarge and see our route highlighted in blue

Some nice color in the Northwest Bay Brook

Exploring Turtle Island

Looking south from Turtle Island towards Pine Island and Chingachgook Island

Looking East from Turtle Island towards Shelving Mountain

Site 33 on Turtle Island gets the rocky point!

A curious native on Turtle Island

Looking for a handout

We didn't see any on this trip

Heading back into the brook

Leesa's stealth move, looking for wildlife

Almost sunset

Our route made a great half day paddle.  Lake George has crystal clear water.  The water temp. was down to 62 degrees, so no swimming, but nice none-the-less.