Lake Placid, NY
10:42 AM
We checked out of the GGT in Burlington yesterday and headed south to Charlotte. Not my Charlotte, but we took Rt. 7 down and drove the car onto the ferry toward Essex. It was a sunny morning and the 20 minute ride gave us a chance to take some great shots. The ferry came recommended by a friend in Rochester. The Essex stop put us very close to the Adirondacks. Our place for the night was in Lake Placid, NY. I should say our city for the night. We didn’t know where we were staying. I was excited to see what an Olympic town would be like. Before we did that, we shot north on another recommendation and hit the Ausable Chasm. We went back and forth on paying the $16 entry fee and relied on a common saying for the week, “We’re on vacation.”
We ran our debit cards and walked down the outer rim of the massive ravine. Travelers had been touring the Chasm for 136 years. The Ausable River pounded below us and plunged deep into the earth. The young girl behind the desk said she was a geologist and that the Chasm was formed by an earthquake and the Ausable River continually eroding the sandstone. The temperature cooled immediately as descended into the shaded valley. Because of all of the rain the northeast had been getting, the water was high and fast. We passed on doing the raft part of the Chasm because we weren’t dressed to get wet for the rest of the day. The raging water reaffirmed our decision. Down we went. The incredible rock formations and the continually evolving geology were impressive. We could see where large boulders were getting ready to drop, in some places a hundred feet. There were no earthquakes or rock slides as we walked, but there were a lot of pictures. The trees growing in the side of the rocky cliffs were intriguing. We walked and gawked for about 90 minutes. At the end of the trail were the rafts. We asked the ticket taker how wet we’d get and they didn’t do a good job of selling us to give it a try. We hopped on the bus and made our way south to the Keene Valley.
Without a schedule or a place to stay we meandered the country road stopping at will for scenic places. The Adirondacks in the background were breathtaking. The rivers mixed with the white and yellow meadows made me feel like we were in a movie. A slight rain started and stopped, but it did not deter us. My camera is filled with great stuff that I’ll throw on the site. At about 4:00 we passed the Olympic Ski Jump facility. They had just closed, but we could still catch a slight glimpse. Those people are jumping an incredible height and distance. Pretty awesome stuff. We then rolled into Lake Placid. Mirror Lake surrounded us and Main St. was packed with walkers. An Equestrian competition was in town and we saw some of the riders in their white pants and knee high boots. We found a map that listed different hotels and began calling from the Northwoods Inn parking lot. My sister and soon to be brother in law had stayed there before and recommended it. Sean went in to check and I got on the horn. There was $140 to $210 a night. Not exactly the GGT, but we were in a small tourist town. Mike and I did not like what we were hearing but Sean came back with some good news. $100 at the Northwoods. The room was going to be split by 4 because Petzy/The Road Warrior/Po Po, was driving up from Washington, DC. He is a traveler like me. Got out of work at 3:30 and drove 9 hours to Lake Placid for the weekend.
We checked in, threw our bags in the room, and took off to the Olympic Hockey rink. This is the site of the 1980 USA gold medal team that beat Russia in a major upset and politically charged game. They made the movie Miracle about it. We weren’t sure where it was and as luck had it, we didn’t have to know. As we walked onto Main St. from the lobby, I got out my camera, and as I do, I asked a girl to take our picture. She was joined by a guy and a girl. The group was a little bit younger than us. They happily took the picture and we started up a conversation. They were locals and they walked us directly to the 1932 and 1980 Olympic rinks. They also told us all of the places to for eating drinking. Couldn’t have worked out any better. One girl was even from Buffalo. The game against Russia replayed in my head. I wondered where Al Michael’s sat as he belted out, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes.” It gave me goose bumps. The locals pointed us to the penalty box for access to the ice. As we walked down the rafters, they departed to a bar. Mike made it to the box first and was just about to set his foot on the ice when a voice from behind where the goal is said, “Don’t do it.” He must have been the ice keeper. As much as we wanted to get out there, we obliged. We walked off to Wiseguys to meet the locals.
Our night was spent eating and sampling the various establishments of Lake Placid. As tired as we were, we had to wait up for Petzy. He arrived at around 1:30 AM. We were tired but he was energized to be out of the car. I knew the feeling well. We couldn’t let the man down, so we took him to the only place that had a crowd, Roomers. At that time of night it was a dance club. The music bumped and I was whipped. They stayed open until 3, but I was out of there after one drink. I felt like an old guy too.
And here we are. The locals told us Cascade Mountain is the one to hike. Breakfast time (more eggs, ham, hash browns, and toast) and then time to hike. The weather is looking decent. Can’t wait to see what the hike is about.