2 Hikes in 2 Weekends

I love fall in the Adirondacks! I love being close enough to make day trips there. And, I love hiking in the Adirondacks-especially in the fall. For the past 2 weekends, I took advantage of the weather, and hiked.
On the first weekend, I went hiking with my friends, LC and Ryder. This was a birthday celebration for Ryder, and it has become an annual tradition. I feel so fortunate to be friends with these two smart and strong women. We've known each other our whole adult lives, and have seen each other through many life events. It's great to spend a day together, catching up and just talking about whatever comes to mind.
Here we are, at the summit of Buck Mountain.

The cool thing about this hike was that, at the summit, we were above the cloud line. So, looking down on Lake George, all you could see was clouds.

A few weeks ago, I was in Lake George with the fam. Kenz looked up at one of the mountains, and said, "Someday can you take me to the top of a mountain, Mom?" Well, that was all it took. I really love hiking, and rarely make time to do enough of it. When Shayna was younger, we used to go a couple of times a year. Those are some great memories for me. I told Kenz some of those stories, and we decided to make a plan to go hiking.
That led to yesterday's adventure. We went to Shelving Rock Mountain. The original plan was to hike Sleeping Beauty, and have Jack spend the day at my parents, but Kenz really wanted him to join us, so we changed our plans. Shayna came home for the day, and joined us too.
We did some quick online searching and found that Shelving Rock Ridge,seemed to be a trail that almost any one can do. Of course, we ended up on the wrong trail somehow, and did Shelving Rock Mountain, instead of Ridge. It was cold, but sunny.
Here they are at the trailhead.

The hike was 1.7 miles to the summit, all on a switch back old carriage road. The kids had an awesome time, searching for lizards (they found 2), snakes (they found none), and cool mushrooms.
The summit was nice, but not breathtaking.

The kids felt a huge sense of accomplishment, and were really proud of themselves when we reached the summit. On the way down, Jack took a big fall. He banged up his leg and knee, so that Kevin carried him most of the way down.
Mackenzie climbed this really cool rock that she found.

It was a great day! Kenz and Jack both been to the summit of their first mountain. And they made it to the top all on their own!
Of course, all 3 of them fell asleep in the car before we were back on the highway.