The Town Of Lake Placid and Lots O' Mountains

The air was so crystal clear that when I reached the town of Lake Placid that I made a quick turn onto Riverside Road in order to get a good view of Whiteface Mountain. But the first thing I saw was this gigantic barn, a few horses relaxing outside in the sun:

There were more horses on the opposite side of this barn and it was, indeed, one of the biggest, best kept barns I'd ever seen:

And there directly ahead of me in the shimmering blue sky was Whiteface Mountain. It looked unusually large, much the way a full moon does sometimes. Whiteface is the only Adirondack high peak with a road to the top. I drove up there once and the view was certainly spectacular. I'd recommend it to anyone:

I turned around on Riverside Drive and headed back to the highway. I was looking straight on at the Olympic High Jump towers. The mere thought of rocketing down one of those is nightmare material for me:

From Lake Placid I continued on to the town of Ray Brook, where numerous high peaks views were available:

I don't know which mountains these are, but they sure are lovely:

And another view:

And another. But of course I was supposed to be driving to the farm. So I put my camera away and got back on the road. We were just over an hour away at that point. I'll post more tomorrow:

Route 73 Through The Adirondack High Peaks

I left The Raybrook Frog (see yesterday's post), passing beneath lovely old pines and past a chainsaw statue of a pioneer. The Tail O' The Pup BBQ was directly across the road with its giant red lobster. The dogs and I were on our way home:

There are cabins for rent along the road with mountain views and lake access. They're busy in the summer, but this was wintertime so I turned in to take a closer look:

And everywhere the Adirondacks framed the view:

These cabins were cute and looked inviting, but a winter pass-by is all I'll get to see of them:

And then we continued on along Route 86 to the town of Lake Placid and south on Route 73 through the high peaks region:

The turnoff for Adirondack Loj Road has always provided marvelous views as long as the peaks are not covered by clouds:

I hiked many of those peaks in my younger days and gazing at them now stirs up good memories:

But as always, I had a long drive ahead of me and had to continue on toward home. I'll post more tomorrow:

The Raybrook Frog

I was travelling home from a visit to the farm when I passed this store on Route 86 in Ray Brook, New York. With Christmas just ahead, I decided to stop and look for possible gifts:

The store is called The Raybrook Frog, a curious name until I encountered this froggy bit of chainsaw art on the front porch. It was holding what appeared to have been a cupcake (or ice cream cone?) and a coffee cup. Furthermore, the porch/deck floor boards had been cut out to accommodate the frog, suggesting that it'd been carved out of an existing tree stump when the place was built:

The store was open for business and hoping to attract Christmas shoppers. I left the dogs in the car and went inside, bringing my camera along so that I could take you shopping with me:

And discovered a sort of Adirondack themed wonderland:

They had expensive Adirondack style furniture and furnishings as well as much cheaper knickknacks and old fashioned souvenirs. Furthermore, everything was on sale:

If I had been a wealthy owner of an Adirondack Great Camp, I could have furnished the whole place here:

The Adirondack theme seemed to revolve around Balsam, Birch, Pine, Deer, Moose and Chipmunks. Hey, I was good with that!:

Candles, birch Art, balsam sachets and incense, woven throws and lots of atmosphere:

Hand woven pack-baskets, more candles, less expensive Adirondack themed items:

Strings of lantern and trout shaped lights, wilderness sound recordings, Native American and old timey pioneer folk music, more baskets, pine and balsam scented soaps, towels, place mats:

It was indeed a fun store, just filled with everything I could imagine:

More Adirondack furniture:

And even beds and lamps. The beds were covered with Adirondack furs, quilts and plush moose and bears:

So much was made of birch bark that I momentarily worried if the birch trees were being wiped out for use in Adirondack themed furniture. But then I realized how much of it there is and how it is cut for pulp and firewood. It does grow like weeds up there. I guess the birch population is safe:

I did buy some Christmas gifts and took them to the counter. I'll show you some of them on a future post:

From The Deer River Flow To The High Peaks Region

I was on my way home with the dogs from a weekend stay at the farm. We began the journey on Port Kent Road which became Red Tavern Road, part of the historic Port Kent Hopkinton Turnpike. But when we arrived at Route 30, I turned south on the highway because to continue on the Port Kent Hopkinton Turnpike would have involved seasonal, unplowed roads. Besides, Route 30 had plenty of its own gorgeous scenery along the way:

The wetlands of the Deer River Flow abutted Route 30 in many places:

All the snow had melted the day before, leaving an autumn-like golden hue to the water's edge. There was so little traffic on Route 30 that I was able to stop anywhere on the shoulder of the road to snap pictures:

The Adirondacks has much real wilderness which can only be accessed by hiking or canoe, but it also has much "almost wilderness" which can be viewed from the comfort of one's car:

And even in these relatively flat sections of the Adirondacks, there were almost always mountains in the background:

More glorious wetlands, part of the Deer River Flow:

And I stopped briefly at Barnham Pond, whose shoreline laps the shoulder of Route 30 just north of Paul Smith's, a sort of combination college and town:

This was a December morning but the waters were not yet frozen over:

But then I turned southeast on Route 86 toward Route 73 and entered the high peaks region:

The scenery was glorious and we were just north of the towns of Ray Brook and Lake Placid. But I'll post more about Ray Brook tomorrow:

Driving Through Lake Placid And Beyond

We drove past the Cascade Lakes without stopping but as we made our way toward the town of Lake Placid, I just couldn't resist. It was just too beautiful to pass by without snapping a few pictures:

When I arrived at Adirondack Loj Road, I pulled off the road for more photos:

These are some of the highest of the high peaks, many of which I hiked when I was younger:

And stretching out in the other direction is the town of Lake Placid with the Olympic high jumps rising high above the buildings. That's where we were heading next:

I stopped at a soccer field behind the Lake Placid High School to snap a picture of Whiteface Mountain. That's the one peak which a person can drive to the top of and I drove it once with my mother shortly before her death:

We drove out of Lake Placid, past the home of John Brown and toward Ray Brook, New York:

The dogs seemed to be getting antsy again but I wasn't sure where we could stop in this area:

And then I remembered a little pull-off along the road which led right into the forest:

So I stopped and let the dogs out to run. They seemed quite happy about it:

Seamus and the younger dogs took off uphill into the forest, sniffing and "anointing" everything:

"Hi Dad, can we go hiking now?"

Daphne discovered a clump of a parasitic plant and I stopped for a photograph. I've had a lot of debate about its identity, but have finally concluded that it was Indian Pipe even though its flowers hadn't yet nodded and even though it was much taller and thinner stalked than usual. Feel free to correct me if I was wrong:

But it was quickly time for all the dogs to hop back up into the car so that we could continue on our way. Little old Winky, as usual, dragged his feet. He was moving toward the car, albeit very slowly. I finally had to help him up into the car which occasioned some angry growling. Winky is and always was a one-of-a-kind: