The Adirondacks, that place New York forgot. Seriously, I’m willing to bet a large portion of New Yorkers would not readily identify the Adirondacks as being a part of their state. And it makes sense; when you think of upstate, you think of Albany and Syracuse and Buffalo, or getting away to the Finger Lakes or the Catskills, not Plattsburgh or Lake Placid.
But the Adirondacks are something of a hidden treasure. There’s amazing camping, great water activities (boating, paddle boarding, etc.), old timey general stores and an attitude that screams, ‘Worry about that serious stuff later, we’re doing this right now.’ Now if you’re more into the resort life, all inclusive with rum punches by the pool and a sandy beach with palm trees this might not be your place. You’ll find more hemlock lined lakes with log cabins and fishermen drinking cans of beer out of heavy duty camping coolers than any of the things mentioned in the beloved hit song Kokomo.
We first made it to the Adirondacks after a trip to Colorado that involved flying standby got shut down very disappointingly and Sarah and I decided to cut our losses and do a roadtrip though the Northeast with some camping and a stay in a fancy hotel in Boston. And we fell in love. We camped on Lake Durant, something we repeated this time, but you can stay on pretty much every one of the hundred lakes up there as they all seem to have a campground of some size. It’s quiet, right on the water, which is perfect for anyone that wants to bring or rent a kayak/canoe/whathaveyou, or had a dog obsessed with swimming like us. We’d open up the tent in the morning and she’d make a beeline for the water.
Outside of the camping there are some really cool little towns to visit. Schroon Lake is a fun little place on a big lake on Route 9, which some of you might know as the West Side Highway. You can literally take it headed towards Washington Heights, never get off and arrive up there, you’ll have some pretty amazing views of the Hudson on the way too and pass through fun places like Beacon, Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow and less fun places like Troy. Old Forge is another one of the bigger towns, and has a pretty cool small town feel, a big general store, a delicious candy shop, plenty of little pubs and pizza places, though it’s pretty far west, so unless you’re heading to or from western New York it might be a bit out of the way.
This trip we also stopped through Saranac and Lake Placid, which you probably remember best for being the site of the Miracle on Ice or the place that movie with the giant crocodile was supposed to be set, but then made it be Maine for no reason. But Lake Placid has plenty of charm outside of the Olympic training center and related facilities. We went to two pretty fun breweries up there, Big Slide and Lake Placid Pub & Brewery. Both had pretty good beers, Big Slide was better, and both are pretty nice places to spend an afternoon, Lake Placid is better for that.
This trip we rented a canoe and found out our dog is not big on boats. She’d rather be in the water swimming than sitting in a hard bottomed shell that keeps rocking back and forth and feels unstable, go figure. But it was still a great activity. It’s a pretty tough work out if you don’t do a lot of bis and tris regularly, but it’s so peaceful. Even on July 4th weekend when the whole region seemed to be booked up, we were able to be out on the Lake all by ourselves more than once.
Some amazing hikes up there too. But don’t trust the printed guides. If it tells you easy, assume moderate, if it tells you moderate, assume difficult, if it tells you difficult, bring your crampons. We climbed a peak called Owl’s Head by Long Lake and it was pretty intense: a steady climb throughout, with a serious rock scramble near the top. But it was worth it. There’s a restored fire tower at the top that is a bit rickety, but it offers a 360° of the surrounding lakes and valleys, just a sea of deep greens and blues.
So that’s the Adirondacks, a calm quiet place to get away and embrace the outdoors. Very similar to many of the other posts we’ve done and will do. You might notice our constant desire to get away for a bit. Don’t worry, there will be plenty of cities too and those will revolve mostly around our love of eating and drinking.
Be sure to check out Sarah’s post for specifics on the places we stayed, things we did, and food we ate.
Bicoastal Surf 