I had hoped that dodging deer was only going to be an evening activity, but Upstate New York has such a deer overpopulation problem that they're out wandering the roads in the daytime too. Sheesh!
New York daytime deer
Since we were reasonably close to Lake Ontario, we decided to swing up for a view before heading into the mountains for the next several days. So now we've now been to all five Great Lakes this year, along with a number of other Really Good Lakes as well. Sodus Point is a quiet little village on the shore of Lake Ontario with a historic lighthouse and a nice beach.
Sodus Bay Lighthouse Museum
Lake Ontario
Lighthouse grounds
Sodus Point Beach
Sodus Outer Lighthouse
In the afternoon, we entered Adirondack Park in northeastern New York. The park was established in 1892 to protect the Adirondack Mountains for “the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure.” At 6.1 million acres, it covers about 20 percent of New York and is the largest protected region in the contiguous United States.
I love climbing fire towers, and the Adirondacks has tons of them! We only had time for a shortish hike, so I chose the Rondaxe (aka Bald Mountain) Fire Tower Trail, a 2-mile out-and-back hike with an awesome payoff. The elevation at the peak is a mere 2,350 feet, but from the 35-foot tower, you get a STUNNING 360-degree view.
Rondaxe Fire Tower
Jana and Tom in the tower top
Fulton Chain of Lakes
Rondaxe (Bald Mountain) Fire Tower
We rolled into Lake Placid about an hour before sunset. Instead of heading straight to our hotel, we used the last of the daylight to check out crystal-clear Mirror Lake and then walked over for dinner at Lake Placid Pub & Brewery.
Mirror Lake in Lake Placid, NY
Time for a brew
Lodging: Maple Leaf Inn, Lake Placid, NY. A newly updated, huge room, with parking right outside the door. It was perfect for spreading out all of our backpacking gear to get ready for our three-day backcountry adventure that begins tomorrow.