Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Having done ST5 the day before, we were not up for a monster hike, so we took the day slow. First off, we heard on the Weather Channel that there was a "Red White and Brew" festival in Lake George at 5:00 PM. Well, we knew where the day would end now! 
The first hike was .9 miles up Baker (Laurie's maiden name) Mountain just outside the village of Saranac Lake. It was slippery, and we were a little tired from the previous day, so we took it easy. The views were moderate. There was a nice breeze though. We could see Moose/McKenzie/etc., and the Lake Placid area. Down and off to our next destination, Lake Placid. The Library was closed, so no internet access, but we hopped in EMS for a while to look at the maps. We picked out a destination, but first we headed off to LPPB. They weren't quite open yet, so we walked around the back side of the lake for a while. When we returned, they had 2 new beers, a Belgian style and a Brown, and they are both excellent!
Our next stop was 'Little' Owl's head, along 73 just before Keene. We had seen this little peak zillions of times but never climbed it. So today was the day. The trailhead was very obvious, with tons of cars around it from seemingly every state in the union! The last time we were there, we couldn't find it, but this time there was a sign hanging from a tree that talked about climbing and rapelling. This is another short jaunt, that climbs fairly steeply up almost 500'. The trail is in good shape and very dry, amazingly enough. The wind at the top was fairly strong, but not enough to knock you down. It did blow my sunglasses off and they started to fly away acorss the rocks. When I retrieved them, they were in a large blueberry patch! Bonus!
A few feet further, we found the true summit, with a very battered Colvin bolt and great views to the South. You can see Hurricane, Giant, Cascade, and a few other big boys off in the distance. We had this little spot to ourselves for 5-10 minutes in spite of the crowd at the false summit, most of whom were either watching the climbers or climbing themselves up the steep cliff just below the summit.
Almost done now, but one more destination, Challis Pond. This is off to the East of I-87, and a few miles North of North Hudson. The trail was soft, with pine needles covering the path. But the flies were TERRIBLE! The wind under the trees was gone now. We persevered up to the Pond, which is quite large for a 'pond'. The wind was now blowing off the water so the flies were held at bay. If you just want a pretty place and a little solitude after a day filled with tourists at the Loj, take this short trail to the pond.
We flew down the trail to stay ahead of the bugs (sort of), and drove off to Lake George. The directions we had were a little confusing, but we found the venue. It was lightly attended, but that meant more food and beer for us! Mmmmm. We met several interesting people there, including a home brewer from NJ, 2 folks we had done a VNB hike with a few months earlier, and a couple from good old Poughkeepsie. Small world! We were interviewed by a reporter for a local paper, (poststar.com) but I can't find the article as of this writing.
A most excellent day in the 'Park'!
The first hike was .9 miles up Baker (Laurie's maiden name) Mountain just outside the village of Saranac Lake. It was slippery, and we were a little tired from the previous day, so we took it easy. The views were moderate. There was a nice breeze though. We could see Moose/McKenzie/etc., and the Lake Placid area. Down and off to our next destination, Lake Placid. The Library was closed, so no internet access, but we hopped in EMS for a while to look at the maps. We picked out a destination, but first we headed off to LPPB. They weren't quite open yet, so we walked around the back side of the lake for a while. When we returned, they had 2 new beers, a Belgian style and a Brown, and they are both excellent!
Our next stop was 'Little' Owl's head, along 73 just before Keene. We had seen this little peak zillions of times but never climbed it. So today was the day. The trailhead was very obvious, with tons of cars around it from seemingly every state in the union! The last time we were there, we couldn't find it, but this time there was a sign hanging from a tree that talked about climbing and rapelling. This is another short jaunt, that climbs fairly steeply up almost 500'. The trail is in good shape and very dry, amazingly enough. The wind at the top was fairly strong, but not enough to knock you down. It did blow my sunglasses off and they started to fly away acorss the rocks. When I retrieved them, they were in a large blueberry patch! Bonus!
A few feet further, we found the true summit, with a very battered Colvin bolt and great views to the South. You can see Hurricane, Giant, Cascade, and a few other big boys off in the distance. We had this little spot to ourselves for 5-10 minutes in spite of the crowd at the false summit, most of whom were either watching the climbers or climbing themselves up the steep cliff just below the summit.
Almost done now, but one more destination, Challis Pond. This is off to the East of I-87, and a few miles North of North Hudson. The trail was soft, with pine needles covering the path. But the flies were TERRIBLE!
The wind under the trees was gone now. We persevered up to the Pond, which is quite large for a 'pond'. The wind was now blowing off the water so the flies were held at bay. If you just want a pretty place and a little solitude after a day filled with tourists at the Loj, take this short trail to the pond. We flew down the trail to stay ahead of the bugs (sort of), and drove off to Lake George. The directions we had were a little confusing, but we found the venue. It was lightly attended, but that meant more food and beer for us!
Mmmmm. We met several interesting people there, including a home brewer from NJ, 2 folks we had done a VNB hike with a few months earlier, and a couple from good old Poughkeepsie. Small world! We were interviewed by a reporter for a local paper, (poststar.com) but I can't find the article as of this writing.A most excellent day in the 'Park'!
