Blake Peak via Lake Road(edit)

Although the company was fantastic, as always, this was not my favourite hiking trip. The hike up to Mt. Colvin was straight forward, a rock-strewn trail with boulders and slabs to navigate. The summit is small, but offers stunning views across the valley to the Lower Great Range. The hike over to Blake Peak was, uninspiring. I found the trail itself to be boring and ugly, albeit the typically steep slab/boulder climb. The summit(s) was very ho-hum. We actually couldn't decide which of the two high points was the actual summit, the first has a small cairn with a pyramid of sticks, and the second was a little further along the trail with a small rock on a larger boulder. Coming down from Blake Peak was tough, for some reason the steepness of the slabs just seemed more treacherous than similar hikes. Once past the col. the climb back up to Mt. Colvin wasn't as bad as we had read and we were surprised at how quickly we did it.

Hit the trail around 7:30 AM. Got the last parking spot at the Roaring Brook lot. Was overcast, a bit dark and slightly humid. Took awhile to shake the rust off. Gill Brook Trail was nice and soft. Lots of leaves starting to change and many on the ground. Took Elk Pass up Colvin. Sun came up for Colvin Summit. Nice views. Lots of people on top. Initial ridge walk to Blake was nice - started raining. Going down the back side of Colvin was rough - lots of mud, steepness and open rocks. Climb up Colvin seemed to take longer than the mileage would suggest. Top was wooded, didn’t hang out too long. Climbed back up Colvin and found a great summit spot to chill - wind was whipping but view was great. Climb back down was a bit of a slog as was the walk out on Lake Road. Was back at car by 6:30 PM.