snowshoeing

Black Mountain is the tallest peak between Lake George and Lake Champlain and contains an old fire tower that is currently used by the DEC Forest Rangers for communications equipment. It’s elevation is 2,640 feet, however accessing it from Pike Brook Road Parking area, your already at over 1,700 feet after driving up the very scenic Huletts Landing Road from NY 22.

In the winter, the old woods road up Black Mountain is also a low-speed and narrow snowmobile trail that has occassional snowmobiles on it. At 3 miles, it’s a relatively short hike with an elevation gain of about 900 feet.

The first 1.2 miles up the mountain the trail is relatively flat. After the split between the valley trail to Black Mountain Pond and other lakes running down towards Lake George, and the trail up Black Mountain Fire Tower. The next 1.6 miles is much steeper, as the trail winds up the mountain following a Jeep Trail with many switchbacks.

As you start climbing, you get a broken view of the fire tower on top of Black Mountain.

The snowmobile / old woods trail is narrow and steep as it winds up to the top of the mountain.

Reaching the top of the mountain, you can see the DEC Forest Ranger Communication Tower, with wind turbine, solar panel, and fire tower converted to communications tower. It’s disappointing that they had to convert the tower to a communications tower, because it would have otherwise provided nice views to the south.

Looking across Lake George towards Five Mile Mountain and the Adirondack Mountain in the distance.

North on Lake George. In the foreground is Hague, farther in the distance is Elphant Mountain, the end of Lake George and the La Chute River down pass Ticonderoga.

Looking to the North-West off Black Mountain. In the foreground is Sugar Loaf Mountain, and just beyond that is the “Drowned Lands”, the marshy farm lands surrounding the southern portion of Lake Champlain. Even further beyond that is the Green Mountains in Vermont.

Elephant Mountain, near Ticonderoga.

Here is a map of the hike.

View Black Mountain Hike in a larger map

Last Saturday I went out snowshoeing at Grafton Lakes State Park. I wasn’t planning on going out, until I realized how truly nice it was outside. I quickly tossed my snowshoes in the pickup, packed up my pack, and off I went.

I drove out along Domain Road, past the winter entrance to the Grafton Lakes Park, and parked down along Second Pond. I didn’t realize that snowshoers/skiers could go through the winter entrance, and all the way to the beach on Long Pond. Instead, I snowshowed out along Second Lake to Long Pond. As you can see, Long Pond was not frozen.

I decided to go on the trail around Long Pond. While I’ve been around Long Pond in a canoe and kyack in the summer, I’ve never been all the way around the trail in winter.

Several sections of trail would have been swampy had it been warmer. It instead was ice, in most portions thick enough, that the snowshoes crossed it without cracking through. The trail along Long Pond probably is not very good for hiking on wet times.

The trail around Long Pond is signed with “More Difficult”. It is amusing to see the trail signed “More Difficult”, especially after all of the High Peaks and other mountains I’ve climbed in the Catskills and beyond. This trail is almost completely flat, bar a few rocks and roots sticking up and a few very small hills.

The far end of the lake looking due south towards the swimming beach. You can’t actually see the beach from here, because the lake turns slightly to the west from here.

After going around Long Pond, I headed along the Second Lake. This lake was frozen unlike the other pond. It was a bit too thin to dare cut across it.

Here is a map of the snowshoe hike in blue.

View Hikes of 2009 in a larger map

Andy Arthur.org

Black Mountain Snowmobile Trail

Snowshoeing at Grafton Lakes