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Quentin, Valerie, and myself left Albany at 9AM to hike Buck Mtn. It was a clear and crisp day with temps around 45F in Lake George. We missed the trailhead for Buck Mtn, so I suggested we head the rest of the way down to Shelving Rock first (Quentin had never been there, and Valerie had never seen the falls). After about 40 minutes of hiking (I take a bushwack/herd path up the southern side) we were atop Shelving Rock mountain soaking in some of the best views of Lake George available.
From the bottom of Shelving Rock it's a short hike over to the falls. The water was higher (due to the thaw) than I have seen in the past summers.
We headed back up the road. We couldn't find the trailhead marked so we used the maps in the Rino gps to locate the trail (it was actually in the mapsource topo!
). It was 12:30PM when we found the trail (yellow markers near some camping areas). By 3:00PM we were back at the car. The trail up Buck Mtn is gradual. Currently there's a few muddy sections, and some snow/ice on top. In a few weeks I'm guessing the thaw will be done. Gaitors weren't required but came in handy when I went shin deep into the muck. Overall the trail is fine to bare boot, and there's no sections you have to go around due to snow or mud. Views from Buck were awesome. In the distance we could see the snow covered summits of the high peaks in enough detail to make out specific mountains. After many photos and some food we headed down and home.
This concluded my personal tour of the eastern shore of Lake George. There's still some sections of trail I haven't hiked, but I believe I've covered everything I wanted to. In a few weeks I'm looking to the Tongue Mtn range (seen in the middle of the picture below). This was my fourth trip up Shelving Rock, and I will continue to use this section of the Adirondacks as my 'off season' home. It offers some semi-strenuous hiking and excellent views. In the spring and late fall there's fewer people, so you still get a sense of wilderness. [During the summer it tends to be a little crowded for my tastes]
Quentin, Valerie, and myself left Albany at 9AM to hike Buck Mtn. It was a clear and crisp day with temps around 45F in Lake George. We missed the trailhead for Buck Mtn, so I suggested we head the rest of the way down to Shelving Rock first (Quentin had never been there, and Valerie had never seen the falls). After about 40 minutes of hiking (I take a bushwack/herd path up the southern side) we were atop Shelving Rock mountain soaking in some of the best views of Lake George available.
From the bottom of Shelving Rock it's a short hike over to the falls. The water was higher (due to the thaw) than I have seen in the past summers.
We headed back up the road. We couldn't find the trailhead marked so we used the maps in the Rino gps to locate the trail (it was actually in the mapsource topo!
). It was 12:30PM when we found the trail (yellow markers near some camping areas). By 3:00PM we were back at the car. The trail up Buck Mtn is gradual. Currently there's a few muddy sections, and some snow/ice on top. In a few weeks I'm guessing the thaw will be done. Gaitors weren't required but came in handy when I went shin deep into the muck. Overall the trail is fine to bare boot, and there's no sections you have to go around due to snow or mud. Views from Buck were awesome. In the distance we could see the snow covered summits of the high peaks in enough detail to make out specific mountains. After many photos and some food we headed down and home.This concluded my personal tour of the eastern shore of Lake George. There's still some sections of trail I haven't hiked, but I believe I've covered everything I wanted to. In a few weeks I'm looking to the Tongue Mtn range (seen in the middle of the picture below). This was my fourth trip up Shelving Rock, and I will continue to use this section of the Adirondacks as my 'off season' home. It offers some semi-strenuous hiking and excellent views. In the spring and late fall there's fewer people, so you still get a sense of wilderness. [During the summer it tends to be a little crowded for my tastes]
irections?
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