I had some decisions to make and the first was that I would go to warmer weather. I felt like an elevator going from the top floor down without making any stops. But I also decided to stop back in Washington, NC and visit with Kay and John some more. First I had to cross New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia.
Lake Champlain extends from Canada for 120 miles and varies from 1/4 mile wide to 12 miles wide. I had chosen this area because it seemed the shortest ferry ride. As I exited the ferry, $6.75, I asked one of the crew "Where am I anyway?" With a laugh he replied "Essex, New York." I guess I should have studied the maps a little better.
Most of Essex is on the National Register of Historic Places. There are 160 structures built between the 1790s and 1860s and I missed most of them. Everyone went to interstate 87 to the left so I took 22 north thinking I would soon come to Elizabethtown and cut across towards Lake Placid. What I didn't realize, since Essex wasn't on my maps, is that I was already above Elizabethtown. I passed large old stately homes and had a fine drive for a long time. I drove through Willsboro, 1765, a quaint village that has been a tourist town for over 200 years. I passed a 1911 Grange Hall. I came to a sign that advised of a rough road but these people had not been on Maine 139. Finally I stopped in a gas station and asked where I was and they said Chesterfield, which was not on my map either. Chesterfield, I found out after reading my new pamphlet on Lake Placid and Essex County, is home to the stunning Ausable Chasm. I missed a breathtaking series of canyons and waterfalls. I went south as directed and eventually came to Elizabethtown, 1798, where I saw my first loon for sure, sitting silently and alone on a pond. I could see the black and white pattern on his back. Some day I must get a New York map.
I passed the Adirondack Center Museum and traveled through Keene to 73 and to Lake Placid. Keene and Keene Valley are the "Home of the High Peaks." It provides visitors a magnificent view of the beauty of the Adirondack Mountains and has many trails. The trees here seemed to be at peak or just past and were magnificent even on a cloudy day. I then stopped for a view of Mirror Lake that ran alongside the avenue filled with shops and tourists.
I next came to Saranac Lake, and from there I drove down 3 where I came to Tupper Lake and saw another loon and a sign that let me know I was on the Adirondack Trail. The Adirondacks include 2,500 lakes and ponds and more than 30,000 miles of rivers and streams. They were the only mode of transportation even as late as the 1800s. Today they are popular for fishing, swimming, canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing, and sailing. During the late 1800s the Indians used the waterways to travel deep into the wilderness. In winter when the water froze and travel was restricted by snow the Algonquin Indians survived on buds and tree bark. They were called Adirondack by the Iroquois Indians which means bark eaters.
Instead of plantations and farms, I now passed lots of cabins, some obviously very old and out of business. It was a rather desolate road and I decided to stop in Old Forge for the night.
Thursday, I think, at last appears to be a rainy day, but into each life a little rain must fall. It rained gently throughout the night and I slept quite comfortably. Since it was raining I decided not to spend much time in Old Forge but instead forge ahead to highway 81 and drop south faster than those leaves that were falling. Everywhere fallen leaves painted the ground around my campsite.
Waterville was a quaint old town with big brick churches and then in Norwich I heard on the radio that the high would be around 66 and showers were in the forecast. If there were a day to rain, although I don't like to drive in it, this would be the day. Norwich seemed to be a proud little place with green banners lining the streets that pictured hot air balloons. Even the sign I saw for a yard or tag sale was for a "lawn sale." I thought how elegant. And on to Pennsylvania.
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