Thursday, September 24, 2009

Yes, another Sunday morning drive from Albany to the farm by way of the Adirondack park. I took my usual journey up the Northway (Rt 87), but when I got as far north as Lake George, I decided to make a detour and drive up Prospect Mountain.

Prospect Mountain is a state owned public attraction for which one is charged $8.00 to drive up to the top of the mountain where there are 3 or 4 scenic outlooks. The roadway is 5 to 6 miles to the summit and is lined on both sides with large boulders instead of guard rails:

At the first scenic overlook I caught a glimpse of the southern section of Lake George:

And at the southernmost tip of the lake is Lake George Village, a tourist destination with tour boats, swimming beaches, tacky souvenir shops and even a wax museum. You can see one of the tour boats below:


Another view of the southern end of the lake. Across the lake is mostly state owned wilderness, part of the Adirondack park. There's nice hiking trails, scenic vistas and mountain ponds:

I'd expected to find lots of autumn color but most of the scenery was summery green. Still, it was a beautiful drive and the dogs and I almost had the mountain to ourselves:

At the next overlook, higher than the first, I could see a bit farther north, the view now including both distant clouds and some autumn leaf color:

Some islands in lake George and wilderness mountains on its east shore:

Heading a bit further uphill, I began to see some red autumn leaves:

And from a higher vantage point, got a much improved view of the lake, the mountains and the clouds:

The very highest overlook was at the top of this cliff, available only to those taking a shuttle bus. Of course, with 6 dogs waiting anxiously for me in the car, I chose not to do that. Besides, I was the only person there besides the bus driver (it was early morning). I suppose he might not want to make the trip with only one person:

And some nice orange leaves. It gave me hope that as I traveled farther north, I'd see some really nice color:

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