New York - Land of Kayaks and Kanoes

Monday, Sept. 14 - Monday, Sept 21
Albion - Egypt - Fulton - Redfield - Booneville - Thendara - Long Lake - Schroon Lake

We have never been in this part of New York and just loved the lakes, the terrain and the Adirondack area. 

Monday, we continued along the Canalway Trail with its crushed limestone, enjoying the canal, lack of cars, the flat terrain and the little towns we came across. When we arrived south of Rochester, we stopped at a bike shop to have the drum brake checked out as well as change out the tires again which were looking a little worn.  Unfortunately, they were a bit out of our way in city driving and were not able to help us.  However, their other shop did have the exact tires we wanted which Reuben swears by (Specialized Armadillo's).  Back on the bike we were, and on to the other shop.  The tires were successfully changed out (on our 4th set now) and the mechanic worked on the brake a bit so we had a little stopping power.  Back on the trail again, it was great fun seeing crew teams practicing on the canal - never saw so many at one time.  We had planned to make it as far as Fairport that day but with the extra time & mileage dealing with the bike (70 miles), we called it a day near Egypt, went off route a few miles and checked into the Budget Inn.  Too much backtracking had made for a long day so we were very happy to enjoy a pub atmosphere next door at MacGregors Grill & Tap Room.  We tried some New York dark beers and enjoyed sturdy food.  All was well again.

Tuesday we decided to stay on Highway 31 rather than go back to the canal.  I had grown tired of the crunchy noise and the dust, the chains were fully coated and the bike looked terrible (it did rinse off pretty easily, though).  This also cut our mileage down by about 5 miles.  It was a pretty ride with lots of hills and a good shoulder.  We planned to end in mid-day at Fair Haven but it was "off season" so the businesses in town were closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We had to push on to Fulton which made for another long day (74 miles).  When we got there, we looked for the Knights Inn which had popped up on Reuben's iphone.  Well, that place had been long gone.  Lucky for us the Riverside Inn was not far away.  It was a great place to stay, right on the Oswego River which flows into Lake Ontario.  Their restaurant was open though we had the place to ourselves and a good and filling hot breakfast came with the room.

The Fulton to Redfield leg on Wednesday was a shorter day (46 miles).  We took our time in the morning.  We did have a detour due to a bridge that was out.  This led us out on Wart Rd in Oswell County and what a fun surprise to see a small farm with"St. Francis Farm" on the barn with a statue of him in a niche at the peak.  I don't know if a little commnunity lives there and we saw no one out and about to ask.  We stopped for lunch in Pulaski and talked with some nice people there and pulled into the Reservoir Inn in Redfield, mid afternoon.  We walked the half-mile or so to the center of town for a beer at the local watering hole where it appears everyone stops by after work to chat.  We enjoyed being part of the gang.  Later we ate right at the Inn, the same people who run the motel also run the resaurant.  She is Irish and her husband is Italian.  Nice people, great food.

Around 1pm on Thursday, after 33 miles, we arrived in Booneville, our entry point to the Adirondacks.  I was still uncomfortable with my cold and coughing so we were continuing to take it easy.  Even though it was cloudy and spitting us us most of the day, it was easy to tell this is pretty country.  After checking out our options over a cup of coffee, we decided to stay at the Headwaters Motor Lodge:  not the best value we've come across but clean and quiet.  We were glad later, when we ate at the restaurant in the first floor of the Booneville Hotel, that we were not staying in a room above, as they really enjoy loud music there.  In the meantime, Reuben was still uncomfortable with the capability of the drum brake to slow us down on some sharp hills we knew lay ahead of us.  After some online research he ordered a replacement to be fed exed to our next location.  We would see if it would make it on time and if the replacement was possible.

We had decided to go to Old Forge on Friday and take Saturday off in a cute town that had some things going on.  Since it was a weekend, and close to fall colors, Reuben had called earlier in the week to book a room for 2 nights.  Well, all the motel rooms in that town were booked due to a Fireman's Convention that weekend.  They were expecting about 1000!  So instead he found the Moose River House B&B in Thendara, about 1 mile before Old Forge.  This wasn't what we had planned but what a blessing it turned out to be.  As we arrived after riding only 27 miles in the pouring rain (we stopped twice because it was so heavy), we met other guests coming out, Jim and Betsy.  We talked just a moment, as they were on their way out, and they invited us to join them for dinner that evening.  They had reservations at the Seventh Lake House restaurant in Inlet about 12 miles away and they would drive.  We enjoyed a beautiful dinner (I had the stew baked in an acorn squash) and wonderful conversation and camaraderie.

This area of the Adirondacks, between McKeever and Raquette Lake along Highway 28, has a series of stream connected lakes called the Fulton Chain Lakes, which are mostly numbered (Seventh Lake House is, you guessed it, on Seventh Lake):  I believe the final one is Eighth Lake.  This is also an area that is hugely popular with kayakers and canoeists.  I have never seen so many canoes in my life - every car has one on or two on top, or an empty rack - and there are some pretty high-tech canoes out there (kevlar, carbon fibre, etc.) There is a 90 mile canoe and kayak race that takes place here every year, with hundreds of competitors in 14 classes.  Hmm, there's an idea for our next adventure.

The Moose River House is owned by Stuart de Camp and was built as a hotel by his great grandmother.  It had been out of his family for about 15 years in the 1980's - 90's, when he purchased it back.  A beautiful, gracious place on a pond-like part of the middle branch of the Moose River, with a wonderful sense of hospitality.  Stuart picked up our package and even did a load of laundry for us.  I caught up on my sleep with a nap both Friday and Saturday and a full and sound nights' sleep.  This did wonders for recovering from my cold.  We enjoyed conversing with all the guests staying there.  Jim and Betsy left on Saturday as did another couple celebrating their 62th anniversary.  Reuben set to work on the brake and got that working.  The rest of Saturday was spent walking around Old Forge, window shopping, enjoying the artisans of the Adirondack Mtns., watching a parade of all the area firefighters and first responders, each town or village proudly raising their flag, and a nice canoe ride on the pond and connecting rivers.  Saturday afternoon and evening we met more guests arriving, more story swapping.  

Sunday, after a great breakfast of stuffed french toast with a full inn of people, we were ready to set off to Long Lake, about 48 miles away, with all our gear on.  Everyone came outside on this cold and frosty morning to see us off and have pictures taken.  It was so much fun, everyone being a part of our adventure.  We rode a short way to attend Mass at St. Bartholomew Church and felt very welcome there.  Our route took us along the south side of the lakes (less traffic) which was just beautiful.  We passed through the town of Blue Mountain Lake and began our first really tough climb since Montana, as we headed up Blue Mountain.  This lasted about 1 mile and in places was 16% grade.  We wondered if we would have had to walk the bike if we were still carrying all our camping gear.  Just as we were to crest the hill, we saw the Adirondack Museum.  We knew we didn't want to stop and then try to start again on a steep incline after cooling down, so we just passed it by.  Funny, neither one of us asked the other if they wanted to stop because we were both afraid the answer would be yes, but afterwards we learned that our thoughts were the same.  Our accomodations that night were at a cute place called Motel Long Lake.  A beautiful lake, little sandy beach, seaplanes taking off and landing, near to the Adirondak Hotel, serving dinner since 1903.  Beers (Ubu Ale, by Lake Placid Brewery, a very find strong dark red) and dinner again closed out our day.

Monday, Sept 21, our last full day in New York, we delayed our start due to the cold and fog.  We left about 10 and only had 47 miles to go to Schroon Lake.  Though it was a cool start, it warmed up nicely and was a gorgeous day.  As we cycled up Blue Ridge Road we met 3 cyclists from Sacramento, SanFran and Reno doing the northern tier.  Blue Ridge had recently been resurfaced and was a pleasure to ride on, especially the long downhill.  We stopped at the General Store in North Hudson for coffee and visited with those fellows awhile, who were planning to arrive in Bar Harbour about the same time we were planning to arrive in Portland.  We enjoyed great color in the mountains this day and suspect in about a week or 2 it will be ablaze.  Luckily we had made our staple of bagels with peanut butter and jelly before we left, as there wasn't much in the way of food along the route this day.  We stopped at a little park in Newcomb and enjoyed our "lunch" while looking at the mountains.  That weekend there had been a marathon run around Schroon Lake, so we had to wait a bit for rooms to be cleaned.  We stretched while we waited, cleaned up and were still ready for happy hour at the Drake Motel restaurant where we enjoyed a really good meal.

Tuesday, Sept 22 we woke up to overcast, cool temps, ready to get an early start to beat the rain that was forecast.  Our last day in New York, only 20 miles from the Vermont border, we would cross Lake Champlain on a little ferry in Ticonderoga.  We started about 8 am with a few sprinkles and climbs.  Then we hit a long downhill to Ticonderoga.  We stopped at the first cafe we saw as we had left that morning with no breakfast, filled ourselves, and headed up the road in search of the ferry.  Timing was great with just a few minutes wait, and just 10 minutes on a cable drawn ferry across the lake we were in Vermont.  It is different!