Santanoni

Even though we tend to explore new parts of the Adirondacks on our travels, there are a select few places that we seem to gravitate back to. Great Camp Santanoni on the shores of beautiful Newcomb Lake is one of those rare gems that seems to be unlike any other place. We have visited by foot, snowshoes, skis, and we've even dragged kayaks in on the five-mile road. This time, we decided to "bikepack" in; we would pack our backpacks with gear and bike into the camp.

After a hearty lunch at Gene's in Port Henry where we met Bill Killon, we drove on the windy road towards Newcomb where we met Kevin and Elizabeth. We packed bags and strapped gear to our bicycles and were pleasantly surprised to find that we could easily pedal with the extra weight!

 

Our first trip in was a steady incline with the added challenge of dodging horse manure in the road. When we arrived past the bridge, we snagged campsite five and set up our pup tents for the evening. Kevin and I made a second trip back for musical instruments (a banjo, guitar and fiddle) while the rest of the crew got dinner started on the porch.

 

When we arrived back, we feasted on pasta, sweet potatoes and salmon before packing up our bear canisters as the sun set. Lucky for us, some generous campers left plenty of dry firewood for us to burn, which was important since it was dark by 7:30. We played old-time tunes around the campfire until our eyelids began to droop. It was off to bed for us after a debacle with the bear hang where Tom managed to tie a clove hitch fifteen feet in the air by pure happenstance...

It was a chilly night so we went to bed in long-johns and sweatshirts. We awoke to donuts, eggs and sausage. We spent the morning paddling on foggy Newcomb Lake and biking on the fall foliage covered road. It was a perfect fall day. Around noon with bellies grumbling, Jill Killon, her son Wolfjaw, and her mother, Jan, showed up with PB&J's for us. Perfect!

We played in the camp and snapped pictures before packing out in the afternoon. We met again at the Orchard in Crown Point for an evening feast and apple picking to finish our perfect fall camping weekend!