Adirondacks, Lake Placid, New York

5 Days In The Adirondacks


Day 0:
Upstate New York beckons as we prepare for our late summer trip to the Adirondacks --- mother of all Northeast trails.


Day 1: Three Needles In a Wet Haystack

We woke up early, excited to get to the trails. But Mother Nature was sprinkling us with blessings, I guess, because the drizzle did not stop.

"We should go anyway...", Dale said. "because if we wait for rain to stop, we might not do any hikes.", he added.

So, on to the trails.

We shuttled to the trailhead off I86 and immediately went to the other end near 73. The trail going to the Haystack mountain shared the first miles with the Red Trail, also known as the 'Jackrabbit Trail'. It was still drizzling so we were in our rain gears.

We were slow and deliberate with our steps through the rain-drenched soft trails. It is so refreshing to see how green those leaves are this time of year. There were also signs of fall coming because of some the leaves were shedding their chlorophyl already.

First stop was a Lean-To marked only as 'Placid'. We stopped there and waited for a few minutes because at that time, the rain came down a little harder.

Not bad --- for a first hike.



Day 2: Lost In The Whiteface Mountain

This hike came as a big surprise for us. The trail was a little difficult even for experienced hikers like us. The narrow not-so-well-maintained trails were so much different from the trails back in Pennsylvania. And the open ledges where you have to scramble to get an elevation made it even more strenous.

We got off-tracked twice.


Day 3: Gorges, Waterfalls & Lakes

Today is rest day... a prelude to the Big Hike on New York State's tallest mountain --- Mount Marcy.

We started the day with a hearty breakfast of selected pastries., fruits, coffee and tea courtesy of our ever-hospitable host, Mr. Schulte. He also gave us pointers on where's the most reasonable hiking path to the top of Mt. Marcy.

9:30 a.m. We left the lodge and went to the High Falls Gorge. The Gorge is a privately-owned tourist attraction. Hence, the entrance fee of $11.50 (the only disappointment our group had because we always thought that these natural wonders should be free since Mother Nature provides them for everybody to experience)... but hey, on the other hand, they need money to protect and maintain the place for us. It was a nice gorge with a series of small waterfalls running through it. After that, we enjoyed a 2-mile hike on the trail adjacent to the gorge. It was a surprising little hike because we saw a good variety of mushrooms along the way.

11:00 a.m. Next stop: AuSable Chasm. Nestled in a small Upstate NY town, this natural wonder is a must-see. It's also has a reddish high gorges and a more defined waterfalls that you can see from the bridge. In fact, one of the gorges is shaped like a face of the elephant! 12:15 p.m.A last-minute change on our itinerary found us on the shore of Lake Champlain. The lake was idyllic as the only boat that was running was the Burlington Vermont ferry. We visited the beach and the pier and did some window shopping on the gift shop.At this time, we were ready for a big lunch...

1:30 p.m. Downtown Lake PlacidWe decided to drive back to Lake Placid to have lunch and do some shopping.


Day 4: Begging For Mercy At Mount Marcy

The smell of early morning dew permeates the air as we prepare for yet another difficult hike. I thought to myself: ‘we have to be supermen in order to climb another 46er’…

The climb to Mt. Marcy started with a nice flat hike culminating in a very serene lake. We crossed the lake on a bridge close to its edge providing us with a 360-degree view of the lake and the foliage around it. It was a picturesque place with the trees that are lined along the banks mirroring itself on the water.

We were on for a good hike.


Gradual Climb On a Rocky Trail
The next section was not only rocky but also we had to do a few brook crossings culminating at the Indian Falls. The view of the Whiteface Mountain from the open ledge atop the waterfalls was awesome! We could not believe ourselves that, a day ago, we were on top of the tall mountain we could see in the horizon! Unbelievable!

So Close, Yet So Far
We continued onto Little Marcy mountain, passing the Phelps Mountain trail. I decided to go ahead of Tom & Dale on this section because I liked hopping on the rocks that made the trail. When I reached the next intersection (of the trails to the Adirondacks Loj and Mt. Holden campsite), I waited for my buddies to join me, giving me an 'alone time' enough for me to meditate. With the tall summit of Mount Marcy infront of me (I could see the silhouette of people already on top moving around the summit) and the vastness of the immediate Adirondack wilderness around me, I realized how small we were on the scheme of things. And how we were just passers-by on this world. It's just up to us to enjoy and experience the God-given natural resources around us. My 'alone time' was suddenly interrupted by voices from the trail. I yelled out: "Tom! Dale!" just to make sure that those were my friends and not some bears :)

It was them and on to the summit!


Climb (Not Hike) To The Top
The last section to the top was mad scrambling on the open ledges. This is the Alpine section of the trail where warning about messing up the fragile vegetation was everywhere. So, aside from minding where you place your foot, you also have to mind the plants, shrubs and trees around you!

There were also funny-looking triangular stone small 'towers' as you climb. A volunteer from the ADK (Adirodacks Mountain Club) told me that they were there for a reason: they are called "" and are used to give them an idea how much snow they have on the trail in winter. I couldn't imagine people hiking to the top of the mountain in a snowy conditions! They must be crazy!

After so much scrambling, I finally reached the top with welcoming smiles from an Ohio hiker and the young ADK volunteer. The view on top was amazing! The Adirondack mountain ranges, the clear blue skies (we were blessed by a very good weather, very conducive for a Sunday hike), everything was wonderful. Among the most notable view was the Whiteface Mountain on the North.Like most of our hiking trips, we rewarded ourselves with a packed lunch on top of the mountain. And after a few minutes of 'taking it all in', we decided to go back down the mountain giving us that sense of satisfaction of a successful hiking trip...

Rocky Run Trail - Lima, Pennsylvania

To prepare for our 5-day trip to the Adirondacks, Tom, Dale & I made an impromptu hike near the Wawa Dairies in Lima, PA. We followed a trail that leads us to the Tyler Arboretum. We hiked inside the arboretum, enjoying the landscaped and well-organized horticulture center. The most enjoyable part was the Butterfly farm with different variety of butterflies in their different stages of life.

Side Trip: Dairy Queen for Dale's favorite: strawberry shake. The Flamethrower's Burger was not bad either!