First road trip with my girl since coming to US for MBA. We are heading to a town called Speculator within the Adirondack Region of New York. It is already late fall so it's actually not the ideal season for Adirondack visit. Speculator is located right beside Lake Pleasant, one of the many lakes within Adirondack.
Day 1 - Nov 13, 2020
We rented a car from Enterprise Car Rental and set off at 11am. Our first stop is Syracuse since it's along the way. Upon arrival, we bought mandatory Popeyes and drove to a nearby park to eat. Unfortunately, the food was disappointing this time. The classic chicken sandwich was dry and the 3 piece chicken tasted ok but was smaller than usual.
We continued driving for approximately 2 hours 20 mins and eventually arrived at our destination - Lake Pleasant, Speculator. As the sun was about to set, we decided to drive directly to our first sightseeing stop before we check-in: "pig rock". Look at this stupid pig.
After we checked-in, we heeded lodge owner's recommendation and had dinner at Inn at Speculator. The food was decent (steak was good, pork chop was average) but nothing outstanding, showing some huge onion rings.
Day 2 - Nov 14, 2020
Hiking day. Although temperature was still cold ~3-4 Degree Celsius, the weather was at least sunny enough to hike. At a little stroll along lake pleasant before we hopped on our car for brunch at King of the Frosties.
lakeview outside our lodge
After brunch, we drove to another nearby lake for sightseeing - Moffitt Beach. The beach was completely empty due to the cold weather. We took some quick photos before hopping back to the car as we can't stand the cold.
We went back to our lodge for a short break and drove to our hiking destination at 2pm. We arrived the foot of Echo Cliff - Panther Mountain at 2.30pm, which was not the ideal timing to start a hike. Sun sets at 4.45pm these days so it's not the best idea to risk stranded in the woods in darkness, we have to get going quick.
Hike begins.
0-20 min: The hike started off relatively flat. There was incline by it was not too much. The main hurdle is the muddy route which made the hike a lot more difficult (pic 1). Our sneakers were not so good walking on wet grounds and we had to be really careful every step of the way so we won't slip or sink our shoes into the mud.
20 to 40 min: the route became less muddy but more sloppy, so fatigue starts to set in. As you can see from pic 2, the incline is pretty intense and we have to take a break in the middle.
Pic 1: 0 to 20 min - muddy but flatter Pic 2: 20 to 40 min - drier but sloppier
40-55 min: The final 15 min of climb was quite crazy as we were racing against clock and gravity. For some reason, mud started flooding back as well. From pic 3, you can clearly see that sun was beginning to set and we have to reach the summit asap. The incline became so intense that the final stretch was like rock-climbing (pic 4).
Pic 3: 45 min mark - sunsetting behind us Pic 4: Final climb - 55 min
After 55 min of hiking, we finally arrived at the summit and were greeted by an amazing view. All is worthwhile nonetheless. The ascend took us 55 minutes as opposed to 35 - 45 minutes for most people on AllTrails.com, room to improve for future.
Scenery at the summit made everything worthwhile
Surreal landscape
After the hike, we drove to a nearby grill house for a forgettable dinner and rested early.
Day 3 - Nov 15, 2020
Headed to King of The Frosties again for breakfast since it's the safe choice and almost everywhere else is closed. I ordered an omelette and Kaixin had fresh toast, both was good.
We began driving back at 11.20am and took short breaks in the middle, even did a bit of Christmas shopping when we passed by Utica. We arrived at Syracuse at around 3pm and headed to Asian BBQ place for late lunch. Purpose of our visit is simple: lamb BBQ skewer, it was absolutely delicious.
The drive back home was tiring as sky turned dark and it was downpour all the way. We reached Ithaca at 6+, home sweet home.
No comments:
Post a Comment