From NY’s Finger Lakes we had two weeks in the Adirondacks before needing to be in Plattsburg NY. There are so many lakes and places to visit that it would be tough for me to say “you must do this in the area”. What I will say is we were glad to have a Harvest Host membership as there weren’t many places to camp between Finger Lakes and entering the Adirondacks, the drive alongside Indian Lake is wonderfully scenic, Fish Creek Pond is a busy but fun campground, Lake Placid is the epitome of a quaint town in the area, and the drive up Whiteface Mountain would be fun for the whole family but cycling to it will require some training.
With that said, below are more details of what we experienced in the area.
We drove northeast stopping at Harvest Host Prison City Brewing in Auburn (prior post here) and up through Syracuse where we were greeted by this cool art deco building. I just love that style! Syracuse also had a really interesting downtown, but we didn’t really stop to take it in.
Syracuse 
We were headed for Bleeker NY and instead, stopped in Little Falls when we saw the church steeple (below) peeking up between the hills. We spent that night on Bleeker Lake at another Harvest Host (Hemlock Hills Nursery). Their nursery isn’t up and running yet but their property had amazing views of the lake and we enjoyed talking with them.
Little Falls
Bleeker 
The following day we started our drive north up the west side of the Adirondacks. It was rainy that day, but we woke up to stunning blue skies the next. We followed Indian Lake north and stopped at an overlook when we saw good cell phone signal. The Adirondacks are unusual in that unlike a national park, there are no entrance fees and its made up of public and private lands where people live year round. In fact, over half of the land is private. The area is part of the largest Boreal Forest in the world containing mostly pine, spruce, and larch. It’s also full of rolling hills, alpine summits (if only averaging about 4,000 ft tall), wetlands, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams and they estimate that nearly 12.4 million people visit each year (which is more than the Grand Canyon)! Can you believe this scenery?
Nice stop for some cell signal 
We camped at Fish Creek Pond / Square Pond. We were able to cycle in the area, do some paddling, and Doug did some SUPing, travelling from lake to lake. A lot of locals or at least annual regulars were camping at this lake and it must be some kind of tradition before going to bed to holler “Woo hoo” like a loon across the lake. People who did this would get an answer from someone else on the other side and the “Woo hoos” continued. All the kids in the area really enjoyed it and so did we!
…it must be some kind of tradition before going to bed to holler “Woo hoo” like a loon across the lake. People who did this would get an answer from someone else on the other side and the “Woo hoos” continued.
We spent the next few days in and around Saranac Lake area. We drove to St. Armand for a short hike. Although a little overcast, we didn’t have rain and from the top of the hill we were treated to view of the valley with its many lakes nestled amongst the dense trees. Very typical of what we’d seen driving through Upstate NY – lakes everywhere!
We had a relaxing day the next day paddling the lower St. Regis Lake with Bailey in tow.
We took a forest service road bike ride after a stay at Meacham Lake that was a little tougher than expected. Had to lift my heavy bike over a fallen tree at the beginning of the ride and when we reached a flooded part of the path, Doug decided to continue on but I didn’t want to carry my bike a rather long way around the flooded area in dense brush so decided to head back to the RV without him. On my way back, I turned the corner and saw a bear sitting right in the middle of the trail! Remember that the last time I encountered a bear I was also alone and it was on the trail right in front of me and instead of making noise and getting big I froze as it kept walking away. Well this time, I made a loud noise (part one good) but it didn’t move so I panicked yet again and instead of continuing to yell and make myself big (part two I screwed up), I whipped the bike around, kicked up the speed and rode over crazy terrain out of control and nearly killing myself as fast as I’ve ever ridden away from the bear and back towards Doug while yelling for Doug to come back and help. Absolutely not the right reaction! I was sweating like a pig in cellophane and poor Doug had to quickly get his bike back around the flooded trail to help me. As we biked down the path and around the corner, where I’d seen the bear…it was still there! That bear hadn’t moved one inch! As we got closer, Doug noticed it was a rock. Whoopsie, that’s em-bear-assing! Doug and I parted ways again as I desperately needed a shower and I think Doug needed the peace and quiet of the day without me.
That bear hadn’t moved one inch! As we got closer, Doug noticed it was a rock. Whoopsie, that’s em-bear-assing!
The following day we drove into downtown Lake Placid for some lunch, ice cream, window shopping and a view of the lake. This town often gets named as one of the most beautiful towns in America and on a sunny, clear day, I don’t doubt that it is.
Lake Placid
From the Wilmington Notch campground, Doug cycled to the top of Whiteface Mountain on Veteran’s Memorial Highway. At the top of the road, you can hike up using an installed rail system for great views. He enjoyed it so much that the next day we zigzagged the RV up the mountain pass to the parking lot and hiked the mountain again. Strangely, in the late 1930’s they’d built an elevator shaft to go up and down and at the top someone told us the ride was interesting so we took the elevator back to the parking lot. To reach the elevator from the bottom or to exit (as we did once down) you have to walk through a 400ft tunnel and then travel vertically for 27 stories! The 10 million lbs of rock they had to excavate from this tunnel and shaft were used to create Whiteface Castle (which is the visitor center at the base) and the round tower at the peak (pictured below).
We spent our last night in NY at Cumberland Bay campground before driving into Plattsburg where we put 6 new tires on the RV before heading into Canada for the remainder of the summer!
The Adirondacks are so vast that we hardly scratched the surface with two weeks in the area, but we very much enjoyed the long summer days by the lakes and were pleasantly surprised by the lack of insects, including mosquitos.
