Adirondack Beauty and Boldt Castle

I had a great day today. I rode through what I think is the most beautiful area so far – the Adirondacks from Lake Placid to Old Forge heading southwest along State Highways 86, 3, 30 and 28. The scenery was stunning, full of rivers, lakes, hills and valleys. Fantastic!

Here are a few of the dozens of photos I took....

Near Tupper Lake....


























A river near Tupper Lake....



















A group of riders goes by....



















Bog River near where it enters Tupper Lake....



















Bog River Falls....



















A typical Adirondack lake....


























A wide river....



















I rode with these two along State Highway 30....




















A float plane on Long Lake....




















I rode down Moose River road, which is nice and twisty and I loved riding on this road! Here is a picture of the river....


























Jumping into Moose River....


























I have seen a few of these, but I don’t know what they are. Any suggestions?....




















They look as if they are covered with a sticky material to collect insects?....




















One of my readers, Eve, used to live in northern New York State and she suggested I go see Alexandria Bay in the Thousand Islands area and Boldt Castle, which I did today....


























This is the hotel I am staying in, the Riveredge next to the St Lawrence River....




















The view from my room....



















One of the tourist boats on the St Lawrence....




















The big attraction around here is Boldt Castle. George Boldt, who was proprietor of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, started construction of the castle for his wife, Louise, but construction was stopped in 1904 when Louise suddenly died at the age of 42. George ordered the construction to cease immediately and it never re-started. The castle soon began to deteriorate badly until 1977 when the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority acquired the castle and began a restoration program. The work is slow and expensive and today, many rooms in the castle remain as an empty shell.

Approaching the Boldt Castle by boat, you see the striking Alster Tower first, with the main castle in the background....




















The main entrance to the castle....




















The side of the castle from the grounds....


























The Alster Tower....


























The view of Alexandria Bay from the top floor of the castle....




















Looking up above the grand staircase....


























The domed glass ceiling above the grand staircase....


























The castle has been vandalised over the years by a huge amount of graffiti. Why anybody would want to do this is incomprehensible....




















One of the nearby thousand islands....

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I Got Very Wet Today....

When I left the motel that I stayed at last night, I spotted this trike in the car park. The guy riding it walked with a stick, so I guess this is the perfect answer for those later years....





















Todays plan was to ride up Whiteface Mountain, check out the views, ride to Lake Placid and then continue further west into the Adirondacks. It didn’t go to plan!

I did get to ride up Whiteface Mountain – here is the entrance....


















I rode up behind a two bikes – a Suzuki V-Strom and a Beemer. Hmmm. That sounds a familiar combination – did Bobscoot and Sonja get all the way over here? Of course not – no yellow BMW and no black wee, but the thought was there. Wait a minute! If you combine Bob’s and Sonja’s 2 bikes, you get a Bee (Bmw and wEE) and they are yellow and black – Bob and Sonja are for all time now known as the Bee when they ride together!!

Anyhow, here are the two bikes parked alongside mine at the top.... note the cloud....




















I decided to take the lift (US = elevator) to the summit of Whiteface Mountain. I walked along the tunnel that led to the lift. The temperature inside the mountain stays a constant 41F or 6C....



















































The summit was shrouded in cloud. This is the observatory at the top....





























Here is the view looking over the edge and down the mountain!....





















This is me, posing at the summit....

















Overall, it was a bit disappointing not having a view, which I am told is spectacular. If you decide to ride (or drive) up the mountain, watch out for the bumps in the road on the way up, as they are bad. Very, very bad!

On the way to Lake Placid, which is not very far at all, it began to rain and I stopped to put on my rain gear. I stayed mainly dry for a while....

I have wanted to see Lake Placid for a while. Like a lot of people I love watching the Olympic Games, be they summer or winter. I have worked on the preparations for 2 Olympic Games, so seeing Lake Placid where the Winter Olympics took place in 1984 was a must for me.

I stopped on the road to look at the ski-jumps. This is what I wanted to see.



























One of the reasons I wanted to see it was it reminded me of Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards, who was a British competitor at the Calgary Games in 1988, but he trained at Lake Placid.

Compared to the other competitors at the Olympics, Eddie was not good, but his heart was in the right place and at the time, it seemed that the whole world got behind him to wish him well. He looked clumsy and had a poor technique, but he was so brave, that he was brilliant!

It is difficult to find a clip of Eddie in English, but here is one in Finnish (I think)....



If you were old enough at the time, you will remember Eddie. If you were not old enough, ask your parents about him!!

Looking up at the ski-jumps....



























Looking down from the higher tower at the lower....



























An unusual view of trees....



























Lets think of this from Eddies point of view. This is what I see from the top when preparing to jump. Gulp!....



























I have to slide down here....



























This is where I take off. When you leave here, because of the shape of the slope, you cannot see you you are going to land....



























I have to land here. Without falling over. On this gradient!!!!....






















I then slide down here, trying to keep my balance....





























Standing at the top and looking at what lay ahead, I cannot imagine what it must feel like to launch yourself off. Wow.

I have often wondered how people first learn to ski-jump. Or do tricks on skis, turning and twisting in the air. I now know – they practice jump into water....
















































I knew that just behind the ski-jump centre was John Browns grave. I remember when I was a small child growing up in London, I sang a song about John Brown, that included the lines “John Brown's body lies a-mold'ring in the grave. His soul goes marching on. Glory, Glory! Hallelujah! His soul is marching on”

I wondered if this was the same John Brown behind the ski-jump at lake Placid, so I went to have a look. Here is his grave stone (encased in glass) with his house behind. While he has a common name, I believe it is the same man. I will look up the history of this later on the web.



























As I left Mr Brown to his a-mold’ring, the skies opened and as we say in England, it rained cats and dogs. It absolutely chucked it down and after trying to shelter under some trees for a while, I realised I was getting soaked, so I got back on the bike seeking better shelter, which I found along with some other bikers....






















This was a group of guys who were mainly worked in schools and I sat with them and waited for the worst of the rain to subside. A nice bunch of guys and one of them, Joe, even offered me his house to stay at in Pennsylvania. Here they are. In case you read this guys, it was good to meet you today and I hope you have a good rest of your ride....

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Chasms, Hills, lakes and Mountains....

Day 23.

This morning I left my overnight stop – the Shamrock Motel near Ausable Chasm in the Northeast corner of New York State. This was the cheapest place I had stayed in so far at just $45 for the night, but by far the best. Money does not buy you good hospitality nor a comfy bed, but this place had both by the bucket load. The Leading Ladies spend a relaxed night on the grass just outside my cabin for the night....




















Nearby was the town of Keeseville where I collected my laundry which I had left at the towns laundermat the night before. $8 for a wash, dry and fold service – very reasonable, so I gave the elderly attendant a generous tip. Life on the road is made much easier by such a service!

I arrived to see the Ausable Chasm early. Too early as it turned out and I had to wait until the place opened. I had heard about the chasm on the internet – a gorge formed in the sandstone by the Ausable River. It was an impressive thing to see and walk through. The site has clearly marked paths, or trails, through the gorge and they offer a few miles of good safe walking with impressive views of the gorge and it’s river. Known by some as the "Little Grand Canyon of the East", it is worthwhile visiting....


















































































































I am beginning to like the look of farm buildings in New York State. Many look very individual, but here is the classic style with its red painted barns....






















As my regular readers know, I prefer to take the quiet, two-lane country roads in order to be able to see more, but I had a shock today. The smooth tarmac road I was riding on changed into a dirt road covered with loose gravel in an instant. At about 35 miles an hour this was not good for the nerves, as on two wheels, the road was a slippery as an eel. Here is the road with the loose stuff on the side and down the middle....




















































A close up of the offending gravel before I slid my foot over it and after....



















































The roadway itself, a very hard and compact dirt track, was perfectly ok to ride on, but the loose stuff was treacherous! I limped on slowly with a few more grey hairs.

I rode down the western side of Lake Champlain with a smile on my face – this area is stunningly beautiful with magnificent views of the lake. The people are really nice as well – nearly everyone I saw waved to me as they tended their gardens, cut their grass or walked their dogs. The roads are great to ride a motorcycle on too....




















































































I passed this mailbox, which was a miniature version of the house it served. It was a clever idea, done well....





















I wanted to have a look at the fish ladder at Willsboro Town on the Boquet River. This didn’t turn out to be as good as I had hoped, but I saw a peculiar sight as I approached the river. I couldn’t understand at first what the little white things were....





















They were birds standing at the edge of the small falls with their feet in the cool water. Oh, how tempting it was to join them on this steaming hot day....





















I was now riding through what must be my favourite area so far – the outskirts of the Adirondacks in New York State. I have been here before many years ago and I had forgotten just how much I like it. The landscape had changed to rolling hills, some mountains and plenty of rivers and lakes – terrific! I stopped at the first opportunity, Chapel Pond – and dipped my feet in the cold but very welcome lake....

















































It struck me today just how useful the small bag I have fitted to my windscreen had become for holding a small camera, paper and pen, cash and other small things I need often. If you are going to go touring on a bike, I strongly recommend that you get one of these....





















Just before I arrived at another motel for the night, I saw these guys and gals skiing along the edge of the road. There were quite a few on them on roller skis using their poles to push them along. I guessed they must have been in training for cross country skiing, for I cannot imagine who would choose to do this if they didn’t have to in the very high temperature and humidity of today. There were quite a lot of them and I was able to take a few photos on the move. Here are just a few of the skiers.....

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