2018 Saranac Lake Ice Palace

It was time for me to travel south to the annual Saranac Lake Winter Carnival to see the ice palace. It's 49 miles from my house, an easy drive when the weather is good. I got a good look at the front of the castle as I headed to the parking area:

 I parked and began walking toward the side of the ice palace. I'm proud to say that I passed by the refreshment stand without buying anything, in spite of the wonderful aromas drifting up from the grill:

 I first walked over to the shore of Lake Flower, where there was an ice version of a traditional Adirondack lean-to:


 Next to the lean-to were two ice Adirondack chairs, perfect for relaxing in and looking out over the frozen lake:

A new addition this year - an ice out house. It was only for show, though, as no hole and no door would make using it difficult (not to mention the see-through ice):

 

 I walked from the lean-to toward the back of the ice palace just in time to see a man disappear in what I knew was a maze of passageways attached to the back of the castle:

 Indeed, the first passageway I entered was a dead end. I tried a second entrance and followed it as it led me in a jagged path to an exit on the opposite side of the castle:

 If I was a small child, I could have entered the castle right there. I imagine that it's great fun for kids to enter the ice palace ahead of their parents, and worrisome for the parents:

I had to walk around the other side for an entrance big enough for an adult:

 I entered the center area, where there were two thrones carved of ice - for the king and queen. You can see the children's crawl-through entrance on the left:

 There was an ice sculpture of a snowmobile for kids to play on and for photos:

I walked out the front doors, the opposite direction most people probably took:

 There was a giant ice bear at each end of the ice palace, and a friendly Miniature Schnauzer checked one of them out carefully. Then he peed on its foot. Alas, the other activities which have been part of the Winter Carnival in previous years, like the Arctic Miniature Golf and the Curling demonstrations, were nonexistent this year. The Carnival consisted of only the ice palace, at least for those of us who drove in from other places. Nonetheless, the Saranac Lake ice palace is a yearly tradition and I'd hate to miss it: