Patent Line Mountain(Lake George Wild Forest-Adirondacks)

With an open day I was hoping for decent weather to get some hiking in as I headed north to the southern Adirondacks near Lake George. Although its been a mild winter, there have been many cloudy, overcast days and today would prove to be another.  My goal was to hike the Lake George Rec Park trails to Berry Pond, then bushwhack up to the nearby 1929 foot summit of Patent Line Mountain.  I arrived at the Lake George Rec Park(elevation 670 feet) off of Dump Road and saw only one other car as I arrived. About three inches of crusty snow and ice was on the ground as I set out, so I threw spikes on my boots and headed out. I followed the blue blazed trail through a pretty hemlock forest.

The trail quickly comes down to a lean to shelter that resides beside a picturesque brook.  An informal path leads to nearby waterfalls that were muted by winter conditions today.

There are many, many different trails in the Rec Park but I followed the main blue trail which steadily climbs as it heads north then west.  Much of the this trail follows rugged logging roads.

As I continued west, I soon picked up an orange blazed trail which took me the rest of the way towards Berry Pond.  Just prior to arriving at the pond, I passed over a pretty stream that drains another beaver pond just north of Berry Pond.

The orange trail does a full loop of Berry Pond, so I followed the north shore first, enjoying views to the SW.

From the far west edge of the pond near a beaver dam I left the trail, continuing west.  A short bushwhack from there brought me over to an obvious woods road that climbed up away from the pond and up Patent Line Mountain. 

A small cairn is a good sign that this is a known route.

Approaching the summit, passing through a paper white birch stand.

The 1929 foot summit is fully wooded but sits in an obvious high spot atop a small rocky clearing.

Just a few mere yards away from the summit is a beautiful clearing with great south views.  Looks like a spot well known to locals.

South views towards the valley of Glens Falls(far left)with Darling Mountain rising above Kenyon Mountain(center).

More south views from the summit clearing towards Darling Mountain(L) and Bucktail Mountain(R).

Slightly SW from the clearing is another, slightly treed in view towards Potash Mountain in Lake Luzerne.

After enjoying the summit area it was a nice and easy return route following my footsteps back towards Berry Pond. Once back to the pond, I took the orange trail following the south shore and found a nice view back towards Patent Line Mountain ridge line.

Followed a myriad of trails and wood roads back, taking my time enjoying the woods.  Was really hoping it would clear out at some point but the clouds held on strong.  Hiked about 8 miles total with 1700 feet of ascent for the day.
Today's route.   Red=Trail    Blue=Bushwhack