Northeast Wild

  Dec 17, 2021 - The morning was spent shopping for Nordic bc gear.  Started hiking at 1pm from Rt.73 & crossed a narrow bridge (no handrails), soon at a pond/reservoir, then reached state land in the High Peaks Wilderness area.  Start climbing moderately with some switchbacks & stone steps.  R at a junction.  R at another junction at the 2-mile mark & passed around some erratics.  More switchbacks to a junction.  Went R 0.1 miles down to a ledge with valley views plus The Brothers & Hurricane Mtn.  Back to the junction & another 0.3 miles to the summit - several views of Giant Mtn along the way - the last bit is very steep & there are some wood steps at one point.  Not much time to enjoy the views & quite windy, temp in the upper 30s.  Back down the same way, sunset 4:20pm, got back to the car at twilight 4:50pm - any later & we would have had to pull out the headlamps.  No snow up to this 2,762' sum...

  Dec 9, 2021 - SHELVING ROCK MOUNTAIN & FALLS hike. Shelving Rock Road is fairly steep & my driver did not like the way it looked so we parked at the Hogtown trailhead (1,200' el) for Buck Mtn. & walked down the road. Some nice brook views along the way, especially at Campsite #12. Took a R at parking area #2 (500') on Big Bridges Trail next to Shelving Rock Brook for 0.9 miles, then L on Shortway Trail. After ~1 mile started climbing moderately up the mountain, lot of switchbacks keeps it from getting very steep. A little before the summit (1,130') not much in the way of views from there) took a R on a path for ~100 yards dropping down to a ledge with very nice views over Lake George. Headed back down & took the short 0.2-mile way back to the road, 1.5 miles from the lookout. 0.4-mile trail to the very scenic falls, then lime paint blazes to below the falls for the best view. Up & up the road back to the car. The trails in this area are on old c...