buck mountain.

partially to test out crosbi's new pack, but mostly just to get outside, we decided to do a quick local hike yesterday. of those that are within a half hour drive from our house, we chose buck mountain. much like corin and hadley mountain, i've hiked buck many times.

at five miles round trip (from the eastern trailhead w/in knapp estates), it's a short hike. it's an easy grade most of the way, with a steeper scramble in the last leg before the summit. but the payoff from the top cannot be beat. the summit is mostly open, and with some exploration you can see almost 360 degrees.

while it's not technically in the adirondacks (it's on the east side of lake george), you can always be sure to have company on the peak. yesterday wasn't too bad, maybe for fear of the weather as the clouds were dark when we started at the trailhead around 11:30. more likely, less folks hiked for fear of the black flies. those little horrors weren't bad until the summit.

i sat down to try to do a quick watercolor sketch and the wind promptly started. with gusts of almost 30 mph, the bugs were gone, but so was anything else not tied down. i worked that sketch as long as i could, but it was futile. you can see my effort over here.

regardless of the challenges it posed to watercolor sketching, i was grateful for the wind. otherwise, the black flies would have been unbearable. it was a great hike and we were back at the truck by 3:30. i will have to keep working at plien air mountain top painting...