Our next stop as we start to make our way west was Lake Placid in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. While the drive from Burlington to Lake Placid was a beautiful one, it was the most challenging section of road we have traveled yet. The roads weren’t particularly narrow or winding or steep, though those words could definitely be used to describe them. The biggest challenge of the drive was the cyclists. The Adirondacks are a great place to ride a bike and, apparently, that is no secret. I must have passed a hundred riders on bikes on the winding mountain roads. That would be a challenge even without pulling a trailer or without two kids in the back asking homeschooling questions or moaning about having to redo math problems (Archer). We weren’t in a hurry (yes, I actually said that), so I made sure to give them all plenty of room. I have been there before and can empathize with them. I was also a little jealous I was not out there that day.
We walked around Lake Placid that first day and were pretty psyched to see things like the huge ski jumping complex from the 1980 Winter Olympics. We had to look for other things to do though because several of the Olympic facilities were closed for renovations. Archer did some research for us and found an option that looked like a lot of fun, Ausable Chasm. Ausable Chasm is a fascinating canyon, one of the many claiming to be a “Grand Canyon of the East” in one fashion or another. Ausable Chasm was formed by a river and a receding waterfall cutting through a sandstone gorge. It really is a cool place, so we were looking forward to spending the day there.
Ausable Chasm is privately owned and has been a tourist attraction for almost 250 years. So, it does have some downsides. All of their signage is Jurassic Park themed. It is all set up to be very safe with the trails along the rim of the gorge being totally fenced off to keep babies from falling to their deaths. We even had to take a number to wait to be able to wait in line to buy our tickets to access the park. I can’t help but think that this is what our national parks may be like if they were ever fully privatized (please, no!).
Despite all of this, we had a great time at Ausable Chasm. We hiked, we rafted down the river through the canyon, and we did a via ferrata climb through the canyon. Via Ferrata is a protected version of climbing originating in the Alps where you climb clipped into cables along cliffs to minimize the danger of falling. The via ferrata here also had five bridges that crossed from canyon wall to canyon wall over the river where you walked along a single cable or narrow boards. It hung from the sides of cliffs with the river below. We had a blast. Our guide, who ran the via ferrata program there, majored in Expeditionary Studies in college where you get your degree becoming proficient at outdoor sports and learning to be a mountain guide. That’s an option these days? Maybe it’s time for degree number four?
We had taken the day off from homeschooling to do Archer’s Ausable Chasm adventure. That is one of the big advantages of homeschooling – we get to set the schedule. But, we had to dive back in the next day to get back on schedule. This was made easier by the fact that the next day was a rain day. It rained most of the day, so after school was done, we checked out the small town of Saranac Lake. We had a good time walking around town and checking out the shops. Smith and Archer enjoyed shopping at a store where the saleswoman picked out clothes for Archer to try on and complimented Smith on his tastes since he wanted a suit jacket for some unknown reason. When we got back to the Airstream, our neighbor from Virginia saw me playing guitar and brought over his acoustic bass. We added in Archer’s bongos and had a great time all jamming together to some U2 songs.
The next day was nice and clear, so we decided to go for a hike in the mountains. Our campground was only a mile or so from the trailhead to Cascade Mountain, so we decided to climb it. The Adirondacks are home to 46 peaks over 4,000 feet in elevation. These 46 peaks are called the Adirondacks High Peaks. It’s a thing to try to climb all 46 of them since a lot of the hikes required to climb them are beasts. Cascade Mountain was one of the “easier” hikes at a little over five miles round trip and 2,000 foot elevation gain. The hike was pretty rocky full of roots but it made up for it at the top with some scrambling and panoramic views at the all-rock summit. The view from the summit was incredible.
Even though we had fun during our first several days in the Adirondacks, we didn’t yet to get the appeal. Before climbing Cascade Mountain, we had only seen the valleys. There were beautiful lakes and mountains to be seen from the valleys, but they were developed and the towns sort of looked like they peaked back in 1980 for the Olympics. Those thoughts all changed when we saw the view from the summit of Cascade Mountain. Now we got it. The Adirondack Mountains are big and vast (the largest area of protected public land in the lower 48). We could see huge peaks in every direction with big steep approaches, large cliffs and exposed summits. This is a great place if you love the mountains and I was ready to spend more time here. One peak down and 45 to go. We’ll be back.
I’m also from NY and many, many yrs ago made a pit stop at Ausable Chasm had no idea of it’s magnitude. We didn’t climb as you did, actually all your sights didn’t exist but we we’re thrilled with all the waterfalls.
I do hope you were able to view Woodstock in Bethel, NY close to where I grew up. As you may know this was the 50th reunion.
Hi Jared and Jamie! I saw on Mandy’s post about the adventure you are undertaking! How awesome! I’ve gone back and read all your posts. You have done an awful lot in a short time! I look forward to following your trip across the country! Prayers for safe travels and a wonderful family experience!! Love you guys! Pat and Freddie
Thanks! Great to hear from you guys. I hope that all is going well!
Really enjoy seeing your travels! And I agree with you on loving the national park system and keeping them public and not opening them to mining or logging.