Adirondacks - Watch Hill Hike

Today was our first day at a campground in the Indian Lake region of the Adirondacks.  The leaves are just past their peak and we wanted to get right out and tune up for a possible climb of Snowy Mountain tomorrow.  So we picked a 3-mile hike up Watch Hill at Indian Lake.

The trail started up an old dirt road off Route 30, which was already showy with fall leaves:

Perhaps 100 yards up the road, we encountered a stream crossing, which Kathy conquered in style:

In about 0.7 miles, we encountered a sign at the trail junction, and began our climb up to the right:

The sign notes that the trail is maintained by Timberlock, which is a rustic family resort located a few miles south of the trailhead.  We appreciated the trail sign and the general appearance of the trail, but blazes would have been useful.

The entire trail was dressed in fall colors, as these two boulders evidence:

At every turn, the trial took on different characters, depending on the types of trees and colors of leaves:

Near the top, we found our first viewpoint, and got a glimpse of Snowy Mountain to the left in the photo below, above a granite rock face that we imagine is a playground for rock climbers:

Looking more southward, the hills and mountains spread out like a rumpled quilt of many colors:

At the summit, we got a dramatic view of Indian Lake to the southeast, from atop a knife-edge of bedrock heaved up by continental forces and then denuded by ancient glaciers since receded from the Adirondack region:

Here is another, more colorful view of Indian Lake from the summit:

David said he felt like the King of the World!

Back at the bottom of the trail, we looked across Route 30 to see a meadow that had been in the center of our view from the top of Watch Hill.  The granite rock face in front of Snowy Mountain looked over the colorful trees and field:

Driving back to the campground, we paused to catch the drama from a viewpoint looking southeast through the Adirondacks. We saw the dramatic peaks of Pete Gay Mountain, Chimey Mountain, Gore Mountain and Bullhead Mountain across Indian Lake:

This was a great stretch of the legs to prepare for a more challenging climb of Snowy Mountain tomorrow.