We were really spontaneous this week. We packed the car and headed north on Tues night without a real plan. We were prepared to cross over the Vermont if need be or even Montreal. We were ready to hike, bike, read, and play guitar.
We headed up the thruway and went mountain biking the first day. We stopped at the ADK (Adirondack Mountain Club) info center for hike and bike recommendations. The trail was a dirt road for the first few miles, and then there was a snowmobile trail that was in nice shape. We have not been mountain biking much since we moved out here. The riding is very rocky and technical, and my forearms can not take it. I may be the only mountain biker who gets more sore in the upper body after riding (as Brian and KC can attest). I like to get dirty and work up the hills the most. We also tried out our new pedals and shoes (proud of us finally doing on the mountain bikes Brian?). I of course had a low speed tip over with my feet clipped in. That is the first set of scratches I got for the day. I did not know what I was in for! We discovered that whenever we would stop, the black flies would swarm me (and a few deer flies to boot). I was just covered with them, and Mike was not getting attacked to the same degree as I was. I suppose I can thank genetics for that (Caraher trait). I would scratch my head and was greeted by dried blood and bug carcass. Mike kept singing, "My wife has fleas". Mike thinks that my jersey was attracting the bugs since it was blue like a flower. We continued since it was OK as long as we were moving and the woods were cool and beautiful. Then the unthinkable....I got a flat! Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!
Let me just say here that Mike is officially my hero. I tried to get the bike pump going, but I was getting swarmed so bad I was trying to work the pump with my ear on my shoulder and doing a spastic dance. He sent me for the car and I left fear behind and tore down the rest of the trail. I guess I need proper motivation. He sent me since he was not getting bit like I was, but I felt bad about it since it was my bike that pooped out.
We headed up to stay in Saranac Lake which is 10 miles down the road from Lake Placid. The guidebook said that it was less touristy so we chose to stay there. We stayed in an old hotel, and we kept running into a local dude who worked there. We then discovered that the town was on the rough side from him. The hotel was old and historic, but good. The town did kinda suck though. We looked for a bite to eat, and there were 4 pizza joints and 1 Chinese restaurant. I am not kidding about the pizza. We settled on one, and ordered. The guy kept coming back and asking us what we had. He forgot our salads (the place was not crowded by the way). He brought me a burger when I ordered a chicken sandwich (twice). I was going to be a good sport and just eat the burger, but it was almost raw. So I tracked him down and also told him we never got salad (I was starving by then). He then told us some weird story about our salads getting stolen and how that happens around there. We decided to eat in Lake Placid the next night!
The next day was rainy, and we ended up doing a road ride in the evening when it was clearing up. We checked out Lake Placid too. We picked up some new sports when we were in Lake Placid.
We moutain biked again the next morning, and we had a black fly bailout plan. The trail was fine for bugs and the ride was beautiful. It was a rail trail through wetlands and forest. We saw several beaver dams along the ride. We also got a hike in (Poke o' Moonshine mountain) that had an amazing view and fire tower on the top. We could see Burlington, Vermont and Lake Champlaign from up there. The descent did not agree with my knees. I need to bring poles up there!
We drove down to Lake George on the 4rth, and we watched the town fireworks from our dinner table outside. The place was a zoo and the traffic would not clear out of town. It took us an hour to drive 2 miles, and we waited an hour and 15 minutes to leave after the show. Lake George attracts a rough crowd so we did not want to hang out too late. Sat we hiked on the Tongue mountain range. It was really hot, and we ran into a couple on the trail who had a close encounter with a Eastern Timber rattlesnake (the guidebook we had said they are rare and seeing one would be a "treat". We saw a picture of it, and it was 2 feet long! We stayed in Bolton Landing last night, and today we were too sore to run, bike, or hike. We kayaked and read books before heading home.
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