Catamount Mountain East Ridge(Lake George Wild Forest-Adirondacks)

Headed up to the Lake George region on a picture perfect late summer day to do some off trail exploring.  While all of the popular trailheads were packed(and then some), I was the only car parked at the state land access road on the west side of Route 9N in Sabbath Day Point(just north of the Tongue Range on the west side of Lake George).  My goal today was to head up a long ridge to the 1850 foot unnamed peak that sits just east of Catamount Mountain. Elevation to start here is quite low at only 370 feet, so I knew there would be some considerable climbing ahead of me.  I parked in the large lot where an old gravel pit was located and began heading west on a good woods road.  A very short distance in, I left the road and headed up the ridge, which was covered in sedge grass, a very unique characteristic of an Adk ridge. 

From a low set of ledges on the east side of the first bump I came to, I found good views down over Sabbath Day Point and the lake.  Hogback and Sugarloaf are the mountains across the water.

From the same ledges looking SE towards Sugarloaf, Elephant and Black Mountain across the lake, with the lower slopes of Bloomer to the right in the foreground.

The woods were hardly even woods as I ascended through mostly rock filled meadows.  There are a number of small bumps to ride on the way to Catamount's east peak, but each had something nice to offer.

Although down low I had some glimpses of Lake George and the surrounding peaks, as I climbed up to about 1100 feet on one of the bumps, I began to get my first real good views.  The small bump in the foreground is the lower end of the ridge I had climbed.  From this vantage point, Spruce and Hogback Mountain take center stage across the lake.

I almost feel guilty calling this bushwhacking...almost.

The woods couldn't have been any more open and inviting than this.  A true pleasure to wander through.

Hard to beat views of Lake George like this...especially off trail, when it's yours alone to enjoy.

Rising up to one of the false summits, which was almost like a stroll in the park. 

 

 As I made my way up above 1500 feet, I hit a vast clearing.

 

From this clearing came some of the very best views of the day, taking in a large swath of Lake George and many of the peaks on the east side of the lake.  This made a perfect break spot, with a light breeze keeping it cool.

As I guzzled down my drink, I gazed south across the notch at the double summits of Bloomer Mountain to the south.

Above the views, I continued to climb up and over another bump on the ridge, soon coming to a false summit at about 1725 feet.  From there, the east summit registered a mere 1/3 of a mile away.  Easy right?  Nope!  The col between these two was deep...and I mean deep. 

After carefully descending the near vertical slopes, it was a short but stiff climb up towards Catamount's east summit.  Just prior to hitting the summit, the woods opened up to a gorgeous area of wide open south facing ledges.  To the east/ southeast, I could see the mountains of Vermont on the distant horizon beyond the Lake George east peaks.  The ridge in front of that was the false summit I had come up(and also had to return on).

SW views.

The view from these ledges stretched nearly 180 degrees!  This view to the south takes in part of Bloomer's west ridge as well as part of the Tongue Range hovering above.

A short distance away from the view point was the wooded summit, elevation 1850 feet.

After a steep descent off the summit, I had to claw and scrap my way back up the false summit.  The photo below is actually the gentler slopes above the worst of it.

There weren't many signs of fall in these woods, which are loaded with oaks, but I did capture this one maple, ablaze in red.

The route back was fairly benign, save the steep boulder filled descents.

Although the descent through the steep, boulder fields was slow it was still fun.

Basically retraced my steps east, back over the multiple small bumps on the ridge, soaking in the beautiful day.  Got back to the car feeling pretty good, and actually ready for more.  Hiked about 5.3 miles RT with over 2400 feet of elevation gain along the way.

Today's route below.  Red=Ascent   Blue=Return(Descent)