Headed to the Adirondacks
Today we headed to Lake Placid for our Adirondack hiking with was the final segment of the trip. We drove for about 2 hours to get to our first hike of the day. The drive consisted of taking a boat Ferry, something that Katie has never experienced and I have only experienced when I was younger (I think). We got to our first hike of the day in New York which was the Poke-O-Moonshine Fire Tower trail. After signing into the hiking register, we learned that the locals just call it "Poko" for short, and that seems like an appropriate abbreviation. The hike was good and had great views, but because it was the middle of the day, the lighting wasn't great around us. The summit was extremely windy, so we didn't stay too long, and the observation deck on the fire tower was closed (although you could walk up the steps and get an even better view of the mountain).
Since we had quite the drive to get there, we were hiking pretty late in the day, and we failed to get lunch before the hike and ended up having a very late lunch that we were both pretty hungry to eat. Our lunch was at 2pm and was at a random pizza shop in a nearby town where we got New York Pizza. On our way from the hike to Lake Placid, we stopped at the Jay Covered Bridge, which is the only remaining covered bridge in Upstate New York. It was a gorgeous area, but a powerline right across the bridge ruins the photos. We got creative and were able to take a few, but I wouldn't recommend this stop to any photograhers for that reason.
We didn't have a lot of time in the evening for another hike before the sun went down, so we went to the High Peaks Wilderness area and walked around Heart Lake. The lake doesn't look like much of a heart shape, although the path that we took ended up looking like a better heart than the actual lake itself. The "hike" was pretty easy and flat and gave us a good chance to stretch our legs out before heading to dinner.
5.45 mi
3.6 hrs
2,219 ft
1,500 ft
Leaf-Covered Forest
The ground was littered with leaves everywhere. That was a good indication to us that we might be at or past peak for fall colors in this area.
Ladder
We came across a couple of ladders that had the steps way too close together. The ladders were helpful so i guess I shouldn't critique too much.
Old Homestead
Close to the summit was a homestead that I stopped to take a photo of. There were a lot of trees surrounding it, but because of my wide angle lens that I bought for this trip I was able to capture it in one shot.
Hazy
This view was right before the summit and almost looking directly into the sun, so it didn't turn out nearly as great as it looked in real life.
Poke-O-Moonshine Fire Tower
This was the fire tower on the summit of Poke-O-Moonshine. We weren't allowed into the observation deck, but we could walk up the stairs just a little bit.
I-87
Not too far from the trailhead there was a gorgeous overlook of I-87 and the surrounding mountainside.
Stairs
There were many stairs built out of rocks on the trail. The Trail was well maintained.
Jay Covered Bridge
This was the only good view of the Jay Covered Bridge. The back side has a giant power line going across the bridge, and the other side is impossible to get a complete photo of.
Ausable River
The Ausable River was quite wide and flowing strong at the Jay Covered Bridge.
Inside the Bridge
You could go inside the Jay Covered Bridge (on foot). I thought that taking a photo through one of the windows framed by the wooden structure would be cool.
Bridge from the Bridge
Just a little ways down the river there was a second bridge, and what is now used to drive from one side of the river to the other.
Wooden
The structure inside the Jay Covered Bridge was pretty impressive. I was telling Katie that I would have loved to come back here at night for a long exposure in the bridge to mitigate the bright spots form the entry and windows, but this area wasn't worth sticking around for.
