Buck Mountain Trail

At Ken's suggestion, we decided to go on a hike today.  The Buck Mountain Trail was rated #3 of top things to do in Lake George and he thought they had hiked it when he and Bonnie had been in Lake George nine years ago.

At 6.6 miles, this was going to be the longest single trail that Chuck and I had ever hiked at one time.  It was rated easy to moderate but we wondered how easy it would be with a 2,000 ft. elevation gain.

After getting all our hiking gear on, we headed out on the trail and began heading up fairly quickly.

There were a few creek crossings...

...and even a small waterfall off to the side.

The trail cut through what appeared to be an old boundary fence made of piled up stones.

Most of the leaves on the trees were still green but occasionally we would see a single tree that had changed its colors.

With a 2,000 foot elevation gain, the trail was a pretty steep climb up.

Much of the time, we were negotiating our way up over rocks or tree roots.

Bonnie kept saying she didn't remember the trail and Ken said he would know when they got to the top.  With the steepest part of the hike in front of us, we finally began to approach the summit.

The views from the top were beautiful.  We could see Lake George below us.

We could also see a few tree starting to change their colors.

After hiking up, up, and up for 3+ miles, we were all ready to eat some lunch and rest our backs against the warm rocks,

Bonnie and I took off our hiking shoes and gave our feet a chance to cool off and breathe.

After talking with some other hikers here, we realized we were not at the end of the trail yet.  After resting for a while, we loaded up all our gear and hiked a short distance further to the other side of the summit.

From here, we not only had another view of Lake George, but we also could see the Adirondack Mountains way off in the distance.

It is really beautiful from the summit.

From here, we could see The Sagamore, a historic luxury resort on Lake George that is over 100 years old.  

Huckleberry bushes were everywhere at the summit.  Unfortunately, the berries were all dried up so we didn't try any of them or pick them to try later.

As we walked back to where we had our lunch, 

we took one last look at the beautiful view of Lake George,

and then began the steep descent back down the mountain.

Although the descent was easier on our lungs, it was harder on our knees and feet.  We stopped a couple of times to rest but were back at the car by 4:20.  We were all glad to unload our gear and get our hiking shoes off.  

We took the night off from getting together to play cards so we could get a little rest and get caught up on things (like the blog for me).  

The Buck Mountain Trail seemed to be more strenuous than Angel's Landing but without the 1,800 foot dropoffs.  Although the hike was very strenuous and challenging, it's always more fun sharing the experience and the views with friends!