Whiteface

Our next venture into the Adirondack Park started with a trip to Elizabethtown for the "Taste of Local Food Festival." The Wadhams Waddlers were performing and we tried to try as many vittles as we could before the downbeat. It mostly went well except for one dog biscuit that was labeled poorly and partially consumed before it was decided that it was not for human consumption.

We headed back to Wadhams(!) for the night and walked the new cycle-cross trail on the Bouchard-Hall property. It is a perfectly manicured trail that winds through fields and forest.

 The next morning, we awoke early for a hike up Whiteface mountain. This wouldn't be your average hike though, we would be taking the road less traveled. We met Tom at the Lake Placid boat launch and packed our hiking gear into the kayaks for a paddle to Whiteface Landing at the end of the lake.

Once there, we ditched the kayaks in the woods and strapped on our hiking gear for a trek up the "backside" of the mountain (the backside, since most hikers approach the mountain from Wilmington, not Lake Placid). We followed Whiteface brook for an easy approach until we reached the lean-to. From there, the trail was steep and rocky.

About a mile further, we started getting spectacular views of Lake Placid and the high peaks in the distance. We scrambled up the rocks with many gawking breaks where we met a few interesting and talkative folks.

Arriving at the summit, we found a crowd! Whiteface is a different high peak experience than most others since there is a road and an elevator that leads to the summit. After climbing a trail with few hikers, we were not able to sit and relax at the summit because of the throngs of tourists walking around (we're tourists too, we know..). Instead we wandered around and snapped pictures of the scenery. There were great views of the Champlain Valley, the northern Adirondacks, Lake Clear and St. Regis Mountain as well as the Saranac Lakes.

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We begrudgingly started down the trail, slowly. With steep grades and loose rocks, it was a slow and steady descent. Luckily we had our fantastic view of Lake Placid and the high peaks until we got below the treeline, so no one was annoyed at the slow pace.

Once we got back to the Whiteface Brook lean-to, it was an easy walk back to the kayaks. We boarded the boats just as the sun was setting and watched the orange light on the mountain that we had just climbed as we paddled towards the boat launch.

It was dinner at the Cascade Inn followed by malts at Stewart's on the way home. A delicious end to an epic day!

Woodhull

We left the kayaks at home for our next venture into the Adirondacks but we replaced them with our bikes loaded into the back of the car. Our destination was Arrowhead Park in Inlet where we would pick up the TOBIE Trail and ride to Thendara. It was a perfect summer day and we started by following the road before the trail went away from civilization and into the woods.

The trail was challenging at times due to loose rocks and sandy sections but we got to enjoy views of Rondaxe Lake and other smaller ponds along the way. We made it to Old Forge just in time for our bellies to start rumbling which led us to Main Street Station for hot sandwiches. With our "gas tanks" full, we got back on the bikes and pedaled the long and dusty road back to Inlet.

When we arrived we found "Fritz's Polka Band" playing in the park. It was quite a treat, especially since last time we saw them in Syracuse we witnessed their bass player yawn while performing!

It was getting dark and we didn't have a place to stay. We drove by RV parks and motels with no vacancy. We were worried that we may not find a suitable backwoods site for the evening. We turned at McKeever to access the Black River Wild Forest land and easily found many empty designated campsites! We picked one and set up camp.

In the morning we got back on the bikes with big plans for the area! Our first destination was Woodhull Lake, which was only five miles away down an easy gravel road. We admired the lake from the double-wide lean-to and talked about how easy it would be to get our kayaks in!

We doubled back on the road and found the trail to Woodhull Mountain. We biked as far as we could before ditching the bikes in the woods and carrying on by foot. The mountaintop was forested but had the tallest fire tower that we have seen. We gawked at the views of surrounding mountains and lakes - especially the view of Bald Mountain which we had climbed earlier this summer.

On the return trip, we stopped at Remsen Falls (on the Moose River) for a snack break. With a lean-to on the river and rocks all around us, it made a picturesque swimming hole. Too bad we didn't have our trunks...

We packed up our campsite and headed to North Lake for a night of good food and revelry! It was good to see family on Labor Day before heading home.