Skaneateles / Adirondack Park / Lake George / Ausable Chasm NY

Posted January 30, 200817 yr

This is the third part of my six-part Road Trip 2000 series.

Skaneateles, New York

I had first heard of Skaneateles, New York, on a music program on public radio, and the name stuck in my mind. I looked it up on the map, and it turned out to be on one of the routes I could take.

Skaneateles Lake is sixteen miles long and three hundred feet deep and noted for its purity. Syracuse gets its water from the lake; the water is incredibly clear.

Oriskany, New York

The 1888 monument commemorates the 1777 Battle of Oriskany, one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolution. Sixty British Regulars and 400 Indians here ambushed the Tryon County Militia, 800 strong, as they were marching to the relief of Fort Stanwix at Rome.

General Nicholas Herkimer, though wounded, rallied his forces and directed the fighting until the enemy fled. Of the 800 militia, more than 500 were killed or wounded and almost all households in the area felt the effects of this battle for years afterward.

Defeated at Oriskany and unable to force the surrender of Fort Stanwix, the British retreated to Canada. These reverses, with the defeat at Saratoga, thwarted Burgoyne's plan to divide the colonies by conquering New York.

Adirondack Scenic Railroad

The Adirondack Scenic Railroad runs from Utica to Lake Placid, and operates excursions out of Utica, Thendara and Lake Placid. The line was originally built to carry the rich and famous in their private railroad cars to their "Great Camps" in the Adirondack Mountains.

I rode the twenty-two mile round trip between Thendara and Otter Lake in the cab of an immaculate, sweet-running 2000-horsepower 1964 Alco C-420 locomotive.

Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, NY

The Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake consists of twenty-some buildings on more than twenty acres of land. It features exhibits on boats, hunting, fishing, logging, mining and farming, as well as examples of the summer "camps" of the wealthy and homes of the people who made their living in the area. The art gallery features a permanent collection and seasonal exhibits. The reason for my visit was an exhibit of Rockwell Kent's Adirondack paintings. They are beautiful and powerfully moving.

Rockwell Kent's Clover Fields.

The Adirondack Park consists of a patchwork of public and private lands. Efforts are ongoing to purchase private parcels and to obtain easements in order to facilitate the use of hiking trails and ensure access to scenic, historic and nature preservation areas. Scattered throughout the park are the remains of former summer homes that have burned or become derelict.

Lake George, New York

Mist rises from Lake George on an icy-crisp, crystal-clear autumn morning.

Built in 1969 on Lake George, Lake George Steamboat Company's Minne-Ha-Ha is an authentic steamboat whose engine room is glass-enclosed so passengers can see the engine working. Her hull was designed by the H.M. Tiedermann Company of New York City, and her engines and paddle wheel were designed and built by Frederick H. Semple of St. Louis. Her boiler was manufactured by the International Boiler Works of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and produces about 200 horsepower.

Lac du Saint Sacrement's keel was laid in 1979 at the Lake George Steamboat Company's Baldwin Shipyards. Her hull was launched in 1987, and she entered service in 1989. Her name is the name given to the lake in 1646 by a Jesuit priest. She is 190 feet long and her design retains the character of 19th-century lake steamers.

Lake George Steamboat Company's Mohican was launched in 1907. She was powered by Fletcher steam engines and fueled by coal until 1945, when her owner converted her to diesel power for greater efficiency and passenger space on the second deck. Her superstructure was updated from wood and canvas to steel in the 1970s.

Plattsburgh, New York - SUNY Art Museum

The art museum on the SUNY campus at Plattsburgh houses an extensive collection of Kent's work, including paintings, drawings, fabrics, jewelry and ceramics. Somehow, I neglected to take photos in the area.

Ausable Chasm

I arrived at AuSable Chasm late in the afternoon and took a spot in the adjacent KOA campground. I almost had the run of the campground; I think there were only three other campers on the property.

I was able to do some early exploring on foot, but the chasm itself is private property and can only be accessed by paying for the tour. From what I saw, it was worth waiting until morning to do that.

The autumn had been drier than usual in New York, and almost all the water coming down the AuSable River was being captured by the dam and fed to the two hydropower plants at the head of the chasm. Not much was left to go over the falls.

Along the trails, the ground was blanketed with pine needles. The air was autumn-fresh and fragrant.

Here, I'm looking down a notch that intersects the chasm. There were several of these, and I'm not geologist enough to know what formed them. There are faults and rifts that are visible in the chasm walls.