Black Mountain, Adirondacks

July 21, 2012
Distance: 8 miles
Time: 6 hours 23 minutes
Map: ADK Trail Map of Adirondack Eastern Region
Parking: Parking lot off road.
Restrooms: Outhouse behind Lapland Pond shelter
Pre hike breakfast: n/a
Post hike dinner: SJ Garcias (wouldn't particularly recommend, parking difficult)
Directions: 50 Hikes in the Adirondacks

Notes:
This was a very crowded trail.
Parts of the trail are very rocky - small rocks which are hard on your feet.
This is a loop hike which passes 3 ponds - 2 of which you can reach easily for swimming.
The maps didn't show the color of the blazes.
On occasion we found the blazes confusing.

Year to date miles: 259.7

The trail starts out as a wide road - obviously used by snowmobiles. It was uncomfortable to walk on.

The woods road leads to some sort of farm.

At the gate, the trail turns to the right and enters the woods. The trail becomes less rocky.

Split for loop

This is what I don't like walking on. Even though I have heavy hiking boots, you can feel the
rocks under your feet. My feet were sore afterwards.

Approaching the summit

The summit was very crowded. Views of Lake George.
There are 2 viewing areas - both packed.
We tried waiting for people to leave so we could take better photos.
But as people left, more people kept coming.

Sign clearly points the way down but...

The trail down from the summit was so overgrown we thought for a long time that we hadn't gone the right way.
It was a while before we found a blaze.

View of Lake George descending from the summit

The shores of Black Mountain Pond were muddy. We tried to find a place out of the mud to stand.

No easy access to Round Pond

A short side trail leads to Lapland Pond shelter

Lapland pond - great lake for swimming, and large rocks good for napping on.
We had this area to ourselves, and hung out for an hour and a half enjoying it.