Tom Rankin
Well-known member
After doing Noonmark, we still felt up for another short hike, so we drove down to Lake George to do Prospect. The weather earlier had been almost perfect. As we drove South on I-87 we could see that it was getting a little hazy.
When we got to Lake George, we eventually took the turn into the Prospect Park Causeway. This is NOT the right place to go if you want to hike the mountain from the bridge that goes over the Northway, but after wandering around the West side of the Village for 10-15 minutes, we figured that the gatekeeper would know how to get there. He was very nice and gave us a map of the village with the route already marked. I guess this was not the first time someone had come to the wrong entrance!
We found the entrance to the walkway, and managed to get a parking spot almost directly under the steps, in the shade. Score! There are 106 steps leading up to the walkway, 70-80 feet up. The walkway is a very long tube, and it shakes a little, but we managed to cross w/o difficulty and begin the 'real' hike.
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/p1.jpg - Steps
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/p2.jpg - Tunnel
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/p3.jpg - Highway crossing
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/p4.jpg - Incline Railway ruins
This hike is steep! It goes almost straight up the mountain and follows what was either an old road, or part of the support system for the old inclined railway. There are also quite a few places where you are walking on long smooth slabs of rock. These were all very grippy, since it was so dry, but I can imagine them being very 'interesting'!
It was not a long hike, but we were both going fairly slowly and it was getting very *HOT* and *HUMID*! We took turns with a fairly light pack. We stopped several times, and chatted with a few folks who were coming back down. We didn't really have enough water, being down to our last bottle. The sweat was rolling off of me, and some of it got in my camera, and now it doesn't work! I'm hoping a few days of 'rest' will cure it. We made it to the top in just about 1 hour. The views were ok, as it was getting hazier all the time. We could just barely see the ADKs. The view of the lake is a little obscured by the trees, but it's probably pretty good when the leaves are off. There are several signs at the summit which give accounts of the hotel and railroad that used to be up here. The hotel is completely gone. There are a few ruins of the railway. Amazingly, in spite of the shuttle buses bringing loads of people up there, we had the whole place to ourself for about 10 minutes!
As we wandered around the summit, what did we see but 10 gallons of water in 2 well-secured jugs! Hallelujah! We finished the meager ration of water we had brought and refilled our bottle twice! Ahhh! Sweet relief!
After exploring the summit and making use of the 'facilities', we headed back down. The trip back down only took 40 minutes. Having finished the 'Views' part of the trip, we went to the Adirondack Pub and Brewery (thankfully only 1 mile away!) for some well deserved 'Brews'.
When we got to Lake George, we eventually took the turn into the Prospect Park Causeway. This is NOT the right place to go if you want to hike the mountain from the bridge that goes over the Northway, but after wandering around the West side of the Village for 10-15 minutes, we figured that the gatekeeper would know how to get there. He was very nice and gave us a map of the village with the route already marked. I guess this was not the first time someone had come to the wrong entrance!
We found the entrance to the walkway, and managed to get a parking spot almost directly under the steps, in the shade. Score!
There are 106 steps leading up to the walkway, 70-80 feet up. The walkway is a very long tube, and it shakes a little, but we managed to cross w/o difficulty and begin the 'real' hike. http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/p1.jpg - Steps
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/p2.jpg - Tunnel
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/p3.jpg - Highway crossing
http://home.hvc.rr.com/trankin/p4.jpg - Incline Railway ruins
This hike is steep! It goes almost straight up the mountain and follows what was either an old road, or part of the support system for the old inclined railway. There are also quite a few places where you are walking on long smooth slabs of rock. These were all very grippy, since it was so dry, but I can imagine them being very 'interesting'!
It was not a long hike, but we were both going fairly slowly and it was getting very *HOT* and *HUMID*! We took turns with a fairly light pack. We stopped several times, and chatted with a few folks who were coming back down. We didn't really have enough water, being down to our last bottle. The sweat was rolling off of me, and some of it got in my camera, and now it doesn't work!
I'm hoping a few days of 'rest' will cure it. We made it to the top in just about 1 hour. The views were ok, as it was getting hazier all the time. We could just barely see the ADKs. The view of the lake is a little obscured by the trees, but it's probably pretty good when the leaves are off. There are several signs at the summit which give accounts of the hotel and railroad that used to be up here. The hotel is completely gone. There are a few ruins of the railway. Amazingly, in spite of the shuttle buses bringing loads of people up there, we had the whole place to ourself for about 10 minutes!As we wandered around the summit, what did we see but 10 gallons of water in 2 well-secured jugs! Hallelujah! We finished the meager ration of water we had brought and refilled our bottle twice! Ahhh! Sweet relief!
After exploring the summit and making use of the 'facilities', we headed back down. The trip back down only took 40 minutes. Having finished the 'Views' part of the trip, we went to the Adirondack Pub and Brewery (thankfully only 1 mile away!) for some well deserved 'Brews'.
