Rogers Rock - Lake George Wild Forest - 1/17/15

It's amazing to me that the hike to Rogers Rock in Lake George is not a marked and publicized trail. Perhaps the danger of a potential fall from the top of the cliffs has prevented the Department of Environmental Conservation from promoting this location.

Many people are familiar with this area and Rogers Rock is a wildly popular State campground.  The gate to the campground is also kept open in the winter and cross country skiing is popular there.

Starting from campsite number 210 is an old trail that leads generally in a northeast direction past the cliffs of the mountain to western slope where there is an easy approach to the summit.  There is an old faded orange paint stripe on a tree that marks the location of the start of the trail.  There are also several orange ribbons on trees, but this former trail has now mostly disappeared (at least when the snow is covering the ground).  

With the leaves off the trees, we could easily see terrain that we had to navigate around.  Once we found an acceptable slope, we had short pitch that climbed about 300 feet and then we followed the contour of the rim to the 3 different summit bumps. 

The old trail approaches Rogers Rock form the SW

A first look at Lake George

The rewards were great along most of the rim

Looking south from the near the 1st summit bump 

On this day, we had about 2 inches of snow on top of a somewhat icy crust.  We were extra cautious to stay well away from the edge of the cliff.  The ground slopes downward towards the edge in most locations, and we didn't want to be a statistic reported in the news.  We also kept our dog Rev away from the edge.

Approaching the summit of the middle bump

The weather was cold and the temperature was only about 5 degrees, but winds were light.  The first bump provided  great views to the south.  The middle bump is mostly in the trees.  There are filtered views in the winter, but nothing compared to the other 2 locations.

The northern, or 3rd bump provides great views to the north.  Cooks Mountain is easily visible, as is Hearts Bay and Echo Bay.  The northern bump is also the end of the State land. 

Cooks Mountain, Hearts Bay and Echo Bay from the northern summit bump

Ice forming at the northern end of the lake, but open water below

Looking south from the Northern bump 

Rev is waiting patiently

... and then Leesa gives her a snack 

We stayed at the northern end for awhile, but it was cold, so we were soon back on the move.

   

We came down the way we had gone up.  We had left our snowshoes at the base since they were obviously not going to be needed, so we picked them up on the return.

A walk at the waters edge ended our journey

The picnic tables are all angled so they'll drain snow and water more easily

This former path provides a easy bushwhack (and maybe a herd path in summer) to access great views of Lake George.  Caution is needed near the cliffs, but you don't need to stand on the edge of the precipice to see the lake.  We thought this was a great hike.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  4 miles (including a short distance in the campground)

Hike Time:  2 hours, 15 minutes

Total Vertical Gain:  ~800'   

The route (click image to enlarge)

A Google Earth view

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