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Published: June 30th 2015
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We got up early but took our time getting organized. After everything was packed we went to breakfast at the restaurant next door (the hotel doesn't serve breakfast but guests get a discount at the restaurant). We had a very full meal. Tamar had scrambled eggs with bacon, toast, potato and hot chocolate. Ethan had French toast with two eggs over easy, hot chocolate with whipped cream, and Gilat and I shared a vegetable omlete with toast and potatoes, and, of course, coffee.
We set out on our way at around 10 am. A short drive to Lake Placid to see Mirror Lake. Very similar to Saranac Lake, with the picturesque town on the shores of the lake. We continued on our way to High Falls Gorge, but Waze took us through a high-end neighborhood. Really nice with lots of super fancy houses! Maybe I'll buy a house here when I'm a multi millionaire.
Yeah, right.
We backtracked and found our way out of the posh neighborhood and continued on our way. Finding High Falls Gorge was easy. It's right on the highway. There's the mandatory tourist trap shop and expensive entry tickets, but it is one of
the more beautiful places we've seen yet. Lots of water, walkways hanging over the gorge with the crashing water below, forest all around. boards with explanations of how the gorge was formed, why the water is the color of tea, how to tell spruce from beech and maple, and more. We all enjoyed it and felt that despite the cost, it was money well spent.
Still, it's got to be paid for, so the kids did a little prospecting. We got a bag of dirt and the kids washed it out in a sluice to find all sorts of gem stones. Amethyst, obsidian, rose quartz, fools gold and emerald, crystal point and more. They even found a couple fossils.
We wanted to continue to the Winter Olympic center to try out the bobsled, but our directions were all wrong. A disappointment but it is ridiculously expensive. You pay an arm and a leg just to get into the complex, then each activity is insanely rich. I'm talking about $70 for a 1 minute bobsled ride! That's per person!
So, we continued to the Flume of Ausable Gorge, a little-known spot on the Ausable river with some bike and walking trails. We went for a short walk, saw a beaver pond and tree stumps chewed down by beavers, but I think the beavers themselves have moved. The river narrows into a short gorge spanned by a bridge, and few people besides the locals know of it. I found it quite by accident while searching for things to do in the area. There's no tickets to get in, but that also means there are no pathways, maintenance or activities besides what you bring yourself.
We also had some problems with our Internet communication and navigation to the Canadian border crossing was a mix of luck and guesswork.
Judging from the lines of cars entering Canada, a lot of people prefer Canada to the US. The opposite direction was all but abandoned.
Have a look at today's adventures here:
Anyway, once we entered Canada our Internet connection came back. I guess it prefers Canada too.
The Brossard Hotel is easy to get to, and very nice. Our room is large and comfy. No coffee or microwave in the room, but those are in the dining room with free access 24/7. All in all, not bad.
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Iris5555
Iris Sanany
Ausable Chasm
In our trip we wanted to go to Ausable Chasm. Looks very nice place but we got there 5 minutes before closing. I remembered that we also got to the Winter Olympic center parking, saw the price and moved on.