Return To Lake Placid

Last weekend, B & I set off once again for Lake Placid. It's such an awesome little town that we decided we'd head back there for a little wintery goodness, and save Vermont (the original plan) for when we can hike and camp on the Long Trail without the need for crampons or ice axes. We started out on Friday noon-ish, and after getting some supplies together in Malone (always too many groceries), we got to the lodge, laid low for a bit, and then it was off for pints at the Lake Placid Pub & Brewery. I think I mentioned this place a little last time, it's hands-down the best place to go for food and drinks in the whole town, with all sorts of really good microbrews. And then it was off for some skating!

In the winter, they open up the Olympic speed skating oval to the public on weekend evenings (during the day it's used for training), and since the canal has been somewhat less than thrilling so far this year (until today, at least) it was really good to get the skates on again. Friday night was somewhere around -20F (-29C or so) and not many people were brave enough to be outside so there were really few people out there with us. In the middle of the oval they have a firepit that they keep running, which is also nice to hang out at after a few laps. We skated until they tossed us off, and we were off to the Jack Frost pub for a couple more pints. Usually they have an outdoor fireplace running there too, but unfortunately this weekend they decided not to use it since there weren't enough people to really make it worthwhile (although I think their logic is backwards - I think they'd have more people coming in as a result. But I'm not a pub owner. What do I know?)

Saturday morning, we woke up to find it had been snowing all night, turning Lake Placid into a really picturesque snowy town. We decided to get outside and maybe do a little snowshoe hiking or something. We were pointed towards Whiteface mountain to get gear (after doing a little meandering around the Olympic facilities where they were hosting a hockey tournament), but on the way to Whiteface we passed High Falls Gorge, which was something we had read about before going down and it sounded really cool, so we stopped in. Frozen waterfalls! It wasn't exactly a challenging hike or anything, but it was still pretty wild to check out. We did make it to Whiteface eventually, but mostly just because I wanted to have a look-see. (I am going to do some snowshoeing before this winter is over, though. Look for some Gatineau Park action in the near future.)


And then it was back to town for what was essentially a repeat of the night before - LPP&B, skating on the oval until they kicked us off, and then catching the end of the Montreal/Toronto game at Jack Frost.

Then it was Sunday morning, and we reluctantly decided to head back towards the 'Wa. Unfortunately, the hot sauce store in Saranac Lake is closed on Sundays. Had some really bad pizza that made us both feel awful, hit up the duty-free, and were back across the border again. And we rounded off the weekend with some really odd short films on Movieola.


Oh, and I can now skate backwards, and even go from skating forwards to backwards in an (almost) fluid move. By the end of this winter I should be a pro.

Team Awesome wins again!