Lake Placid

For the second part of our Adirondack tour we moved further north to the Lake Placid area.  We stayed at a nice KOA between Lake Placid and Wilmington.  The Lake Placid area was the site for both the 1932 and 1980 winter Olympics.  It is hard to imagine the throngs of people that were there all squeezed into the little town of Lake Placid.  It is a nice little town of about 4,000 population.  We had to drive right through the downtown on our way in as that is the main road in the area and it was a tight fit with the fifth wheel behind us.  I can't imagine what it would be like with thousands of people and all of the snow, the street was wide enough for two lanes of traffic unless someone parked along the street opened their car door or stepped out from between two vehicles.  I understand for the Olympics the whole town was closed off and everyone had to park outside of town and take buses into the downtown area.  

Lake Placid is located in the heart of the northern Adirondacks which is the area including all of the highest peaks of the Adirondacks.  The venues for the various Olympic events were spread all around the outlying areas.  The ski jumps were a few miles out of town and were very interesting.  Those jump towers are a long way up in the air.  I was amazed at how quickly they dropped and what a short area there was at the bottom for the jumpers to get stopped.

The jumps in the next photos were for the trick jumping.  As you can see from this shot the jumpers land in a pool of water while they are practicing.

 Here is a jumper coming down the jump.

Coming off the jump into the air!

Up, up, up!

Around and around!

Splashdown!

It was so interesting to watch those young people flying down the jump and into the air.  I know they were getting a good fifty feet into the air, maybe more. 

This next shot is from the top of Whiteface Mountain, the site of all of the downhill skiing events.  It is just under 5,000 feet to the top.  In the view behind Marcia you can see one of the head houses for the ski lifts and some of the cleared areas of the runs.  The face of the mountain directly below us, that is not visible, was where most of the runs were located.

The next shot is actually Lake Placid with the town at the other end of the lake.  It is barely visible in the photo.

This shot is a panorama of all of the peaks in the distance.  The view from the top of Whiteface Mountain was amazing.  We could see Canada to the north, Lake Champlain and Vermont to the east, Lake Placid to the south and all of the surrounding peaks all the way around us.

We had a great time exploring the Adirondacks.  I hope we have the opportunity to return and explore more of the area sometime in the future.

Adirondacks

Our fall trip this year took us to the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York.  We started our trip with a visit to Marcia's sister Pam and her husband Joe who live in Olean, NY in the eastern part of the the state.  We had a great time visiting with them and checking out some of the local sites.  Thank you Pam and Joe for being such great hosts.

The Adirondacks are located in the northeast section of New York State and are comprised of approximately 6 million acres of scenic wilderness.  The area was protected by the New York Legislature in the late 1890's as a "wild area" and has remained so since that time.  It is made up of both public and private land holdings about 50-50 with restrictions on any development.  This first photo shows one of many lakes that occur throughout the area.

One thing that is always a threat in forest areas is forest fires.  Not to fear because Marcia is on the job in the lookout tower keeping an eye on everything.

Our first several days were spent in the hamlet of Long Lake smack dab in the middle of the Adirondacks.  This was our view from the back window of our fifth wheel.  We were looking out across this pond which hooked into Long Lake.  This picture was taken at dusk with very low light which gives it kind of an eerie look.

This is a sky shot that I liked so I included it also.  The cloud layers made a very interesting scene.

Buttermilk falls just outside of Long Lake was a beautiful area.  We spent some time there just exploring the area and enjoying our surroundings.

There were a lot of "Great Camps" built in the Adirondacks as well as the Catskills to the south.  These were retreats for the wealthy to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.  They came here to rough it in the wilderness.  Of course the had a full staff of people to provide them with whatever they felt they needed.  This is the main lodge of Great Camp Sagamore which was owned by the Vanderbilts for many years.  It is now owned by the state and run by a non profit which maintains the several buildings and area.  You can still rent rooms, they can accommodate roughly 72 guests.  It is used for weddings, reunions and corporate retreats as well as just weekend guests when rooms are available.

This is the private bowling alley with just two lanes and as you can see it is open air.  There are side curtains for inclement weather.

We took several hikes in the area and while on one of these I encountered this tree hugger.  Marcia has never met a tree she didn't like.

This part of the Adirondacks is a great place for kayakers and canoe enthusiasts, there are miles and miles of lakes and streams.  Every other vehicle we saw on the road had either a canoe or kayak on it.  Of course this also makes for excellent hiking opportunities as well.  There are a lot of hike in campsites available for those who like to do wilderness hikes.  

We had a great time exploring this area of the Adirondacks and hope to make it back there sometime.