As a public service announcement, I’m recommending that anyone planning to visit Lake George take a stroll up the Prospect Mountain Hiking Trail. Bring your kids and every relative, friend, or neighbor you can find – regardless of age, shape, or physical ability. Before getting underway on the trail, stop by Canada Street and invite some strangers along. Don’t forget to ask the person in the musty Frankenstein costume outside of the Village’s Historic Wax Museum or that disgruntled family using colorful language at the DILLIGAF store, all wearing leftover tee shirts designs from the Insurrection on Washington D.C. The more the merrier, so consider yourself the Pied Piper of adventure as you gather a top-notch crew to make your ascent of the mountain!
Once you’ve assembled everyone, trudge your way East (away from the lake and towards the constant roar of the Northway). Invariably, you’re going to lose a few people here, because once you get past the old, sagging Price Chopper (or is it Market 32 now), it’s a slow uphill walk to the parking area. You’ll know you’re there by the pungent scent of the porta-potty and a large amount of trash and refuse left scattered around by earlier “hikers”.
It’s probably clear by now that Prospect Mountain Hiking Trail is not my favorite natural getaway. There is a wonderful, unobstructed, panoramic view from the summit, however, and on a clear day, you can see all the way to the Green Mountains of Vermont. The problem is that, much like the village of Lake George, what began as a lovely, somewhat remote, natural place to enjoy and recreate has been completely inundated and brimming with people. And people tend to ruin things. Especially things which are lovely, remote, and natural.
I’ve heard that a similar phenomenon has happened deeper within the Blue Line of the Adirondack Park to the point where people are racing to trailhead parking lots around Lake Placid and the High Peaks before the sun rises just to secure a spot for the day. Every summer the number of inexperienced, unprepared people running off into these difficult and complex trail systems and needing to be rescued (or dying before they are rescued) increases. I haven’t been up that way this season, and I’ve avoided hiking Prospect Mountain Trail because of these upsetting reports. I head into the woods with a few family members or hiking buddies whose primary motivation is to get away from people, not to encounter more of them. For these reasons, my small group of nature-lovers and I have vowed to keep our favorite hiking and trekking places as secret as we can – no posting pictures or telling anyone outside of the tight circle about these hidden gems.
But nobody in my clandestine group considers Prospect Mountain their favorite. Not anymore. Neither is Lake George Village. So we’ve decided to offer it up like a type of sacrificial lamb and encourage everyone to go there and get the hiking bug out of their systems. Whether they make it to the top or not, everyone can visit the fudge shops and local gun range (just north of the Million Dollar Mile Outlet Stores) afterward with the DILLIGAF family and share their unwavering opinions and insights on politics, religion, and the importance of intelligent voters and qualified leadership to our continued existence on the planet.
It may seem foolish, even dangerous, to promote and encourage everyone and anyone to hike up a mountain. And it is – it really is. But the strange truth about the Prospect Mountain Trail is that every time I’ve been there I encounter people who seem never to have hiked anything at all before. They are the type of people who would always choose an elevator over a flight of stairs. And this is what differentiates the average Lake George tourist who has wandered up to the Prospect Porta-Potty from the novice hiker showing up at six a.m. in Lake Placid to find parking for a High Peak. The Lake George tourist has absolutely no business being on a trail or in anything resembling authentic wilderness. In fact, many of the folks that I’ve encountered seem not to want to be there at all, as if some serious misunderstanding occurred which placed them in this circumstance.
For example (and I know I’m prone to exaggeration, but here I relate only facts), the last time I hiked Prospect with my wife and kids we came across a youngish-looking couple with a child of their own. We were coming down the trail while they were going up. They were barely past the old, rusting bridge that takes people over the noisy Northway and to the actual start of the trail. The man’s left arm was in a sling, and he was sweating profusely. A cigarette dangled from his mouth. His partner was also smoking, but she had full use of both arms, which she was using to swat at the mosquitos. She was decked out in a “Life’s a Beach” half-tee shirt and bikini bathing suit bottom. She was (again, no exaggeration here) wearing rainbow flip-flops to accentuate the recent pedicure that she must have gotten near Lake George’s historic Wax Museum. The child was in a bathing suit as well but had on water shoes rather than sandals for the adventure. He was sipping from a straw plunged into a large cup of green, slushy liquid. It was the only source of hydration I noticed on any of them, and it was nearly gone.
“Geez!” the man wheezed as he pulled the cigarette from his mouth with his good hand. “We didn’t think it would be this steep.”
“Can we go back to the bathroom?” the child asked. “I’ve got to pee now.”
The woman was leaning on a nearby boulder, picking pine needles and pebbles from her flip-flops. “Are we almost there?” She asked us, hopefully.
Unfortunately, this crew represents the majority of “hikers” on the Prospect Trail, especially in the summer, rather than the exception. And that would be okay if the trail was paved, flat, and not very long. Maybe ending at a mini golf course with ice cream available. But it doesn’t. It’s one and a half miles to the top, with an elevation gain of over fifteen hundred feet. And then you have to turn around and come back down. In layman’s terms, it’s no friggin joke. And the most ironic part to me is that you can drive up the mountain on a lovely paved road nearby – in your car – with the air conditioning going and your green slushy drink tucked neatly in a cup holder! Prospect is, in fact, the only mountain I’ve ever hiked that I could have driven up (partially or perhaps completely because it costs money to use the paved road). If it was free, I would gladly chug my way up to the summit and slap a bumper sticker on our family roadster proclaiming that “This Car Climbed Prospect Mountain”! Okay, I wouldn’t do that. Because that’s just weird and I never know how to respond to those stickers. A thumbs up and hearty “Way to Go!” maybe? But my point is that if you are given the choice to drive or walk somewhere, and if that somewhere is up a mountain, and if you’ve never hiked a mountain before, or hiked anything before, wouldn’t it make sense to spend the money and drive up? Especially if you’re going to spend the money at the fudge shop, wax museum, gun range, or mini golf course anyway?
To each their own, right? Live and let live. Everyone is entitled to make their own decisions, have some fun, and get a taste of the wilderness while they visit our historic and untamed part of the country. So although I would advise most of these greenhorns and flatlanders to stick to their cars and absorb what sights they can from scenic pull-offs, highway rest stops, and floating around on The Minne Ha-Ha, if they choose to sample some off-road trekking, I’m all for giving them a shot at Prospect! Because at least here they have a good chance of turning around and finding their way back to the rusty bridge over the Northway, or they might stumble onto the paved road that leads to the summit (the trail crosses this road several times). I can’t find any reported incidents of someone ending up stuck on Prospect for days while Forest Rangers, State Police, and local volunteers spend time and resources looking for their corpses – and that is a good thing.
Most of us experienced nature lovers realize that COVID pushed more people out of doors and into the woods which created this surge on all the most popular and easily accessible trails. It broke my heart to see the increase in litter, vandalism, and basic disrespect visited upon many of these spaces. If someone did get lost on Prospect, I truly believe they could easily follow the line of candy wrappers, plastic bottles, or fast food remnants to find their way out. Countless people have simply walked straight up the mountain in the last few years, deserting the marked path which consists of a series of switchbacks and intentionally carved trails meant to slow erosion and allow nearby plants and vegetation to grow. It’s all washed out dirt, rock, and trambled foliage now, and “hikers” continue to follow whatever way they think will give the least resistance. Most of the trail markers that were attached to trees have been pried off and taken as souvenirs, replaced by spray-painted markings (harder to steal). At this point, one large arrow spray painted on the side of the porta-potty near the trailhead that points up the mountain and another painted on the porta-potty at the summit pointing back down would suffice.
For these reasons, I’ve come to accept that it’s simply too late to restore this place to any type of true wildness. It would be like closing down the Historic Wax Museum in the center of Lake George and opening a real museum there instead. The tourists have spoken, and we know what they want to spend their money on. Even if we kept the musty Frankenstein wandering around the new museum, it would never be profitable. And an ugly fact about many of the Lake George-esque places in America is that’s what has always mattered most. So, instead of trying to keep people from the Prospect Mountain Trail, let’s send everyone there! As a matter of fact, maybe Lake George should allow a few fudge shops or a second DILLIGAF store along the way. Why not? If you can’t beat them, contain the damage while making a buck or two, right?
I’ve learned, and continue to learn, that accepting those things I can’t change is vital for my mental health and continued Recovery. Being morose, cynical, and seeing the worst of human behavior and attitudes simply does me no good in the long run. I choose to write, quip, and shout about these things when it comes to issues of nature, conservation, and common sense over profits because it makes me feel as if I’m doing something other than just shaking a fist at the problem. I know it won’t change much, if anything, but it helps to try – to say something – to point out what appears to be obvious.
It took me a while to calm down and accept the fact that everyone was welcome to the Prospect Mountain Trail, and to all these natural places that I cherish and often take too much for granted. I hold out hope that for some people, maybe even one person, a child perhaps, being outdoors, in the woods, or on a trail, might spark some kind of life-long connection and love for places that are not made by human hands. And maybe that child will grow up learning to respect and protect these places, teaching their own friends and family to do the same. As Dr. Suess’s Lorax so wisely declared “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
So once the crowds subside, perhaps after Labor Day when the leaves burst into color and the entirety of the Adirondacks glows red and amber, I’ll head to Prospect Mountain Trail again, with a small crew of hikers and several trash bags. We’ll do what we can to bag and haul out the trash. Because I do care a whole awful lot. Until that time, I’ll be out in the woods and on the trails in places that refresh and recharge me – leaving only footprints and taking only pictures (which I may or may not share). But don’t ask where these places are – and keep your own natural sanctuaries silent, safeguarded, and forever wild as well…
3 responses to “Come One, Come All, To Prospect Mountain Hiking Trail!”
Very sad to see the disrespect. We never know what we had until we lose it. Each time I go to Prospect Mt I am blown away by it’s beauty. At the parking lot there are picnic tables which we used this year. Truly we are blessed to be surrounded by such natural beauty. Thanks for the reminder Brian. Now I will keep wondering what happened to that family in the rainbow flipflops and the man with the broken arm.
Some people grew up living in cities. These experiences (rare as they were) to the “wilderness,” opened our eyes to the wonders of the country and hiking, which became a lifelong passion.
I trust that nature will “zap” people with her wonders, in the oddest of circumstances.
Also, health and hiking is complex. Walking uphill is hard for some of us. Walking at all is hard sometimes. And people laugh and make fun, which makes it easier to stay home. The folk panting and in pain, need support and love and yes a thumb’s up.
And yk, learning to wear the right shoes and all, is/was a learning curve for some of us. Ya don’t know until ya know, and then we surely do better.
Let me know when you compile the group of folks to pick up trash as I will gladly join. I have never hiked Prospect due to the amount of people. I like the quiet trails when I only run into one or two people. 👍🏻
Very sad to see the disrespect. We never know what we had until we lose it. Each time I go to Prospect Mt I am blown away by it’s beauty. At the parking lot there are picnic tables which we used this year. Truly we are blessed to be surrounded by such natural beauty. Thanks for the reminder Brian. Now I will keep wondering what happened to that family in the rainbow flipflops and the man with the broken arm.
I’m going to offer a different perspective.
Some people grew up living in cities. These experiences (rare as they were) to the “wilderness,” opened our eyes to the wonders of the country and hiking, which became a lifelong passion.
I trust that nature will “zap” people with her wonders, in the oddest of circumstances.
Also, health and hiking is complex. Walking uphill is hard for some of us. Walking at all is hard sometimes. And people laugh and make fun, which makes it easier to stay home. The folk panting and in pain, need support and love and yes a thumb’s up.
And yk, learning to wear the right shoes and all, is/was a learning curve for some of us. Ya don’t know until ya know, and then we surely do better.
Keep writing and speaking up for the earth!
Let me know when you compile the group of folks to pick up trash as I will gladly join. I have never hiked Prospect due to the amount of people. I like the quiet trails when I only run into one or two people. 👍🏻