Yes, another Sunday morning drive from Albany to the farm by way of the Adirondack park. I took my usual journey up the Northway (Rt 87), but when I got as far north as Lake George, I decided to make a detour and drive up Prospect Mountain.

Prospect Mountain is a state owned public attraction for which one is charged $8.00 to drive up to the top of the mountain where there are 3 or 4 scenic outlooks. The roadway is 5 to 6 miles to the summit and is lined on both sides with large boulders instead of guard rails:

At the first scenic overlook I caught a glimpse of the southern section of Lake George:

And at the southernmost tip of the lake is Lake George Village, a tourist destination with tour boats, swimming beaches, tacky souvenir shops and even a wax museum. You can see one of the tour boats below:


Another view of the southern end of the lake. Across the lake is mostly state owned wilderness, part of the Adirondack park. There's nice hiking trails, scenic vistas and mountain ponds:

I'd expected to find lots of autumn color but most of the scenery was summery green. Still, it was a beautiful drive and the dogs and I almost had the mountain to ourselves:

At the next overlook, higher than the first, I could see a bit farther north, the view now including both distant clouds and some autumn leaf color:

Some islands in lake George and wilderness mountains on its east shore:

Heading a bit further uphill, I began to see some red autumn leaves:

And from a higher vantage point, got a much improved view of the lake, the mountains and the clouds:

The very highest overlook was at the top of this cliff, available only to those taking a shuttle bus. Of course, with 6 dogs waiting anxiously for me in the car, I chose not to do that. Besides, I was the only person there besides the bus driver (it was early morning). I suppose he might not want to make the trip with only one person:

And some nice orange leaves. It gave me hope that as I traveled farther north, I'd see some really nice color:

Adirondack Color Part 2

I thought I would begin with another shot of the Elvis statue welcoming one and all to the town of Saranac Lake. I should eat at the "Eat And Meet" one of these days. With a name like that and with a life sized Elvis to greet me, how could I go wrong?:

But now let's go on with the autumn photos of my drive through the Adirondacks on September 14. The photo below is, I'm fairly certain, the Whiteface Mountain of Winter Olympics fame. If you click to enlarge the picture, you may be able to see the structures at its peak. As for fall color, there isn't much in the trees in this photo, but the meadow in front of it is coloring nicely:


Reds and yellows were beginning to appear in the mountains above Keane. If the color doubles each week, it should be spectacular on my next drive to the farm:

You can feel a certain crispness and clarity to the air here now, even on warm sunny days. The raucous ravens and blue-jays are also harbingers of the changing season:

It's still all green here at a stretch of road between the Cascade Lakes and Keane Valley, I suppose because it's sheltered by the surrounding mountains:

I turned off the road just before it was time to get onto the limited access highway so the dogs could get out for a rest stop. It was beautiful, but the grass covered lane I drove on was perhaps a bit rougher than I should have attempted. Nevertheless, it went well:

I parked the car and let the dogs have their outing in the warm sun:

And then back on the road again, with these particularly rocky peaks directly ahead of us:

Recently cut hay fields are brown and the trees in the mountains are just beginning to color:

Route 73, with Marcy Air Field to the right and several of the high peaks dead ahead. When they say "air field" in the Adirondacks, they're not just kidding about the word "field.":