Author Archives: Lynn

Rogers Rock Trail

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3.3 miles and an 800 foot elevation change…all rock clambering we discover.  The trailhead to Rogers Rock is right here in camp.  It is a climb to a rock promontory that overlooks the north end of Lake George and is rated as moderate.  It is 50 degrees when we head out.  We each don a couple layers plus gloves and hats and we are off.  An easy start is quickly replaced by a steep challenging climb.  Trail marking is a bit weathered and tough to follow.  We shed layers and meticulously route pick to find reasonable footing.   It is definitely a more challenging hike than I anticipated but we are rewarded with a lovely view and a perfect rock outcropping to relax in the mid-day sun.  We try an alternate path down but it is not any easier and we encounter a new hazard, snakes. The sun is warming rock surfaces just enough to coax them out.  All we see are harmless non venomous ribbon snakes.  We arrive back at the trailhead with no twists or sprains, just a wet butt (mine) from a slide down a particularly long steep rocky section.

A Nexgener?

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We make a routine fuel stop and I run in to pay.  The gal at the register turns and the first words out of her mouth are, “I see you are a nextgener”.  I am befuddled then realize that I have my Star Trek/Charlie Brown T-shirt on.  Ah, I get it and she must be a series fan.  Next thing she says is, “Have you been to the museum?”.  I am at a loss once again but she continues.  “There is a museum here in Ticonderoga.  It houses the complete collection of Star Trek The Original Series original sets.”  Original series actors come here regularly and they have themed fan weeks throughout the year.  It is a Trekkie’s dream come true.   I am not a true fanatic but enough of a fan that I might have to go check it out.  I will let you know.

Our goal was kayaking!

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The middle section of Adirondack State Park around Saranac and Tupper Lakes is dotted with interconnected lakes/ponds.  They bill it as a miniature Boundary Water suited for day tripping or overnight canoe adventures.  It is also a major summering and breeding area for the Common Loon.  The combination seems perfect: paddle quiet water and watch for loons with their young.

Not this trip.  It has been rainy and cool since we arrived.  We never even get the boats in the water.

We did manage some reconnaissance for a return trip.  We drove Floodwood road.  It is a recommended access area for the local ponds and the address of St Regis Outfitters, a resource for route planning and general paddling advice.  There are backcountry camp sites in the Forest Preserve along the route.  Some might just work for us.   We stroll around camp.  Nearly all sites are large with easy lake access.  Kent hung the past two years of my medallions.  We were a bit behind!   We head into Tupper Lake for pizza.

Weather didn’t entirely spoil the stay.  I heard loons one evening and saw one in muted juvenile plumage paddle by camp.  A doe and fawn munched their way across mowed fields in camp.  Energetic little red squirrels chattered and scrambled tirelessly up, down, and around the pines.  Leaves in the area are in near peak fall color.  Brilliant reds, yellows and oranges meld with evergreens.  We have watched the pallet change since we arrived.  It is beautiful.

The VIC

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We climb out of bed around 8AM.  It is in the 50s and has been raining on and off much of the night.  It seems to have finally stopped and we gather up and head to check out the VIC or Visitor Information Center at Paul Smiths College.  It has been recommended as a place with great marsh and bog nature trails good for birding, wildlife and unique plant-life.  Rain holds off for much of the day and we complete the Heron Marsh and Boreal Life Trails.  We meander along the shores of ponds, through dense stands of stately pine, and among carnivorous pitcher plants and stunted pines along bog boardwalks. Sunlight streaks through the canopy of forest zones and splashes off the brilliant fall color of the surrounding mountains.  We spot a deer standing so still among the trees that she didn’t even seem to blink her eyes.  Turtles are sunning in the ponds.  A family of otters plays.  Great blue heron are out hunting, ducks dabble and quack, and woodland birds flit about overhead. The first raindrops fall just as we get back to the car.  Perfect timing for a beautiful walk.

Adirondack Balloon Festival

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We are signed up with the Northeast Hot Air RV’ers to camp for the three days just off the festival grounds (the Floyd Bennett Memorial Airfield) in Queensbury NY.  Our fulltime travel complicates getting parking documents but hopefully its all worked out now.  Kent makes a reconnaissance run in the car to find the entrance gate we are to use and confirms, we are all set.

We roll in, park the car in the towed lot, and make our way to the front row on the crest of the hill overlooking the launch field.  It is a hay field, just recently bush hogged, so bumpy underfoot and tire but the location is prime!

Night one.  It is cold and winds gusting to 23 mph.  Launch is VERY unlikely but we take the shuttle down to the field to check things out anyway.   The crowds are surprisingly large.  We maneuver through the souvenir tent emerging with only my medallion.  We grab cider donuts and a gyro for diner.   We see that the balloon pilots are making their way to the briefing tent.  The answer is as anticipated.  There will be no flying tonight.  We are a bit disappointed but know we have a couple more chances to see a launch.  We head off to warm up and to bed early.  We need to be up at 5am.

Day two is perfect.  The early launch is a go.  We are down on the field again right among the balloons as they inflate and take flight.  We get a glimpse of the patterns and colors as the first hump on the ground forms then they pop upright like brightly colored lightbulbs.  Each one makes me smile as we are swallowed up by the action all around us.  Winds aloft move them off from the field quickly once they are airborne.  All but a couple colorful orbs are gone.  Left standing among them are a huge Panda Bear, an enormous Snowman, and a towering Tasmanian Devil; the lovable special shapes.

The evening launch is splendid. The air is calm and the balloons linger over the field.  We are among them again for the launch and revel in watching them overhead.  Two new special shapes come in; a lion and Mr. sun.  20 or so balloons, including the special shapes, stay grounded for a tethered moonglow.  The pilots pulse the burners to create a light pattern.  That part is not overly impressive tonight but it gives us a little more viewing time for the special shapes and a nice closing for a great day.

One more launch.  We sleep in a bit and watch the final mass ascension from the hilltop where we camped.  Weather is great for ballooning.  As they lift off, I am reminded that this perspective is great too. One gets a better feel for how grand the whole thing is.  The balloons swirl in the light currents over the field moving right, left, away, and toward as they mill about seeming to linger just so we can enjoy watching them.

This festival is great fun and I can’t imagine an easier way to experience it than with this group from this hilltop.  People are friendly, helpful and fun.  The shuttle runs regularly and smoothly.  They have activities and games for kids and adults.  There is no traffic to contend with and you can come and go through the day between the launch field and home.  There is free coffee and donuts in the mornings and bargain priced Stewart’s ice cream throughout the day.  What more could you want?

Sasquatch Festival and calling contest

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Mid-day Saturday is quiet at the festival and we have our choice of two fun sounding local gatherings to attend, a Moose Festival in Indian Lake or the Sasquatch Festival in Whitehall.  Sasquatch wins out and just 30 minutes north in Whitehall we find the Sasquatch Festival. Who would miss a thing like that.  There are true believers; some giving a series of talks on the history of sasquatch, sightings, scientific investigations, investigative methods and more.  Others have booths exhibiting plaster cast of footprints and swatches of hair as proof.  You can buy state map stickers indicating every state where there have been “verified” sightings.  It’s a lot of states.  A few followers combine bigfoot with other non-worldly sightings and unexplainable phenomena…they are all aliens don’t you see.  Kent is excited to see that they include Mothman, the Point Pleasant WV legend, as a peer of Sasquatch.  They even have t-shirts!

 

On down the row of booths we find the more routine festival folks.  Local clubs and organizations with food booths.  The guys in the cub scout booth had bigfoot on their shirts in the middle of their club logo.   Artisans offering crafts of every type; candles, clothes, jewelry, lawn ornaments, home decor and more plus additional food offerings.  Many booths give a nod to the guest of honor offering bigfoot themed items in their collection of wares.  New this year, a beer garden.  Oddest festival-y thing offered here?  A   guy has a box truck with a target in it set up as a mobile axe throwing booth!  There is a bit of everything and it is great fun.  We depart with a couple shirts and some delicious local food.  Regrettably, we will miss the Sasquatch calling contest. We need to get back to the balloon festival to catch the evening launch.

We are going to have to go back to Whitehall one day.  Not so much for the Sasquatch fervor but to tour a marvelous castle perched above town.  A group of locals bought it for back taxes in near ruins, restored it, are maintaining it and offering tours.  The group had a booth at the festival and an enthusiastic 60 something docent sold me on having to see it.  Not sure when but I plan one day to have tea in their castle, Skene Manor.

For now, we are moving on to Fish Creek Pond campground near Saranac Lake in the Adirondack State Park.

Rainy day exploring

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We need to do laundry and to find a place with WIFI (small town libraries are a good bet for this) for some planning.  The nearby burg of Kent seems to have them both.  It is a lovely curly rural drive including a few miles on Kent Hollow Road.  The streets of Kent are lined with great old houses and lots of coffee houses, restaurants, art galleries and other cute shops.  It looks like a fun place to visit another time.  We have things to do today.  The laundry isn’t quite where Beatrice, our trusty garmin, indicates but we manage to find it; bonus, they have WIFI so we can kill two birds with one stone!  We dawdle over the chores just long enough to justify lunch out.

We randomly select Wilsons Bakery and Café.  It is a cute place with local roast coffee, sweets and a wide range of sandwiches from turkey on white to the portabella on za’atar sourdough. That’s what I had.  Kent went for the Cuban.  We found a table in the midst of things and very much enjoyed the people watching as we munched.   It is a comfortable place to hang out.  Next time I will use their WIFI…it comes with coffee!  We grab a loaf of the sourdough and a couple desserts to go.

Hurray, the rain stopped.  We are going to have a campfire.  Long pants, fleece and a roaring fire and it is perfect for enjoying a quiet evening.  The night sky is darker than expected here in the east.  We can even see a bit of a streak of the milky way.  It is a lovely way to end a great day.  No s’mores though.  We need to get marshmallows.

Into Town Hartford-ish

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Some errands

Kent and I are both way overdue for haircuts.  We find a Great Clips and in just a half hour are both looking much spiffier.  Kent’s stylist even managed to move his part back where it belongs.  The last couple managed to move it nearly an inch lower on the side giving him a bit of a comb-over look…even though he has no need for one.

Some grocery and sundry shopping.

Now for the fun stuff.

The New England Carousel Museum.

It is billed as a museum of the history of the carousel.  Sounds interesting.  We find our way to a narrow street then a very small, maybe 15 car parking lot along-side a blocky looking industrial building.  It is not looking impressive from out here but the door is standing open and we have to check it out.  Not a lot of glitz here but the woman at the counter is enthusiastic about their story and just as we are checking in I hear carousel organ start up.  I‘m in for whatever there is to see.

We start with history…here the story of the carousel begins with knights on actual living steads riding a big circular track competing as to who can hit targets with a lance thingy.  (this is the origin of the brass ring game on more modern carousels).  In Europe they began as kids entertainment.  In North America trolley operators added carousels at the end of line to encourage ridership.  They became more elaborate as lines competed and even more so as immigrant craftsmen added their skills and designs to the horses.   Three unique categories emerged; Coney Island, Philadelphia and County Fair as the use of carousels expanded. We move to the actual carvings at the museum which are arranged into these categories. There are 100s of mostly horses with a smattering of wildlife and farm animals.   Notes point out the unique marks identifying the most prominent carvers for each style.  One could read for hours.

I am excited to find an exhibit that tells of the creation of the menagerie for the Greenway Carousel in Boston.  I just rode it this summer.  It is beautiful. No traditional carving here though.  Each creature comes to life as a plaster over wood frame sculpture.  A silicone mold is made then fiberglass resin and cloth are cast and pressed into the mold.  Voila, a bird, a tiger, a grasshopper.   And another and another and another just like it.  They are beautiful but I must say it is not as romantic as the vision of a craftsman plying together dozens of wooden blocks to create a rough form then laboriously carving to life a one-of-a-kind creation.

It is marvelous to be able to see so many pieces at one location.  I wonder how many carousel horses there are scattered across this country.

A little disappointment when I see that the working carousel is not full size so no adults on the horses, just the carriage.  No thanks, it’s just not the same.  Not enough carousel organ stuff either.  I love the sound and to watch the old punch tape driven, mechanical action bands.

It is a great place.  Go if you get the chance.

 

Family time

Today we meet up with Tammy.  She is on the east coast on holiday and we managed for our paths to cross here around Hartford, Rocky Hill to be exact.  We enjoy a bit of reminiscing and catch up on health and happenings over dinner at Saybrook Fish House.  It is a fun evening; plus, food was great and service wonderful.

Wildlife!

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The bears showed up in camp yesterday evening.  Park staff ran them off pretty easily while much of camp watched.

A bobcat crosses our path just as we were coming off the Park nature trail.  So cool.

The nature trail climbs to the top of the ridge overlooking the lake.  There are a couple perfectly placed benches.  We try them out of course.  It is a quiet Monday with forest birds and bluejays making themselves heard.

Around Waramaug

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It is cool and clear so we decide to explore some of the other local parks.  With no internet we can do no research so off we go to check it out first hand.  First, Above All State Park.  As it turns out, this is a very small undeveloped parcel.  It is of historical significance in that as a high point it served as watch point during ……wars.  They report some ruins to explore but no trails or map.  We pass on it this time and instead try a nearby trail at the Strong parcel of the Warren Preserve.  Locals fund a land trust now holding a number of parcels.  Here they have blazed a mile or so trail through mature oak and an area where cleared land has been retaken by second growth forest.  Ferns blanket the ground where rock walls crisscross long ago tilled fields.  It is a lovely loop walk.  We spot frogs, squirrels and what was probably the behind of a deer as it bounded off through the woods.

Second, Mount Tom State Park.  Here we find a quiet lake (usually quiet anyway – today the fire and police are having dive training) and a climb to a tower overlook.  We opt for the hike and head up a steepish trail that takes us to a fantastic stone turret-style tower.  Of course, we climb it including the head knocker low clearance at the very top.  Another nice mountain view and flash backs of ogre and troll encounters during our walks with Willa.  This tower is a perfect ogre hideout!