Sunny 46

I figured that Sleeping Beauty would be a good hike for Quinn as long as we could park at Dacy Clearing. There was plenty of space to park just after 8:00am on this Saturday in August. It was a little drizzly this morning, but the forecast for the day promised unseasonably cool and mostly rain free the rest of the day.

Quinn can be expected to stay on-trail, not despite the mud, but because of it. Not a single mud puddle or mud pit was left un-splashed. We're still working on rock-hopping.

He started asking if we were at the top about halfway up, but he remained in good spirits. He did a great job interacting with other hikers and their dogs. We talked about how hikers coming uphill have the right-of-way.

The trail was damp, but like most of the hikes on the Southeast shore of Lake George, was very easy to follow. Several hikers did cut steeper routes to avoid long switchbacks which seems to be a common occurance here. One hiker seemed incredulous that Quinn and I weren't taking the shorter route, but I didn't get into it with them.

It took some time to do it, but we made it to the summit without injury. Quinn loved kicking around on the summit throwing sticks and rocks, and talking to other hikers. We had a few good snacks and  took in the mountain air before heading back down.

Let's  play a game: find Quinn's shoe! Quinn needs proper boots. By the end he was pretty uncomfortable. He asked me to put him on . The discomfort didn't stop him from sloshing in every mud pit, of course. 

The hikes along the Southeast shore of Lake George can be very people-y, but that can't diminish the beauty of the Adirondacks. I like talking to people anyways. It's a great time of year. We can have hot days for swimming or cooler days for little hikes like this one. The mushrooms and Indian Pipe were starting to come out in force, adding different colors to the Adirondack panopoly. I'm going to try and enjoy it before the people and the colors really start coming out!