A little maple began it, flaming blood-red of a sudden where he stood against the dark green of a pine-belt. Next morning there was an answering signal… Three days later, the hill-sides as fast as the eye could range were afire, and the roads paved, with crimson and gold.
Rudyard Kipling, writing in 1900
Why Adirondack Mountains?
Simple really - what else would you choose for someone who likes ’splashing’ through piles of Autumn leaves? The Adirondack Mountains are covered by a vast forest, whose leaves turn vivid and vibrant colours in Autumn.
Back in 2005, Jackie and I visited the Fall Colors Across North America photography exhibition in New York City. She enjoyed the exhibition enormously, as did I. It was evocative of far-off and inaccessible places, ranging in subject right across the North American continent, from Maine to California, Alaska and Canada to the Smokey Mountains.
I asked her to choose a favourite picture, and promised myself we’d visit wherever she picked sometime in the future.
I didn’t tell her that at the time though.
She choose this stunning picture, the poster picture for the exhibition and cover of the accompanying book, entitled ‘Adirondack Autumn’.
The picture is taken from the summit of Mount Jo looking towards Algonquin in the far distance, about 20 miles away from where we are staying.
Where are the Adirondack Mountains?
Locate the Great Lakes, then turn left onto Lake Ontario and head east a bit. They are located in the United States, close to the border with Canada (marked below as a yellow dashed line).
We’ll be hiking into the interior of the forest whilst there, and have hired a guide to take us into the more inaccessible parts by kayak.
Adirondack Park
Adirondacks by Numbers
- 9000 square miles of forest preserve.
- 5334 ft, the height of the highest peak, Mt Marcy
- 5000 - the estimated number of Black Bears living in the Park
- 1894, the year the Adirondacks are given State constitutional protection and declared to be ‘forever wild’.
- 700 estimated size of the Moose population (a relative newcomer)
- 127 miles from the southernmost point to the most northerly point. If you placed the park over Scotland, it would be able to cover all the land between South Queensferry and Aberdeen.
- 101 miles from the easternmost point to the most westerly point.
- 20 credible or highly credible cougar (mountain lion) sightings since 1990. ‘A cougar, larger than a German Shepherd, observed for 30 minutes whilst it appeared to be stalking a dog (1990).’
- 8 main types of carnivore: Black Bears, Raccoons, Coyotes, Fishers, Marten, Long Tailed Weasel & Ermine, Red & Gray Fox, Stripped Skunk
- 6.4% of the total area is covered by lakes and rivers.
- 2 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid in the Adirondacks (1932 and 1980)
- 1.6, the average number of beaver colonies per square mile in St Laurence County when surveyed in 1990.
- 1 Scotswoman splashing through piles of fallen leaves.
A Few Photos from ‘Awesome Adirondack Autumn‘, an amateur collection
Click for full size.
On the way to the Adirondacks, we are stopping off at Keuka Lake
I’ve already said Jackie likes Autumn leaves. She also likes wine 
(and has a tendency to drink my gourmet bottles), so I thought it would be great to combine these two things.
Lake Keuka, and nearby Lake Seneca, aside from being scenic places worth a visit in their own right, play host to a number of small artisan vineyards, such as Heron Hill, Dr Frank, Ravines and more (there more than 50 in the region). The presence of the nearby Finger Lakes apparently helps to mellow the climate, causing the vines to thrive.
So, we are also going on a wine tour, whilst on the way to the Adirondacks. We’ve hired a driver to take us around some of the best vineyards.
And finally…
We finish off with an autumn drive through Vermont and Connecticut to New York, where we spend 3 days and have got some other fun things planned.
