Fall has become a kaleidoscope of autumn colors in the Northeast. Drove the northern part of Upstate New York through the Adironack Mountains for a couple of days. We stayed at a great campground near Lake Placid having the place nearly entirely to ourselves. Most camp operators have begun to close by October 15 for the season. The best part was visiting the Adironack Museum at Bluewater Mt. Lake. It covers four hundred years of life in the Adironacks starting with explorer Samuel Champlain mapping the area out.
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| Just enjoying the view off Blue Mt. Lake in the Adironacks |
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| The title says " 159 Years in the Adironacks" |
The museum displayed a wonderful traveling quilt exhibit amongst its various buildings filled with early day artifacts, classic boats, birch furniture, log cabins, old photos and wilderness lore. The 1800s gilded era of the wealthy coming to the Grand Hotel Lodges and summer tent camps of the Adironacks to escape city life was personified in all its glory.
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| Okay so I'll need a horse to cart my canoes I guess |
The mountain wilderness is full of beautiful rivers and lakes in abundance. JR mentioned it would be a great place to spend a two month summer vacation just camping, hiking, canoeing, and fishing as it was so lovely.
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| Can we use our lottery winnings to buy a private Pullman railway car to travel in style honey? |
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| Upstate New York is peaked with fall foliage |
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| Wow just a little view from the Toad on a drive |
From there we cut across the central part of state on the toll road Hwy 90 thruway to fast track it to the Finger Lakes wine country region. Watkins Glen State Park became base camp giving us a chance to explore around several of the lakes. It was fun wine tasting at the Atwater Winery while overlooking its vineyards and Lake Seneca.
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| Starlings flock to feed on the leftover vineyard grapes after harvest. Great view from Atwater Winery |
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| Twelve tastings (shared) plus hot mulled wine and then some Ice Wine...Yup we are good to go! |
Next a rainy day drive took us north to Seneca Falls to see the Women’s Rights Historical Park and the National Women’s Hall of Fame. It was hard to believe that the efforts of the Women’s Suffrage Movement had lasted so long. It took from 1848 until 1920 before the 19th Amendment gave women in our country the right to vote.
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| Kudos to all those steadfast to the cause for Women's Equal Rights | . |
Definitely by far hiking the Watkins Glen State Park Gorge Trail was the highlight of Upstate New York for us. We saw 19 waterfalls and climbed 800+ steep stairs up through the canyon gorge. Passing through narrow tunnels cut into the water-carved walls and behind two waterfalls was really thrilling.
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| Main Entrance Tunnel onto the Gorge Trail |
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| Christa in the red cap on the 225 stair |
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| Watkins Glen Gorge view from the 450 stair |
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| Christa takes on the 575th stair toward Cavern Cascade Falls. Go girl! |
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| Here we are at the next rung beneath another waterfall. It plunges 65 ft.' "I Got YOU Babe" |
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| The catwalk beneath the falls was narrow and wet squeezing along the wall.... |
Christa was a trooper using her trusting hiking holes as she rose to the challenge of the incredible steep climb. JR knees were a bit worse for the wear he claims.
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| Kept steadfast climbing up the trail. This staircase brought us to about the 625th stone step |
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| Lastly at "Jacobs Ladder" staircase and wouldn't you guess it was by far the steepest and longest climb with 185 steps. |
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| Bravo, Hooray, Yippee doodah... Almost to the top...Whoopie! |
Upon reaching the summit we cheated and caught a shuttle bus back down the mountain. Primarily for safety reasons, as hiking down the wet staircases seemed like it would be too dicey for Christa. Weighing on the side of caution instead of valor is always a wise option we’ve learned during our travels as road warriors.
Where to next? Southbound through Pennsylvania into Virginia and North Carolina in the Shenandoah National Park along the Skyline Trail 105 miles and Blue Ridge Parkway 469 miles to check out the scenic fall colors. Who knows how many more hiking peaks to climb await there. Tootalou
Fall has become a kaleidoscope of autumn colors in the Northeast. Drove the northern part of Upstate New York through the Adironack Mountains for a couple of days. We stayed at a great campground near Lake Placid having the place nearly entirely to ourselves. Most camp operators have begun to close by October 15 for the season. The best part was visiting the Adironack Museum at Bluewater Mt. Lake. It covers four hundred years of life in the Adironacks starting with explorer Samuel Champlain mapping the area out.
