Biking to Newcomb Lake

Since I am up waiting for Hurricane Irene to hit...I decided to share my bike trip to Camp Santanoni and Newcomb Lake with who ever still hits up the ol' blog that hasn't been touched for over a year......

I took Friday off in order to enjoy some sunshine before the weekend washout. Hike or Bike was the question and Reagan quickly chose biking as the activity. Not being able to bear another warren county bike trail ride...I decided it was time to ride the woods road trail to Newcomb Lake and check out the refurbishing going on at the Great Camp Santanoni.

We took I-87 to exit 29 and the Blue Ridge Road over to Newcomb. About an hour trip...driving Dan's truck full of bikes. Oh yeah...Reagan and I had company. My nephew Kyle who has been on other trips with us and my niece Vivian who was psyched to be included. The kids amused themselves by making faces at other drivers and yelling foolishness out the windows. The parking area is not hard to locate as you drive through Newcomb on route 28n. You pass Lake Harris Campground, cross the Hudson and on your right there are very visible signs for the Santanoni Preserve. Follow the little gravel road that goes into the woods and immediately you are at the stone gate and parking areas. It is a very pretty park like setting until you see the sign in register and the start of the truck/horse trail. Many people were walking the road and several other bikers were getting ready as we pulled up. I expected gradual uphill but I didn't expect it to give me as much of a hard time as it did. That is what is nice about biking with a 6 year old in your group. My adorable niece asked during one of our breaks..."aunt corin are you going slow so that i can keep up with you?"....my reply: "no viv, I cant go any faster...we are equal bike riders". She seemed very pleased that she wasn't "holding me back". It wouldn't have mattered if I could have climbed those hills with ease....I was very happy to have her along. She is the middle child and very laid back and quiet. I guess you would categorize her as the "easiest" of my sister's three children. The youngest one is quite the entertainer and has a strong personality and Kyle who was biking with us is curious and extraordinarily interested animals; always has a strange fact to share with you and fancies himself quite the comedian. So....biking alongside vivian for a couple hours gave me the chance to converse with just her and see some traits of her personality that don't often come through when she is with her siblings. She is funny and sweet and not at all as shy as she sometimes appears to be. I really enjoyed the time with her.

At one point in the trip we passed state prison inmates doing trail work. I alerted the kids only because I didn't want them to say something goofy to them, not to scare them. They passed without issue and I thought it was logical that the state was using the inmates for such work. I slipped in a thank you to the last inmate I passed (because he was looking) even though they were supposed to turn and face the woods while we were near.

The kids stopped for a while at the first stone bridge we went over to play in the brook. Kyle found a frog and Reagan got stung by a honey bee. Vivian laughed as she splashed cold water on her face and hair. They remarked how clean the water looked. I tried to explain the high levels of iron that made the dirt in the brook so reddish-orange.

We continued and just when we thought we couldn't go anymore the gradual 4 mile uphill became a gradual one last mile downhill. It seemed like we were flying. Kyle and Reagan far ahead, Vivian and I tested our brakes and tried to remain in control. We were a little nervous about the loose rocks we were speeding over. Vivian laughed and wondered aloud "when did I get worried like aunt gwenny?" I smiled remembering my sister's description of vivian's other aunt cautiously hiking Giant Mountain and being nervous about Kyle climbing the bare rock.

The lake quickly came into view after we went over a couple more stone bridges and a wooden bridge. we passed a large group of campers coming back to their site from the tiny sandy beach area. There were also three men coming to shore in canoes who had been across the lake camping. A pair of work horses and a carriage met them to take them and their canoes back to their vehicles. This was an added treat for the kids who paused from wading into the water to pet the horses.

After about an hour of snacking on the shore of the beautiful lake with mountain views and few clouds in the violet blue sky...we decided to hop on the bikes and go the short distance to Camp Santanoni. A Great Camp that is now owned by the state and a national landmark. It is known for having been a summer getaway for the wealthiest of people escaping the city heat. It is still be refurbished but visitors are welcome to take a look throughout the buildings and sit for a while on its massive porches. One can only imagine what it would be like to stay there either now which would be amazing or in its hay day when it was considered "roughing it in style".

After spending about two and a half hours exploring the camp, enjoying the lake and checking out the designated tent sites we decided to start the trip back. The kids saw fish, frogs, big spiders and pointed out all kinds of mushrooms. On the way out of course we only had to do a mile of gradual and sometimes steep uphill before we enjoyed coasting the last 4 miles to the truck. Vivian actually had to stop a few times to let her tingling hands rest from using her hand brakes so much. People before us had built several cairns along the road. One in particular was on a huge boulder and was balancing in a neat way. Very grown up like, as we passed it, vivian suggested that we should have stopped to take a photo of it. She has a good eye for photography!

After 11 miles and 5 hours of playing in the adirondacks, we got the bikes loaded up and made our way to the convenience store in Pottersville where after several hikes and backpack trips, my father and I have chowed down pizza. We all ate a slice and continued home....where the kids jumped promptly in the pool to slog off and cool down. Then Vivian and Kerrigan (age 4) came home with us to spend the night. They ate popcorn and did photo shoots and Vivian stayed up way later than I thought a little girl who biked 11 miles would have ever been able....

On the Adirondack hiking forum some one's profile states..."It's not a map it's a to do list". I am glad biking this neck of the woods was on my to do list. It was a refreshing day up north.

new comment

During a check of my email, I received notification of a blog comment. I was real surprised since I have been neglecting my blog for quite some time. It was a short comment from a person stating that they were doing research on blog writing and had spent quite a bit of time perusing mine. Commenter ended by saying keep providing useful information. Hmm....useful huh? I hadn't quite looked at it that way in a while. So what have I been up to other than blogging? Facebook seems to have taken over as the quicker way of informing people "what up"....but I do have an interesting story about sharing useful information. We hosted college baseball players during the summer for a few years. It was a huge commitment for our family both financially and personally; having given up the privacy of our own home to share it with 18-21 year old ball players who were loud, hungry, dirty (needing a lot of showers) and in one case pretty disrespectful. But we did it out of love for the game of baseball and the exposure it gave our son to how very hard you must work at your sport to play at the next level....COLLEGE. Greg is a freshman this year on the Varsity team. He is on a team that has two wins and ten losses and he is one of the two pitchers they look to for the starts. He was the winning pitcher for the teams only two wins. It has been a struggle to keep motivated under the circumstances. Positive notes are that Greg is being coached by his grandfather and another 25 year veteran coach...the only two people in the area besides his father that I would entrust to further his baseball talent. Greg is not a morning person, kinda like his mother, and so he has failed to see the necessity of getting out of bed before school for 6:30am hitting....besides only 3 kids on the team ever show up. We have tried to leave it up to Greg to have the self discipline to go...he functions better when things are his idea anyway (don't we all). Needless to say he makes it there about 2 out of 4 mornings that the extra hitting is offered. This is where the big payoff has come from hosting those college boys. My father made a comment the other day that Greg should ask Nate how many early hitting practices he skipped. Nate Recknagel was a ballplayer at the University of Michigan when he stayed at our house. He was a great house guest and spent a lot of time sharing his knowledge with Greg while he was here. We made a trip to Michigan the following year to see him play in the Big Ten League and watched the computer as he was drafted into Professional Baseball. We've kept in touch and his mom is one of my facebook friends...you know the mom is always the quickest route to info on where he is and what team he is currently playing for...and she still gives updates on his latest home run count. I sent Nate a quick message asking if he could find the time to do so, could he drop a line to Greg with some motivation for his personal growth during a year where the team is rebuilding. Part of me thought he might post a comment on Greg's profile about keeping his head up and continuing to work hard...part of me thought he might just be way too busy to write anything personalized to Greg's situation...On the contrary, he took the time to write a very genuine message with plenty of motivation but extremely realistic. He said he was taught that you get back what you put into something and he has never seen anyone get anywhere in baseball without A LOT of hard work. He told him if he is not going to morning hitting at least three times per week then he shouldn't be going at all because he is wasting his time. Nate told Greg that if he swings the bat 400 times he is not done....swing it another 400 times to ensure that his muscles remember the motion. What he sent is priceless to us as parents of a boy who has dreams of being recruited by a big deal baseball school and needs to be reminded how much work that really takes. For Greg....not impressed. It was just Nate talking to him the same as he did before he made it to the pros. I hope he thinks about that message and puts it to good use. Nate wants Reagan to write to him too and let him know what she has been doing. It was a great reminder of why we took those guys from Michigan into our home on a whim four years ago. I knew packing all those sandwiches and scrambling lots of eggs before games for those guys would come in handy someday....

5 years

My job always seems to bring me into close quarters with people who are suffering with loss. Some are fresh losses and some are longstanding unresolved grief issues. For someone who has real trouble holding emotion in check this has been a challenge. In the span of three weeks two people I work with have tragically lost a child. THEIR CHILD....and at the same time are trying to remain sober and mentally healthy as well as in compliance during the most difficult time they might ever face. I am humbled on a daily basis, but especially on the days this past month that my people entrusted me with the details of their most raw and private event. Just as a firefighter runs toward a burning building....even though I know I don't do death and sadness well...I feel a real urge to reach out and offer a neutral and safe place for their expressions of feeling. After all...I know how hard it is to say goodbye. And I cannot believe it has been five years. I never tell people to give it time.

This helps..........

Olympic Thoughts

In the spirit of the 2010 Winter Olympics my parents looked up these photos they had of a day trip we took in 1986 to the site of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

More amusing than the winter weather get up I have on is that the view behind my sister and I is of Colden, Algonquin and Wright Peak...3 of the 46 mountains that my father and I have been climbing. They were just mountains back then. I am sure that at age 13 I didn't even think they were remotely special.... much less dream of being at the summit of all of them some day.

During our visit we watched the bobsled and luge runs and ski jumping. We took the elevator to the top of the ski jump and actually had a beautiful view of Whiteface. To the left of the lookout was the Adirondac Loj road.

It was 6 years after the Lake Placid Olympics but the memories were still fresh for us. There was nothing more exciting than the Hockey Team beating Russia and Eric Heiden setting records and winning the gold in Speed Skating. I recall skating on the pond in my grandfather's barnyard pretending to be a speed skater. It was important to get your arm going and try to imitate the moves of the Olympians. It was definitely easier to be a speed skater than a figure skater!! My face book friend and former college roommate Chris posted an Olympic memory on her status the other night that made smile several times over the last few days. She said that she got her first pair of roller skates the summer after the 1980 games and Eric Heiden's notoriety. She recalled skating fast down the street and strolling back with her hands on her hips pretending to do an interview with Jim McKay. Chris' hope was that the kids today are watching the Olympics and incorporating the excitement of the events into their playtime. It was at that moment that I knew I needed to drum up some interest in my own kids for the 2010 games....thankfully Reagan is well aware of who Apolo Anton Ohno (speedskater) and Louis Vito (snowboarder) are from their appearances on Dancing with the Stars. Attracting new followers of their sport was EXACTLY what both of those athletes hoped would be the result of their participation.

We are definitely cheering for these guys!!!!

Sawyer Mountain

Another day of full sun was in the forecast. How could I fit a snowshoe trip between dropping my son at basketball practice at 8:00am and my daughter at a birthday party at 4:00pm?? I had read a lot of trip reports on Sawyer Mountain. It is just above Indian Lake and is described as a good mountain to introduce hiking to kids. I intended to bring my nephew on a climb up this mountain but we weren't sure about him doing it on snowshoes. Today was the day that this 2.2 mile RT mountain would come in handy for Reagan's second snowshoe. She only wanted to know if it was easier than Hadley...when I expressed that it was definitely going to be easier, she decided to tag along. She entertained herself along the trail, leading most of the way up and doing an intentional and way cool butt slide on the way down. She was motivated to keep pressing ahead because there were children behind us on the trail and one of them was a boy. I told her that for one thing.....we don't want that BOY to beat us to the top and another thing.....we wanted to make it to the summit first in order to get the best seat for the view. She only rested a few times and we were successful. Even with Reagan it was just one hour to the top. Along the way she expressed interest in the animal tracks. We spotted Fisher tracks, Mole tracks, Snowshoe Hare prints and just when Reagan was in need of a diversion from the task of climbing....someone who had gone before us had built an 18 inch snowman on a rock right alongside the trail. CUTE!!!

Unfortunately, she seems to really care NOTHING for the color of the sky that my father described as Bluebird Blue. At 3/4 of the way to the summit there are finally some lookouts with nice long distance clear viewing.....NOPE, not impressed. I tried to tell her that the view is the reward for the exertion. She insists that MONEY is a reward. I told her blind people would probably pay a lot of money to be able see the view that she was taking for granted. You can lead a horse to water....regardless, it was good that she came today.

The sun was so warm and bright, the snow was sparkling like diamonds. My mind wandered to a time when maybe it will be Me..hiking with a daughter who loves it as much as I do. I will wait as patiently as my father did.