Adirondacks trip report
 

I wanted to offer a brief summary of our recent (and first) trip to the Adirondacks. My husband and I--along with our kayaks--just spent the last week on Long Lake. The drive from Indianapolis wasn't too bad. We took two days to drive out, with an overnight in Victor, New York, but drove home in one long day. We stayed at a Best Western in Victor that more than served our purposes and had a great dinner at El Basha. We stopped in Utica on the way to pick up a few perishable items. Most of the food we ate for the week was brought from home.

We stayed in a cabin at Motel Long Lake. The cabin was clean, quiet and had everything we needed. I highly recommend the property as it seemed well maintained and well located. We spent three days kayaking along the lake. Part of the adjacent land is state owned and offers hiking and camping opportunities. We saw eight loons on one of our outings. They were a fantastic surprise. We saw evidence of bear as well and my husband swears he saw one in the woods from his kayak. We also kayaked on nearby Little Tupper Lake, which only always non-motorized boats. We thought we would explore other nearby lakes and ponds, but the ease of kayaking from our cabin ended up too being too appealing.

We did several hikes as well: Owls Head Mountain, Coney Mountain, Castle Rock, and OK Slip Falls (including a spur trail that leads to the Hudson River). These were all good hikes. We saved hiking in the High Peaks for another trip; we just didn't want to make the drive.

We mostly ate in, but had several dinners at The Cellar in Long Lake. The food was tasty and the service very friendly. We got ice cream at Stewarts, a local chain of convenience stores, and sandwiches at Grub and Growl. The season is almost over and some places were already closed.

This was a great time of year to visit. Nothing was overly crowded, the leaves were changing and the weather nearly perfect (they were having a bit of unusually warm weather). This part of the Adirondacks is pretty rustic and choices for eating, drinking and shopping were few--but that suited us just fine. The choices for kayaking and hiking were, in contrast, plentiful. It would take several lifetimes to exhaust all that the region offers in that regard.

We loved the area and hope to return. I found it challenging to pick a town/lake while planning. There are so many options, but in the end, I felt like we found a really ideal spot for our needs and priorities.

Thanks for posting!

We spent a couple of days in the area years ago as part of a bigger trip and enjoyed it. Hope to return one of these days.

I love the Adirondacks. I am always on realtor.com looking for a house. My family lives in North Creek, Gore mountain and Schroon lake. The community there is strong and love the people as well as the beauty. It is hot there today high 80's. Freaky weather for them.

The little towns are all treasures. Glad you have a good time.

Many years ago I worked for several summers as a maid at the Ausable club in the high peaks area. One of my good friends who also worked there has said (only half jokingly) it was her best job ever It is a beautiful area.

I am trying to put together a short trip in a few weeks that includes going to the John Brown State Historic site in Lake Placid and hiking a little as well as taking the Amtrak Domed Car that is operating for a month between Albany and Montreal.

Sounds like a very nice and relaxing trip. Thanks for the report.

Vttraveler, sounds like a good trip! We consider doing a hike along the Ausable River (on property owned by the club), but decided against doing the drive. We found it so easy and tempting to stay closer to "home." I'd like to spend a few nights in/near Keene next time.

We are relatively novice kayakers, but I have to say that I can think of no better way to relax. It's a very peaceful way to explore. I hope we're able to go back.

the Adirondacks are a very special place for me (my family has been going there since 1900!) so glad you had a lovely time. I also love the John Brown cabin. hope you return for many lovely vacations

Thanks so much for the trip report. So glad you enjoyed our beautiful Adirondack Park. Living in Saratoga area, so close to the park, I sometimes wonder if we take it for granted. You may want to stay in Saranac Lake area on your next trip - kayaking through the small locks between Lower, Middle and Upper Saranac Lakes is fun and there is so much to do in that area. Although Long Lake is lovely too.

Nice report - agree with sharondi & the others that there is so much to do in the area. Not all of it is wow/knock your socks off like you find in some of the better known national parks out west, but rather great natural beauty/open space right in our back yard.

Somewhere on my bucket list is to check off more of the ADK high peaks.

Thanks for topping. We just booked a long weekend for the end of the month in the same general area (at Saranac Lake) & looking forward to the quiet getaway. Friends who have been in that area recently say mosquitoes are basically gone and hiking/trail conditions have been excellent (they are seeking to climb all of the 46 ADK high peaks over 4000, but not us despite my promise of a few years ago).

It's not clear what the foliage outlook for this fall will be. One of the bellweather / early changing sugar maples in our neighborhood that usually starts to change color around now is actually looking a little wilted/crinkly browning leaves. Hopefully that's not a harbinger of things to come state wide.

Nights have been cool - into the high 40's outside the Adirondacks, mid to low 40s within. Perfect sleeping weather with the window cracked.

Seeing this thread come up again reminds me I still haven't made it to the John Brown Farm historic site. We did go to Harper's Ferry in July so renewed our interest in Brown's story.

I hope you have another great stay in Long Lake.

A very timely topping. I hope your trip is fantastic. It is starting to color a little bit here in CT, so I would guess it will be very nice there. I love it when the trees reflect the reds, oranges, and yellows between the greens on the surface of the lakes.

Current foliage report. 9/13

https://www.iloveny.com/things-to-do...oliage-report/

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c9d5f8e467.png

Leaving for ADK next Sunday. I am hoping for a little bit of warmth to go out on the pontoon boat one day at least. Mostly going just to see family and head over to Vermont for one day. We take the gondola up Gore mountain and hike. Much better than this Fl weather.