The Adventures of Myron and Dorcas: Adirondack Park

We departed Algonquin Provincial Park on Thursday relatively early, shortly after 9:00. I intended to stop at the first truck repair shop we came to and wanted to allow plenty of time in case they could do anything with our exhaust pipe separation problem. I also wanted to allow plenty of time for stops to inspect my handiwork and make additional repairs if necessary. In Whitney ON we came to Brown's Auto and Truck Repairs. I stopped and explained my problem to the mechanic on duty. He immediately said he couldn't fix it, even before looking at it. I asked him to at least look at it anyway and offer any advice he could. He determined that it could not be repaired by simply welding a new pipe back to the old muffler, that the muffler would need to be replaced. The muffler is not a standard muffler, it is unlike a straight muffler used on semi-trucks, and would indeed need to be special ordered. He located a manufacturer and part number on the muffler. So, I guess the best we can do is hope my jury-rigged repair holds together and try to limp on home. In the meantime I will contact the two shops I sometimes use at home and get them to quote the cost and delivery time for the part. Maybe we can have the part delivered and get repairs made soon after we get home.

I mentioned in the previous post that I wanted to buy some steel wire to replace the coat hangers I had used to support the pipe. The first opportunity was at the Canadian Tire store in Renfrew ON, 110 miles after leaving camp. Canadian Tire stores are like a cross between Walmart, Western Auto and Home Depot; they have a little bit of everything.

I found a 50m roll of 14 gauge galvanized steel wire, perfect for reinforcing or replacing the wire coat hangers. I also perused the sporting goods aisle, which displayed goods not often found in the Deep South.

Sticks, pucks and tape for all your hockey needs

I think we're on the right road

We elected to bypass the Duty Free store where we could have scored some cheap liquor.

No cheap liquor today

Bridge over the St Lawrence River

Myron driving across the St Lawrence River

US border crossing

While it is good to be back in the USA, there are some things I will miss about being in Canada. First the Canadian people are so friendly and polite. Second the roads and highways are extremely well signed and marked. Passing zones are frequent, and there is always a sign telling how far it is to the next passing lane. Intersections are consistently well marked with arrows and directions, and the names of side streets are shown well in advance. We carried exactly $37.25 of Canadian currency into Canada (left over from our trip to Alaska in 2017). We crossed into the US with exactly $37.25 of Canadian currency. By using credit cards that charge no foreign transaction fees exclusively, we didn't have to get local currency and insured we got the best rate of exchange.

Our camp at Wally World in Ogdensburg NY

We parked with the Triumphant gospel quartet, but no free concert

Matilda has rules, and Matilda knows the rules. Rule No. 1 is that she shall not get on the furniture or the bed. But there is an exception to Rule No. 1, mainly that she can get on the bed if two paws are on the floor. Matilda often exercises this exception at bedtime and early in the morning.

But Daddy, I have two feet on the floor!

We left Ogdensburg Friday morning, our destination being the Adirondack Park. we entered the park in the northwest corner shortly after leaving Ogdensburg.

From the website for the Adirondack Park Agency:

The Adirondack Park was created in 1892 by the State of New York amid concerns for the water and timber resources of the region. Today the Park is the largest publicly protected area in the contiguous United States, greater in size than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Park combined. The boundary of the Park encompasses approximately 6 million acres, nearly half of which belongs to all the people of New York State and is constitutionally protected to remain “forever wild” forest preserve. The remaining half of the Park is private land which includes settlements, farms, timber lands, businesses, homes, and camps.

The Adirondack region boasts over 3,000 lakes, 30,000 miles of rivers and streams, and a wide variety of habitats, including globally unique wetland types and old growth forests. The heart of the Adirondack Park is the Forest Preserve, which was created by an act of the Legislature in 1885 which stated, “The lands now or hereafter constituting the Forest Preserve shall be forever kept as wild forest lands. They shall not be sold, nor shall they be leased or taken by any person or corporation, public or private.” The state of New York owns approximately 43 percent, or roughly 2.6 million acres of land within the Park’s boundaries. The remaining private lands are devoted principally to forestry, agriculture, and open space recreation. The Adirondack Park is unique in its intricate mixture of public and private lands. About 130,000 people live here year round in its 101 towns and villages. The harmonious blend of private and public lands give the Adirondacks a diversity found nowhere else – a diversity of open space and recreational lands, of wildlife and flora, of mountains and meadows, and people of all walks of life.

There are 52 state campgrounds in the Adirondacks, and we didn't have a reservation for a single one of them. That is always a little scary on a Friday afternoon on a fine fall day. Dorcas had looked at availability of several campgrounds, and it looked like Lewey Lake had a few available sites that would fit us, so we headed that way.

When we got to Lewey Lake and told the ranger we wanted a site for a 34' motor home for the weekend, he frowned and looked discouraging. Finally he directed us to site 91, which was plenty big and a fine site. The only thing wrong with site 91 was that it was fairly difficult to back into, because the narrow road was lined with trees close to the road. Of particular concern was this one 5" pine that was leaning at a high angle into the road, hindering access to the site. We finally got parked, and I told Dorcas that I was going to cut that obtrusive tree down before we left. She screamed bloody murder and declared that I would not cut the tree. However, when we were leaving on Sunday morning, I beat our rubber door mat against that tree to get the debris off the mat. Low and behold the friggin' tree just fell over into the road. It plainly committed suicide (arborcide?) When I told Dorcas about the tree falling over, she didn't believe that it was an accident and blamed me for the tree's demise.

Site 91 at Lewey Lake campground

I took a couple of nice photos of Lewey Lake and couldn't decide which one to post. Shucks, I'll just show them both.

Morning fog and foliage on Lewey Lake

Morning fog on still Lewey Lake

We met a couple who live in the Adirondacks and often spend a few days in the state parks to “get away”. Odin, their 150 lb. Newfie, fits “nicely” in their small retro camper.

After some initial intimidation Matilda and Odin bonded

Since leaving Algonquin I have stopped frequently to inspect my exhaust pipe hack. When we arrived at Lewey Lake the fix was still stable. I had lost 2 of my 7 wedgies, but the tail pipe was still secure on the body. I still have plenty of wedgies on board.

Thankfully the black from is engine soot and not charred or scorched wood

There is mandatory recycling at all Adirondack state campgrounds. Go NY state!!!

At the waste and recycling center there are about 1/2 dozen signs that say no black garbage bags. Each morning a staff member comes to sort the waste and recyclables, and I asked him "Why no black bags?" He said the Hamilton County landfill had banned black bags. But why? It turns out state waste management inspectors had conducted an inspection at the landfill and found a large concentration of recyclables in black bags. They therefor banned black bags from the landfill. Apparently black bags are opaque, and the recyclable materials can not be seen through them, so people will use black bags to avoid separating their recyclables from their trash. It's a sad world.

We could stay only two nights at Lewey Lake before our next scheduled shop. That left Saturday to explore. We made a loop of the central and western sections of the park and drove to Lake Placid.

Sacandaga River. No good for paddling today

Camelback steel truss bridge over the Hudson River

Driving through Keene Valley

Mirror Lake, not Lake Placid is the lake that fronts the main drag in the Village of Lake Placid. Most tourists probably don't know that and never see the Lake Placid. We knew better but still didn't make it to Lake Placid the lake.

It was probably a mistake to visit Lake Placid on a fine fall Saturday afternoon. The traffic was horrendous, there was no place to park and no place to walk on the sidewalk. We visited Lake Placid the same time of the year in 2007, and it was not like that then. Apparently our prior visit was not on a weekend.

"Damn this traffic jam" Lyrics by James Taylor. Link to the song

Lake Placid hosted the Winter Olympics in 1932 and 1980. The village is especially remembered as the site of the 1980 USA–USSR hockey game. Dubbed the "Miracle on Ice". A group of American college students and amateurs upset the heavily favored Soviet national hockey team 4–3 and two days later won the gold medal.

Herb Brooks, coach of the gold medal 1980 Men's Olympic hockey team, was known for his colorful quotes, much like Yogi Berra.

"You're playing worse and worse every day and right now you're playing like it's next month."

"You know, Willie Wonka said it best: we are the makers of dreams, the dreamers of dreams."