Catamount Mountain - 11/5/11

Some people curtail their hiking during November.  Reasons include: fear of hunters, the cold, the approaching holidays. The list goes on and on.  I find indian summer to be a great time to hike.  The bugs are gone, you can control your body temperature with a couple light layers, you can keep food and drink somewhat cold in your pack, you have better visibility since those leaves that obstruct your view in the spring and summer are gone.  

Leesa and I chose Catamount for a hike based on another recommendation from staff at The Mountaineer.  They had recommended Noonmark and Catamount as a pair of great peaks for half day adventures with rocky summits.

Our stats for the day:

Trailhead Elev:  1626'

Summit Elev:  3173'

Round Trip Distance:  3.57 miles

Total Vertical Gain:  1684'

Round Trip Hike Time:  3 hours

The temperature was about 30 degrees when we started and about 40 degrees when we finished.  There was no wind, a deep blue sky and not a cloud in sight during most of the hike.

Catamount has a nice rock scrabble area on the shoulder of the mountain that is a nice reward in itself.  There's a short section where you'll need to use your hands to help you climb in that area.  We reached the scrabble in 1 hour, and the summit a half an hour later.

Looking NE towards Catamount from Forestdale Road

The trailhead... no markers, only red paint and ribbons

The trail was not officially marked, but is shown on the National Geographic map.  We had no problem following the herd path and there were many rock cairns up higher on the trail.

1st view of the scrabble

Leesa on the scrabble

Looking south towards Whiteface

One of many rock cairns

Looking north towards the summit from the scrabble

Summit Geodetic Survey marker

Looking east from the summit

Looking north towards a couple of the many lakes

Looking west towards the summit

The summit

Mike enjoying the day

Leesa in the scrabble on the way down

As blue as it gets....

View Catamount Mountain 20111105.kml in a larger map

Catamount is located just north of Whiteface Mountain.  Although it is a little ways north of the heart of the high peaks, Catamount is worth the trip and shouldn't be missed.

Shelving Rock Falls - 11/4/11

Leesa and I both had Friday morning free!  We drove to the Shelving Rock area on the east shore of Lake George to look at the falls and do a little hiking.  There are trails all over the place and most are not marked, so even if you have a map you may get confused.  A GPS with mapping capability certainly is helpful.  Most of the trails are short and you can figure out where you are eventually, but technology helps!

Off shore from Shelving Rock is Log Bay, which attracts cruiser boats in the summer.  Boaters are able to reserve cruiser camp sites on Log Bay Island.  The bay is shallow and sandy and a great place to anchor and swim.  Many people also come ashore and hike the Shelving Rock trails.

One of many trails near Lake George in the Shelving Rock area

Looking towwards Log Bay and Perch Island

A better look at Perch Island on the right

Perch Island has a single campsite.  It's a nice spot if you don't mind the motor boat traffic coming and going from Log Bay.

A remnant of summer

 

Shelving Rock Falls

View Shelving Rock Falls 20111104.kml in a larger map

Our hike on this morning was just a short hike to the lake and around the area of the falls.  We'll be back to do Shelving Rock Mountain and more of the trails in the area.