I love the Adirondacks. I don’t get to visit there often due to the 4.5 hour drive from my house, but I do love it when I go. Six million acres of mountains, lakes and streams, it’s my kind of park! Memorial Day weekend my family stayed at Motel Long Lake & Cottages for two nights. Nothing fancy, but it was cute and right on Long Lake. There was a beach with canoes, kayaks and a couple of fire pits, as well as other activities to occupy yourself when not exploring the park. We thought about camping, but camping is a lot of work for only two nights with a child in tow. A hotel was just easier.

After making the drive, my wife immediately wanted to go for a hike. It was already late afternoon, so it would have to be a quick one. We found a good easy trail near Long Lake that was pretty short, something we could make in under two hours. Coney Mountain Trail was the perfect length, a 2.1 mile out and back trail with a 551 foot ascent to the summit. As we hiked though, we were swarmed with little black bugs that were too big to be gnats. Not sure what they were, but they were annoying. My son had a much harder time than me or my wife did dealing with them. He was miserable. There were some beautiful sights to take our minds off the bugs though. My wife took a great picture of a beautiful flower called Trillium, and the views we had from the summit weren’t too shabby either.

Trillium

Summit

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to relax. There is a dock on the water with chairs, and fire pits on the beach, all drenched in the light of the neon red “Motel” sign. We had a day at the Wild Center planned for the following day, so the night didn’t last very long. Sunday night we were able to hang out on the beach with a fire for a couple hours.

We spent Sunday at The Wild Center in Tupper Lake. Wild Center is a museum in the Adirondacks on 115 acres, complete with easy trails to hike and the “Wild Walk,” which is an elevated trail in the tree tops for a different perspective on the forest. The Wild Walk offers a spider web for the kids, an oversized eagles nest to view Whiteface Mountain in the distance, suspension bridges, and a sort of tree house. The main building offers the museum containing all kinds of exhibits detailing the many wonders and the history of the Adirondacks. There was an exhibit in the forest behind the main museum called iForest, which was a trail complete with ethereal vocal music that was almost haunting. It was amazing.

On Monday, it was time to check out and head back home. We did make an obligatory stop in Lake George for lunch and visit Fort William Henry. (It had to be done!) While on the way there, I stumbled across a “Public Stream Access” sign and had to pull off to see what the fishing looked like. It was a beautiful stream and I even saw a couple risers while stopped there. My wife took a beautiful picture of the stream. That picture encompasses how I feel about the Adirondacks, with the beautiful water and pine trees towering above. The beauty and majesty of the Adirondacks is wonderful and I’m glad I get to experience it when I do.