It had been an intense period of visiting friends and family and we felt we needed a couple of days on our own before we joined up with Anil’s brother and his family in New York City. We hadn’t made any plans but intended to wander around the Adirondack Mountains, and take in the fall colours there. With the slightly higher elevations, we felt sure that the leaves would have started to turn. We drove south on Interstate 87 as I studied the map and leafed through the Lonely Planet looking for ideas. I was looking for a place I had visited with friends during the summer I spent in Montreal in 1969. I remembered that it was an impressive gorge and thought that might be an interesting place for Anil to see.
It was then that I saw the name ‘Lake Placid’ on the map and told Anil that it was I place I had never seen and remembered hearing of it in connection with the Winter Olympic Games. The map showed it was deep in the heart of the Adirondack Park Preserve and we took the next interstate exit and headed west on small country roads into the hilly region beyond. The sun was sinking to the horizon and at last we began to see the autumn colours that we had been searching for. It was my favorite time of day in my favorite time of year. The sun seems to cast longer shadows in the fall and the sharp angle of the light intensifies the colours of the deep reds, golden yellows and burnt oranges. Enchanting!
We arrived in the small town of Lake Placid and found a room overlooking the rather small lake. It was dark by the time we unloaded the car, and decidedly cold when we walked the length of main street looking for a place to have dinner. It had been a long day and we weren’t in the mood for a formal meal with white tablecloths and silverware so we ended up at a pizzeria and tucked into the pizza and into bed shortly thereafter.
When we opened the curtains the next morning the entire lake and most of the town had disappeared! A thick fog had descended during the night with a dramatic drop in temperature and I despaired at the thought of missing the sight of the mountains in their fall colours. The receptionist at the hotel said the forecast was for sunny weather and that the fog would burn off quickly. Indeed, by the time we had showered and packed the car, the sun was peeking through the mist when we set off for breakfast. As we drove out of town we discovered that the small lake we had overlooked from our hotel was not the famous Lake Placid, but the neighbouring Mirror Lake. The town is located at the southern most tip of Lake Placid and little of the much larger lake is visible from the main highway.
We set off deeper into the heart of the Park Preserve in order to take in as much of the fall foliage as possible and headed towards Saranac Lake, even though the guidebook noted that the town appears to be the worse for wear. It was the best decision we made the whole day! We arrived at the Lake about ten in the morning and I was stunned to see the lake as smooth as glass and the reflection of the houses and trees on the far shore perfectly mirrored in its still surface. It looked like an amazing Roschardt test. I will never forget the beauty of this place that got a bad rap from the Lonely Planet. Then again, I wasn’t paying much attention to the town itself, just the beauty of the setting at this amazing time of year.
For the next two hours we roamed along the narrow secondary roads, up and over the low mountains, enjoying every twist and turn along the way. As we approached Long Lake, we were beginning to feel a little hungry and when I spotted the Adirondack Inn, I suggested we stop for a quick lunch and to stretch our legs along the lake opposite. As we pulled into the parking lot, Anil happened to spot a sign advertising scenic twenty-minute flights for a reasonable fee. We checked in with the pilot and signed up for a flight after lunch.
We were happy that no one else arrived while we were eating and we had the five-seater plane all to ourselves. I have been in a small plane once before, on a half-hour trip from the Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver to the town of Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast, north of the city. Anil had never been on such a small plane before and looked forward to the chance to fly in a floatplane. I had often talked about the thrill of landing on the water in a floatplane and he was keen to give it a go.
Before we knew it, we were taxiing along the water and rising gently above the surface of the lake. Anil sat up front to the right of the pilot and I sat directly behind him. It was wonderful to spend the next half hour soaring above the forest enjoying the dramatic and vibrant scenery below. Long Lake is really just a widening of a river passing through the Adirondack Mountains, we flew over the river as it broadened at the northern edge of the ‘lake’ and then all the way to the south where it narrowed again. We spotted a huge meadow that had formed where a beaver dam had created a pool of water that had killed off the standing trees. It brought to mind the wonderful IMAX movie Beavers, that took viewer underwater to view the animals busy at work altering the terrain where they made their homes and raises their young.
The ride was thrilling and the landing even more so. As we passed over the Adirondack Inn, we spotted our car waiting patiently for us in the parking lot. After a perfect landing, we shook hands with out pilot and set out on the ribbon of highway we had just flown over. What a way to cap off a perfect afternoon on a near perfect September afternoon.
We drove on to Lake George, a place that is supposed to be extremely popular in the summer, thinking we would check it out and find a place for the night. Our guidebook did not give a favorable description of the town (kitsch, cotton candy and cheap souvenirs) and we were shocked to see the dozens and dozens of strip motels and tacky mini-golf ranges along the main street. After the beauty of the Adirondacks, this was a jarring return to some of the worst architecture in America. I read a little further in the book and liked the description of Saratoga Springs. We decided to push on.
