"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in
its net of wonder forever."—Jacques Cousteau

July 1 - Old Forge, NY

Adirondack Adventure
Winter Harbor Marina

Today we decided to drive up to Old Forge and see part of the Adirondack State Park. According to the information I read the Adirondack Park is the largest publicly protected area in the contiguous United States, and the largest National Historic Landmark. The park covers some 6.1 million acres, a land area greater than Vermont, or Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks combined. However, over half of the area is privately owned. The drive up was beautiful, we drove along the eastern shore of Oneida Lake and through a dozen small towns. Most people think of New York as an urban place, but the majority of New York is very rural...hundreds of small towns and farms. Old Forge sits at the end of First Lake and is full of cute shops, restaurants, outdoor activities and quaint motels and cabins. This would be a great place to spend a week...or even a whole summer. The Adirondack Park has over 2000 miles of hiking trails.

Our first stop was at the Forge Festival of Art & Crafts. There were a lot of nice booths...I bought a pretty bracelet made by a man from the Finger Lakes area. I really like finding locally made jewelry. After the art show we wandered through town and found a great little spot for lunch...The Sister's Bistro. It was the perfect spot; we sat on the porch and enjoyed a wonderful lunch while we watched the world go by. Our next stop was Mountainman Outdoor Supply Co, where we rented a kayak and took a two hour paddle down the Moose River. It's actually just a small branch off the main river and was very peaceful...no white water rapids. We didn't see a moose, but we did see a beaver...we also saw quite a few turkeys and deer later in the day.

We couldn't leave the Adirondacks without seeing the view from one of the mountaintops...so we did a little hiking next. We drove along part of the Fulton chain of lakes to the trailhead of the Rocky Mountain Summit Trail. The hike was only a mile or so round trip, but mostly straight up. We were rewarded with a wonderful view of the lake and surrounding area once we reached the top...well worth the hike up. We had a fun day and would definitely like to spend more time here.

Old Forge, NY
Sister's Bistro
The Moose River (north branch)
Kayaking down the Moose River
The Rock Mountain Summit Trail
Views from the summit
First Lake in Old Forge, NY

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