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Tuesday, September 25, 2012 dawned another in a string of Chamber of Commerce days in Vermont. Irene, my GPS, led me south on VT 100 to Warren VT where I turned west on VT 17. A long, steady climb brought me to The Appalachian Gap. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was enlisted by the State of Vermont in 1933 to build the easternmost portion the McCullough Turnpike which initially connected VT 100 to the Mad River Glen Ski Area. When completed through the Appalachian Gap (or App Gap) in 1958, the route provided an east/west connection between the Champlain and Mad River Valleys. The spacious parking area at the gap provided plenty of room for my rig and gave me an opportunity to sightsee without the distraction of a steering wheel! The remainder of my trip around the south end of Lake Champlain proved uneventful. After setting up at the Magic Pines Family Campground in Lewis NY, I relaxed for the remainder of the day.
I suppose some background information might be helpful at this point – particularly for those not interested in sports. Lake Placid NY, about thirty miles west of Lewis, was host to both the 1932 and
Mirror Lake
Downtown Lake Placid NYthe 1980 Winter Olympics and is replete with winter sporting history and venues. Whiteface Mountain is the dominant peak in the Lake Placid area and was the location for the Alpine skiing events during both Winter Olympics. The Olympic Center in downtown Lake Placid houses three ice surfaces where figure skating and ice hockey were contested. Intervales Ski-Hill hosted the ski jumping and the ski jumping leg of the Nordic combined events while the Mt. Van Hoevenberg Bob and Luge Run was the site of the (ta-dah) bobsled and luge competitions. Speed skating races were held at the James B. Sheffield Speed Skating Oval while the winners of the biathlon, cross-country skiing and cross-country skiing portion of the Nordic combined were determined at the Lake Placid Olympic Sports Complex Cross Country Biathlon Center. The various venues are spread across the greater Lake Placid area.
Wednesday, the first full day of my two-week stay, dawned a threatening, overcast day with intermittent light rain so I postponed my orientation trip to Lake Placid NY until Thursday. Good choice. My first two stops on Thursday were housed in the Olympic Center. I got general questions answered at the Lake Placid Visitor Center,
and my questions about the Olympic Experience Tour Package were answered at the Olympic Museum. The young man (okay, middle-aged man – he was young to me) said he would sell me the combo package on the condition that I not waste this “gorgeous” day on an indoor activity. I agreed. I have learned that weather is not only subjective, it is also relative! With my (Olympic) passport and Chamber of Commerce map in hand, I explored the once quaint village on foot before returning to the truck for a drive through the outlying area.
The nearby community of Saranac Lake had piqued my interest since I had first seen it on the map because it serves as the hub for a variety of scenic roads. I decided to visit and then explore one of those scenic routes and see just what changes were underway in the fall foliage. After reaching Saranac Lake via NY 86, I turned southwest on NY 3 towards Tupper Lake where I caught NY 30 southbound to Indian Lake. There I turned onto NY 28 towards Warrensburg where I made my way onto I-87 northbound and returned to Lewis. The leaves were quite pretty
The Frost Heave Doesn’t Show Up In The Photos
Whiteface Mountain Veterans' Memorial Highway - Wilmington NY throughout with an occasional burst of spectacular thrown in from time to time, but the peak colors were yet to come.
Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday were totally overcast with sporadic periods of light to moderate rainfall – usually a “death knell” to fall foliage. Fortunately, the rain was never heavy nor was the wind tugging at the unstable leaves, and only the most impatient of the trees had begun to display their vibrant colors. Tuesday morning was completely overcast again, but the forecast for rain was the lowest it had been since Thursday last. With only a week remaining in my stay and with more rain predicted for many of those days, I decided to drive the Whiteface Mountain Veterans' Memorial Highway to Whiteface Castle near the summit of Whiteface Mountain.
There is an admission fee to access the Highway; however, that fee is included in the Olympic Experience Tour Package – which is, by the way, a great deal for the tourist who has the time to take advantage of the opportunity. The Veterans' Memorial Highway follows a very picturesque route, and the fall foliage was magnificence in places; however, the road surface itself (to be
nice) SUCKS BIG TIME!!! The responsibility for road maintenance rests with a New York state agency - the Olympic Regional Development Authority. An
article I found on the Internet dated July 7, 2010 states, “A coalition of stakeholders has recently come together to spearhead an estimated $6.3 million in improvements and restoration work to the veterans highway complex.” It’s Fall 2012. Helloooooooooooooo! Personally, I believe the state of disrepair is an affront to every veteran who drives the Highway.
Be that is it may, the drive was pretty in spite of the overcast skies. Whiteface Castle hosts a gift shop, restaurant and rest rooms and is interesting but is not a “must see” attraction. The posted signage warns that the nature trail from the castle to the summit requires sturdy shoes and is not for the weak or infirm; however, one can also reach the summit via an elevator. The short hike to the summit is at least as challenging as was advertised. Just as I reached the summit, the clouds quit threatening and began producing a soaking shower. I looked around the unremarkable structure and enjoyed the rain-impaired views for a few minutes before deciding the elevator back
This Might Get Slippery If It Rains Before I Make The Summit
Whiteface Mountain Veterans' Memorial Highway - Wilmington NY to the parking lot was a wise choice.
The weather kept me inside again on Wednesday and Thursday, October 3 and 4, but sunrise on Friday revealed fog as predicted. By mid-morning the warmth of the sun had burnt off the fog, but the clouds soon returned and lingered for the remainder of the day. My first stop was the Cloudsplitter Gondola. I had hoped to get some photos of the fog shrouded foliage from atop Little Whiteface Mountain; however, I learned that the gondola had broken down and was undergoing repairs. I didn’t inquire about stranded riders, but was sure glad I didn’t have to walk down or be rescued.
Plan B found me heading for the Olympic Jumping Complex. My passport package entitled me to ride the chairlift to the base of the jumping venue and to ride the elevator to the observation deck near the top of the 90-meter jump. The first ski jump (20 meters) was constructed by the Lake Placid Club in 1918, and a 35-meter jump was added in 1920. Over the next twelve years, the jumps were enlarged to become the 50-meter and 60-meter jumps used in the 1932 Winter Olympics.
Not Your Ordinary Babbling Brook In The Fall
Along The West Branch Of The Ausable River On The Way To The Olympic Jumping Complex Near Lake Placid NY Technology allowed the first Fourth of July ski jump competition to be held in 1948. By the time Lake Placid was awarded the 1980 Winter Olympics, the jumps had become obsolete and were demolished to make way for 70-meter and 90-meter jumps.
The drive between the Cloudsplitter Gondola and the Jumping Complex was beautiful. The road meandered along the West Branch of the Ausable River whose tree-lined banks were alive with vibrant colors. After walking around the entry area and reading the informational placards, I boarded the 120-meter Ski Jump Chairlift that would take me down (does that mean the apparatus should be renamed a Chairlower?) to the bottom of the landing hill. There I watched several jumpers as they honed their skills on the 70-meter hill and enjoyed a sculpted tribute to Lake Placid’s native son Art Devlin (1922-2004) – arguably the greatest ski jumper America has ever produced. The chairlift returned me to the top of the landing hill/bottom of the ski jump where I boarded the elevator to the observation deck of the 90-meter jump. In spite of the overcast day and the intermittent sprinkles, the views were spectacular.
After returning to the truck, I
Come On, I Dare You
US Olympic Jumping Complex - Lake Placid NY made my way to the Olympic Sliding Complex. The “sliding sports” include luge, skeleton and bobsled. In luge, one or two competitors lay feet-first and face up on a small sled. The driver steers through the course by exerting pressure with his/her legs and/or shoulders. Luge is one of the most precisely timed sports in the world where races are determined by mere thousandths of a second. Of the three sliding sports, luge is the fastest and the most dangerous with an official (competition) record of 86.93 mph (139.9 km/h) and an unofficial (practice) record of 95.69 mph (154 km/h). “Street luge” has recently come of age and is now considered an extreme sport but has yet to become an Olympic sport.
Skeleton, on the other hand, is contested by one person who rides a sled down the track head-first while lying face down. It originated in St. Moritz, Switzerland as a spin-off from the popular British sport of Cresta sledding, and the equipment skeleton "sliders" use is similar to that of Cresta "riders." Skeleton sleds are steered using torque provided by the head and shoulders. In 1892, a bare-bones sled resembling a human skeleton was designed by Englishman
In The Beginning…
Olympic Sliding Complex - Lake Placid NY L.P. Child and the sport was christened with its new name. As the popularity of the sport grew in Europe, skeleton evolved into the sport we know today.
Although sledding on snow and ice had been popular in many northern European countries, bobsledding is a relatively modern sport. Originally, the beginnings of the Bobsled were humble. Some of the more adventurous English guests of the resort town of St. Moritz, Switzerland began adapting boys' delivery sleds for recreation - two crestas were attached together with a board, and a steering mechanism was attached to the front. The first informal races were run on snow-covered roads, and the name of the sport appeared when competitors began using the technique of bobbing back and forth to increase the sled’s speed. After a few years of providing pedestrian peril, a special track was built for bobsled activities about 1870.
Men's four-man bobsled appeared in the first ever Winter Olympic Games in 1924, and the men's two-man bobsled event was added in 1932. Women's two-woman bobsled made its Olympic debut at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Over the years, bobsled tracks evolved from straight runs on public roadways to serpentine tracks, and
Start House For The 1980 Bobsled Run
Olympic Sliding Complex - Lake Placid NY the original wooden conveyances were replaced by streamlined fiberglass and metal competition masterpieces. Bobsleds typically attain speeds of 93 mph (150 km/h); however, the unofficial record of 125 mph (201 km/h) has repeatedly been rejected by the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation due to a lack of documentation.
When I had my passport scanned by the attendant at the Olympic Sliding Complex, he asked if I planned to participate in the Bobsled Experience. I responded that the weather would make that determination. My hesitation was caused by the surcharge of $70.00 for an experience that should be savored and not endured due to adverse weather. I worked my way through the small museum that has a great graphic of the course, that heralds the triumphs and the tragedies of the competitors and that showcases modern and vintage equipment. I exited the museum and boarded the minibus that transported me on my “personalized” tour of the facility – that’s one advantage of visiting during the off season. The guide was pleasant and knowledgeable.
By the time we returned, the skies actually had cleared a bit so I headed for the ticket counter inside the museum. As he saw
me approach, the attendant queried, “You gonna go for it?” I nodded my reply hoping the weather would hold. Back outside, I was transported to the mid-point of the 1930 bobsled run – the starting point for the “summer” Bobsled Experience. In the summer, the bobsleds have wheels on the runners instead of blades and use the old 1930 run. In the winter, they still use the mid-point of the course as the starting location but use the ice-covered 1980 track for the Bobsled Experience. Ice-making activities had begun only four days earlier, and the track was not yet ready.
After arriving at the starting point, I was fitted with a helmet and taken to the staging area. The bobsled was placed in the starting position, and I was given a brief set of instructions – “hold on here, keep your hands inside the sled….” I got in, my seat belt was secured, the pilot got in, the wheel chock was removed and the brakeman gave us a sendoff. The ride began slowly but quickly gained speed. Turns 10, 11 and 12 were non-descript, and, to be honest, I thought to myself, “This is a rip-off.” Our speed continued
Insulation And Ammonia Piping
Olympic Sliding Complex - Lake Placid NY to build. Turn 13 pressed my right shoulder into the roll cage. As soon as I re-centered my torso, the centrifugal force of turn 14 propelled my left shoulder into the roll cage. Long straightaways before turns 15 and 16 allowed us to build the momentum necessary to carry the sled onto the wall of the pipe and to press the ‘ole sitterdowner into the bobsled seat with (I was told) three Gs of force. There is a posting on U-Tube of the
Bobsled Experience. I’m not sure why this particular video plays in SLOW MOTION, but it will give you an idea of what the attraction is like!!!
My heart was still racing when I walked into the Olympic Museum in downtown Lake Placid some thirty minutes after my Bobsled Experience had ended. I had a t-shirt, a photo of me and “my team” and the thrill of a lifetime to show for my financial sacrifice. The same middle-aged man who sold me the Olympic Passport was again at the counter. He recognized me and asked how I was doing. I responded that my pulse rate was almost back to normal. He immediately commented that I must have taken
the Bobsled Experience, told me he had been a bobsled driver in his youth and told me some of the differences between the “experience” and the real deal. The most notable difference, beyond the obvious faster speed and increased Gs, was the noise. The ride on ice is much quieter and smoother. I might have to take a ride on blades if the opportunity presents itself.
He scanned my passport for my admission to the Olympic Museum. The small museum is exclusive to the sports contested during the Winter Olympic Games and focuses on American individual and team athletes that competed at Lake Placid in 1932 or 1980. The 1980 "Miracle on Ice" is arguably the best-remembered international hockey game in US history and found the USA team defeating the USSR team 4-3 in the semi-final round. The USA's victory in its final game against Finland was the game that won the gold medal for the United States. The 1980 USA Olympic Hockey Team is well represented. The museum is nice and the artifacts are interesting; however, the museum has a very narrow focus. Allow about thirty minutes.
Saturday was another gloomy day – so much so that
I was banking on the accuracy of a better upcoming forecast to complete my Lake Placid “to do” list. Sunday, October 7, 2012 found me headed for a drive on some scenic roadways to enjoy the fall foliage. While driving north on US 9 toward Plattsburg NY, I unexpectedly happened on the Ausable Chasm Waterfall in Ausable Chasm NY. I was aware of the attraction but had decided (based on reviews I read) that it was an overpriced tourist trap I would avoid. Little did I know, the waterfall was readily visible from the bridge carrying US 9 over the Ausable River. It appears the attraction admission fee merely allows one to walk on the trails closer to the base of the waterfall. The attraction is definitely worth a brief stop, and there is plenty of free parking on the south side of the bridge.
I continued north on US 9 until I reached Champlain NY, about four miles from Quebec Canada, and headed west on US 11. I made a planned stop in Chateaugay NY at High Falls Park. The waterfall is adjacent to High Falls RV Park and has a small admission fee. The walk to get
Impressive From A Distance
High Falls Park - Chateaugay NY a distant view of the falls is relatively short and easy; however, the round trip to the base of the falls is somewhat strenuous. There are wooden stairs that negotiate the steep incline, but there are places where treads are missing and others where the wood has deteriorated to a marginally safe condition. Hopefully, those deficiencies will be corrected soon.
The falls are impressive, and the trip to the base provided some much-needed exercise; however, my timing was lousy. There are few photographic vantage points at the base, and the sun was at such an angle that it was shining directly into my camera lens. The attendant at the RV park office, where I had paid the small admission fee, had told me there was a secondary route back to the office that was slightly longer and slightly less strenuous. I took that route to get some different scenery on my return trip.
Back on US 11, I continued my westward journey to Malone NY where I turned south on NY 30 to Paul Smiths NY and then east on NY 86 to Lake Placid NY. Surprisingly, Lake Placid has more than Olympic “stuff” to enjoy. John Brown,
the 19
th century abolitionist, lived in Lake Placid at the time of his death, and his farm is now a National Historic Landmark. John Brown was born May 9, 1800, in Torrington CT, but the family moved to Hudson OH in 1805 where Brown’s father opened a tannery. Interestingly, Brown's father had an apprentice by the name of Jesse R. Grant – the man who would become the father of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant. At the age of 16, John Brown left home and went to Plainfield, MA, where he hoped to become a Congregationalist minister. When money ran out, he returned to Ohio.
In 1837 Elijah P. Lovejoy; an American Presbyterian minister, journalist, newspaper editor and abolitionist; was murdered by a pro-slavery mob in Alton IL during an attack on his warehouse aimed at destroying his printing press and abolitionist materials. In response to the murder of Lovejoy, Brown publicly vowed, “Here, before God, in the presence of these witnesses, from this time, I consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery!”
In 1846, Brown and his business partner Simon Perkins moved to Springfield MA. In Springfield, Brown found a community whose white leadership was deeply
The Homestead Of A Remarkable Man Is Unremarkable
John Brown Farm State Historic Site - Lake Placid NY committed to the anti-slavery movement. Indeed, during Brown's time in Springfield, he helped transform the city into a major center of abolitionism and one of the safest and most significant stops on the Underground Railroad. Brown learned of Adirondack land grants to poor, free black men and, in 1848, decided to move his family to live amongst the new settlers. He bought land near Lake Placid for $1 an acre.
Initially, Brown and the free settlers were optimistic that they could bring Kansas into the union as a slavery-free state. It became increasingly clear to Brown that pro-slavery forces were willing to violate the rule of law in order to force Kansas to become a slave state. In 1855, Brown learned from his adult sons in the Kansas territory that their families were completely unprepared to face attack and that pro-slavery forces there were militant. Determined to protect his family and to oppose potential gains by pro-slavery supporters, Brown left for Kansas. As he went westward, however, Brown found that abolitionist beliefs in his home state of Ohio were more militant than those he had left in Massachusetts, particularly in the Western Reserve section where Brown had been reared.
The Farmhouse Is Typical Of The Era
John Brown Farm State Historic Site - Lake Placid NY After the winter snows thawed in 1856, the pro-slavery activists began a campaign to seize Kansas on their own terms. Brown was particularly affected by events in Lawrence KS in May 1856, in which a sheriff-led posse destroyed newspaper offices and a hotel. During 1856 in Kansas, Brown commanded forces at the Battle of Black Jack and the Battle of Osawatomie. Brown's followers also killed five pro-slavery supporters at Pottawatomie. In 1859, Brown led an unsuccessful raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry WV that ended with his capture. Brown's trial resulted in a conviction and a sentence of death by hanging. Among the soldiers in the crowd at the execution was future Confederate General Stonewall Jackson.
After he was executed, his wife took his body to the family farm near Lake Placid for burial. The farm has been owned by the State of New York since 1895. The John Brown Farm and Gravesite is now a National Historic Landmark and a New York State Historic Site. The parcel is small and non-descript; however, the import is enormous. The farmhouse and furnishings are typical of many of similar eras and economic means; however, the history of the
artifacts is awe-inspiring. The docent on duty during my visit was knowledgeable, interesting and entertaining. She was a wealth of information about John Brown, the Underground Railroad and various other related topics. She asked me a trivia question – “What famous American borrowed a militia uniform to gain admission to John Brown’s execution?” I’ll save the answer for the end of the blog.
My last full day in the Adirondacks found me on another scenic drive. Even though the skies were mostly cloudy, the clouds were not the menacing stratus clouds that had plagued most of my two-week stay but were the fluffy white cumulus clouds set against a brilliant blue sky. Heading north on NY 9N, a short stop in Jay NY gave me a chance to check out the Jay Covered Bridge before heading west on NY 86 toward Wilmington NY and the Cloudsplitter Gondola. I had seen the northern side of Whiteface from vantage points along the Veterans' Memorial Highway, but southern vistas from the summit were obstructed by rain. The leaves had become more stunning in the week or so since my drive up Whiteface.
The Au Sable River runs between NY 86 and
The Au Sable River Between NY 86 And The Parking Lot
Cloudsplitter Gondola Whiteface Mountain - Wilmington NY the parking lot for the Cloudsplitter Gondola. Be sure to take the short walk back to the bridge for a very scenic babbling brook – particularly when the foliage is brilliant. After snapping a few photos from the bridge, I set out for the Cloudsplitter boarding area. There was no line – not totally unexpected on the one hand because of the off season; but somewhat unexpected with the recent dismal weather and the fall foliage at or near its peak. The views were spectacular; however, the scratches on the gondola windows offered me a photographic challenge. On the ascent, I found several minimally damaged portals and tried to time the framing of the shot as the vista passed through the portal. Not only was this awkward and minimally effective, it was time-consuming and detracted from the overall experience.
The Cloudsplitter Gondola actually ascends the mountain to Little Whiteface Peak – about a mile to the southeast of Whiteface. Two other ski lifts provide skiers access to the upper terminus, Top Station, which lies between Little Whiteface and Whiteface. Top Station is the starting point for the fastest of the speed skiing events – the Super G and the
Beauty - Especially With A Blue Sky Background
Cloudsplitter Gondola Whiteface Mountain - Wilmington NY downhill. From the start house to the base is a little over two miles as the crow flies and offers a 2432-foot drop in elevation. With all of the gloomy skies I had been seeing, I wasn’t surprised to find some snow at the summit of Little Whiteface.
For the descent on the Cloudsplitter Gondola, I shot fewer pictures and spent more time enjoying the ride; however, I still had to find some different unscratched portals for my limited photography and my panoramic pleasure. What are the synonyms of stupendous? The views of the brilliant fall foliage from the gondola were all of that and more. I’ll let the photographs speak for themselves.
My atlas has a scenic route designation encircling Lake Champlain, so I headed back to Jay NY where I turned north on NY 9N until I reached its junction with I-87. Since I had already driven north on US 9 on Sunday, October 7, 2012, I decided to take a different, faster route to areas I had not yet seen. I exited the Interstate and headed east on US 11 and then south on US 2 on the Vermont side of the lake. As I
Tranquility At Dusk
Ferry Ride Across Lake Champlain – Approaching Essex NY approached Charlotte VT daylight was waning so I decided to call it a day and head west for the lake ferry to Essex NY. I guess I had been spoiled by the scenic routes in the Adirondack Park region, but the drive around the northern portion of Lake Champlain was, shall I be nice and say, less than breathtaking!
My two-week stay in the Adirondacks etched mixed memories on my hard drive. For over half of my stay, foreboding skies kept this fair-weather tourist hostage in the Pilgrim. On the days that the weather was cooperative, I enjoyed some of the most spectacular fall foliage I have ever seen – only (perhaps) surpassed by Shenandoah National Park. In my opinion, two of the best “leaf-peeper” highway routes were 1) the drive from Elizabethtown NY to Lake Placid NY and 2) anywhere there is a pullover along the Ausable River. I learned that RVing and leaf-chasing in New England and upstate New York are not great bedfellows. Nighttime lows were near or slightly below freezing which caused most of the RV parks to close before the leaves even neared their peak colors. Regardless of how you travel to New England,
A Memory For A Lifetime
Olympic Sliding Complex - Lake Placid NY the fall foliage should be on everybody’s bucket list.
By the way, the answer to the trivia question I posed earlier - “What famous American borrowed a militia uniform to gain admission to John Brown’s execution?” Answer: John Wilkes Booth. The truth be known, Booth really didn’t like abolitionists very much!
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