Posts Tagged With: Hiking in the Adirondacks

Lake George, NY Monday, Oct. 6

View of valley and low peaks from Mt. Arab

Our last Adirondack location. We drove to Lake George after a morning hike to Mt. Arab, another mountain similar to Mt. Jo. The elevation gain was about 100 feet higher and just slightly longer. BUT, the trail was much better marked, removing any questions of if we were on the correct trail.

Fire tower on Mt. Arab

At the top of Mt. Arab is an abandoned fire tower built after over a million acres were burned in 1903 and 1908. Irresponsible logging practices were blamed for the fire. The state constructed fire towers all over the Adirondacks until they were made obsolete in the 1990s. A local nonprofit has been maintaining the fire tower and trail. They also staff a cabin at the top of the summit. Today’s staffer gave us several stories of the people who hike to the top.

View from the fire tower at Mt. Arab

The hills in this portion of the Adirondack are lower than the High Peaks area around Keene. The views are still impressive. This hike did not have the piney smell of several previous hikes. Instead the aroma was more of decaying plant material, pungent and earthy. The wind was strong, particularly at the top. On the hike down, the clouds rolled in and one was not sure if you were hearing the start of rain or just the wind rustling the leaves. We lucked out again. The rain portion held off until we reached the car and only intermittently spritzed the rest of the drive to Lake George.

The afternoon hike, nice and easy along the Hudson

We made one other easy hike in the afternoon as we completed our drive to Lake George. The route we chose went along the early section of the Hudson River. It looked nothing like the impressive river further downstream.

Driving to Lake George on back roads

Dinner in Lake George was at a local restaurant, the people here seeming more to be tourists or business people. In comparison, the small restaurant in Tupper Lake seemed populated entirely by locals who knew the staff.

Ed and Chris Monday Oct. 6 10:30 pm

another view