Blue Goose ~ Day 71

August 10, 2014 - Auburn, NY to Ticonderoga, NY

This was the day I was going to drive through the wild and primitive Adirondack Park with tall old evergreens and lakes and campsites with dry brown pine needles covering the ground. There would be the occasional efficient state-run concession or information structure with maps and helpful personnel. I would camp by one of the little lakes, the air scented with fragrant smoke from campfires nearby. There would be a canoe on the lake at sunset and then a full moon rising.

First, it took half the day just to get to one of the entrance roads on the west side, but that was my fault as I should have got on the Thruway. I didn't and instead poked along far too long through cities and between towns. The speed limit never stayed the same for more than five miles and never went above 55. Dozens of stoplights and turns and local traffic....and missing turns and having to backtrack...

Adirondack is a huge park, over 3000 square miles, pretty much all of northeastern New York state, and romanticized in my imagination and by various stories and reading. Well, it was like driving through northern Michigan but with 50 times more traffic and occasional tourist attractions and modest Adirondack cabins / cottages with screened porches and dinky lawns and parking places right off the road.

Cabin - Adirondack Park - NY

So I couldn't figure out what was private and what was state land. It was nothing like I expected. I got homesick and wondered what in hell I was doing. I wanted to be in Michigan. I missed my family and familiar places. And then there was an hour-long delay with stop-and-go traffic for road work. We moved forward at 2 mph.

At one place, a tourist attraction was almost as bad as the Wisconsin Dells garishness with bright plastic pools and watersides and hundreds of people. I opted to just get out of the Park instead of driving to the Lake Placid area which was undoubtedly even worse. Now I know there surely are all kinds of remote rivers and trails and lakes and campgrounds and my impression perhaps is not the reality at all, but....I couldn't wait to leave. I was somewhat mollified when I turned east at Blue Mountain Lake, the traffic decreased by 90% and the rest of the trip really was like northern Michigan.

I passed bicyclists who were on the Ididaride who were nearing the end after a long downhill. Many were relaxing and celebrating at a general store where I bought a hot dog and large chocolate shake. This was definitely not a clean food day since I also ate too many chili lime crackers and had an iced lemon bar for breakfast.

The route became even more pleasant as I neared Ticonderoga, NY, where I found a quiet Walmart, parked between some fellow travelers, read a long time and watched the largest and most beautiful moon of the year - rich and faintly yellow.