This weekend, my son and I headed up to the Adirondacks for a short trip to visit my brother, see some mountains amidst the colorful scenery of the fall season, and spend a day in Montreal.
We did that last year, as well. But that trip was in late November, and it felt very much like the beginning of winter in the region.
This time around, it was mid to late October, and so while it was considerably cooler than we were used to in New Jersey, it nevertheless was a lot milder than the wintry conditions that we endured last year.
Yet, we did see snow. But the snow that we saw capped the tallest mountain peaks surrounding us as we traversed the rugged Adirondack range.
Over the years, I have taken a lot of trips up north to Canada, particularly to Quebec province, via I-87 in New York. This traverses through the Adirondacks, and at points, there is some truly beautiful mountain scenery that can be seen from that highway. I am a huge fan of mountains and woodland, and of course, the Adirondacks have plenty of both. It has long been one of my favorite areas to drive through during these trips.
Yet, admittedly, most of the trips have mostly seen me passing through the Adirondacks, sometimes even without stopping. Usually, I stop somewhere, maybe to Lake George for some food, a stop to get gas, and perhaps just a few minutes to get some fresh air and stretch my legs, as well as to take in the scenery, before resuming the long drive up to the Canadian border. There have been times when I have stopped to explore the area little bit more, but until lately, my actual visits to the Adirondack region have been limited to very close to I-87.
In fact, other than Lake George, which my grandparents had taken my brother and I to during our family’s first big trip to Canada back in the summer of 1983. If there is one town in the Adirondacks that I have gotten fairly familiar with, Lake George definitely would be that town. We stopped there again this time around, going to one of my son’s very favorite restaurants, which is the HoJo (Howard Johnson’s). This used to be a chain that had over 1,000 locations, but the one in Lake George is the last one standing now. We arrived too early for our normal lunch, but enjoyed a good breakfast there nevertheless. We also took in some of the autumn scenery of Lake George, on what was a stunningly beautiful Saturday. The hills were rich in fall colors.
Other than that, though, there has been little exploring of the Adirondacks.
That began to change a bit last year, when my brother moved to Port Henry, and my son and I went to pay him a visit in mid-November. We drove up during a snowstorm. Port Henry was not especially hit with snow, and we barely saw any ourselves. Yet the next day, much of the Adirondacks felt like a winter wonderland. The peaks of the taller mountains were covered in snow, lending this mountain range a dramatic look.
We did not hit a snowstorm this year when we visited my brother again, yet there was already some considerable snow on the taller peaks of the Adirondacks. They would not feel out of place in the Rockies.
Again, we stayed at Port Henry this year, and we visited Lake Placid, a town that I have long wanted to visit. Yet, until this past weekend, I never had actually taken the time to pay it a visit, despite how relatively easy it would have been on a number of trips up to Canada, when we were within close proximity to Lake Placid.
This was a charming town, which is actually quite sizable, at least in comparison to the surrounding towns and villages in one of the few regions of the East Coast which is well-known for how isolated it feels. There is a good reason for it, too: the mostly remote mountain passes are tough to get through, and the weather is not accommodating. In fact, winters here are brutal and long. That does not lend itself to a huge population.
However, it does strongly help to preserve the incredible natural beauty of the place, and the Adirondacks have plenty of that.
Here are some pictures illustrating the abundance of natural beauty of this region of upstate New York:
Over the years, I have taken a lot of trips up north to Canada, particularly to Quebec province, via I-87 in New York. This traverses through the Adirondacks, and at points, there is some truly beautiful mountain scenery that can be seen from that highway. I am a huge fan of mountains and woodland, and of course, the Adirondacks have plenty of both. It has long been one of my favorite areas to drive through during these trips.
Yet, admittedly, most of the trips have mostly seen me passing through the Adirondacks, sometimes even without stopping. Usually, I stop somewhere, maybe to Lake George for some food, a stop to get gas, and perhaps just a few minutes to get some fresh air and stretch my legs, as well as to take in the scenery, before resuming the long drive up to the Canadian border. There have been times when I have stopped to explore the area little bit more, but until lately, my actual visits to the Adirondack region have been limited to very close to I-87.
In fact, other than Lake George, which my grandparents had taken my brother and I to during our family’s first big trip to Canada back in the summer of 1983. If there is one town in the Adirondacks that I have gotten fairly familiar with, Lake George definitely would be that town. We stopped there again this time around, going to one of my son’s very favorite restaurants, which is the HoJo (Howard Johnson’s). This used to be a chain that had over 1,000 locations, but the one in Lake George is the last one standing now. We arrived too early for our normal lunch, but enjoyed a good breakfast there nevertheless. We also took in some of the autumn scenery of Lake George, on what was a stunningly beautiful Saturday. The hills were rich in fall colors.
Other than that, though, there has been little exploring of the Adirondacks.
That began to change a bit last year, when my brother moved to Port Henry, and my son and I went to pay him a visit in mid-November. We drove up during a snowstorm. Port Henry was not especially hit with snow, and we barely saw any ourselves. Yet the next day, much of the Adirondacks felt like a winter wonderland. The peaks of the taller mountains were covered in snow, lending this mountain range a dramatic look.
We did not hit a snowstorm this year when we visited my brother again, yet there was already some considerable snow on the taller peaks of the Adirondacks. They would not feel out of place in the Rockies.
Again, we stayed at Port Henry this year, and we visited Lake Placid, a town that I have long wanted to visit. Yet, until this past weekend, I never had actually taken the time to pay it a visit, despite how relatively easy it would have been on a number of trips up to Canada, when we were within close proximity to Lake Placid.
This was a charming town, which is actually quite sizable, at least in comparison to the surrounding towns and villages in one of the few regions of the East Coast which is well-known for how isolated it feels. There is a good reason for it, too: the mostly remote mountain passes are tough to get through, and the weather is not accommodating. In fact, winters here are brutal and long. That does not lend itself to a huge population.
However, it does strongly help to preserve the incredible natural beauty of the place, and the Adirondacks have plenty of that.
Here are some pictures illustrating the abundance of natural beauty of this region of upstate New York:
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