Lake Placid : Part III (Bonus Vermont Edition)

Another wildly successful weekend of outdoor adventures!

We headed out after work on Friday, and since we weren't sure how late the guy at Cobble Mountain would wait for us to turn up, we headed pretty much straight there, save for a quick grocery run on the way. We had a full-fledged cabin this time, since the attached lodges were under renovation (read: demolished) which was extremely cool. We were both pretty tired so we decided to skip out on the pub and get rested up for the hiking on Saturday.

The next morning we got up and headed out towards the mountains. Our plan for this trip was Cascade mountain, which is a 2.4 mile hike, and since Porter mountain is just a little bit further up the trail, being the ambitious people that we are, we decided to hike them both. It was an incredible day to be outside - clear blue skies, lots of sun and perfect hiking weather. There was quite a bit of packed snow on the trail, but not enough to need snowshoes or any special traction, so we were good the whole way. We made it first to the top of Cascade, which is a bare rocky peak. Here's a look at the complete 360 degree panorama from the top.


And then we were off to Porter, which was only another hour or so away (if that). Again, more spectacular views from here, and we ran into a couple of other hikers (and their hiking dog) who knew what all the other mountains were and who identified them for us. We immediately begin scheming our next trip here. It was a lot less windy at the top of Porter, so we hung out there for quite a while (almost an hour, I think) before heading back down.

Feeling pretty good about ourselves, we decided to relax in the cabin for a little while before heading out to the Pub and Brewery (yes, again). After some Brown Bag ale (which was back in season), we headed over to Jack Frost, and found that it was their last night open. Very sad. But we got some free drinks from the people we know there and got to hang out by their outdoor wood stove for a while.

The next day, things got even more interesting. We didn't have much of a plan for Sunday, so we grabbed an attraction guide, and realized that we weren't that far from Vermont. I had never been to Vermont, and it sounded like a pretty good way to spend a Sunday afternoon, so off we went.

Time for a side story. Driving through the small towns in New York state, they have a pretty low speed limit by our Canadian standards (35mph in places). And it was in one such place that I got pulled over for speeding (I think I was going about 50mph at the time). The state trooper with the woolly purple tie asked me for my license and registration. My license was no problem, but it took a little while to find the registration for the rental car. After handing him a paper that said "Registration" on it in big block letters, he handed it back and said that wasn't what he needed. Turns out it was a registration form for Notre Dame cathedral or something, so now we look like religious nuts. Anyway, he asked if I knew why he pulled us over. I sheepishly admitted that I'm pretty sure I was going too fast. He also asked if I'd ever been caught speeding before, which I admitted I had when I was 18, so almost 12 years ago. He seemed to contemplate the situation for a few seconds, and probably realized that there would be a substantial amount of paperwork involved in ticketing a Canadian in a rental car, which would no doubt spoil an otherwise great Sunday afternoon, so he let me off with a warning to watch my speed. Trouble averted!

We crossed over into Vermont and headed to Burlington, where we roamed around for a while taking pictures and generally soaking up the small town ambiance. After having dinner at the Vermont Pub & Brewery (also on par with the LP P&B - delicious!) we headed back to Canada, which took us through Montreal and back home again.


Best road trip yet. How will Team Awesome top this one next time? Stay tuned. There are a lot more mountains left to do.