Day 160: Lake Placid, NY

Our itinerary today involved a huge hike to two Adirondack peaks, Porter (4059 ft) and Cascade (4098 ft) mountains. These were our first peaks in this mountain range and our hardest hike of the trip thanks to the most elevation gain; we hiked 9.2 km with 800 m of elevation. This beat even our crazy hard hike to Lassen Peak! Today’s hike, while definitely challenging, felt easier than Lassen Peak, the Narrows at Zion, and even Walter’s Wiggles and the crazy hard switchbacks leading to Angel’s Landing. We must have gotten stronger over the course of the trip because, on paper, this hike should have been harder.

The weather, unfortunately, did not cooperate. It didn’t pour but it drizzled with lots of fog and low clouds. The summits of both peaks were encased in cloud cover so we didn’t see the panoramic views of the autumn forest with leaves ablaze. We enjoyed meeting the Summit Stewards atop Cascade who kindly took our family photo and told us about the plants and birds that grow on the summit in the alpine zone. 

We also saw thousands of millipedes on the very top of Cascade mountain. We googled it afterwards and apparently we witnessed the fall millipede migration. Millipedes lack a waxy outer cuticle, making them hyper-sensitive to moisture levels. They require damp environments to survive, but the heavy rains and overcast weather common to the late-September Adirondacks saturate the soil. When the forest floor becomes completely waterlogged, millipedes are forced to migrate to higher, drier ground to avoid drowning. At the end of September in the Adirondacks, cooler autumn temperatures and increased moisture levels trigger thousands of millipedes to leave their usual forest floor habitats all at once as they prepare for winter dormancy. They migrate en masse to find insulated, safe locations where they can survive the harsh winter freezes. Apparently this includes the rocky mountain summit where they squeeze into cracks in the rock as they hibernate and await spring.

Millipedes time their life cycles to complete growth by autumn, entering a dormant, hibernation-like state (diapause) as temperatures drop. Similar to other arthropods, cold-hardy millipede species accumulate natural body fluid solutes—like sugars, polyols, or specialized proteins—that lower the freezing point of their internal water (supercooling, like natural antifreeze) to help stabilize cell membranes against ice damage. We learned so many cool millipede facts today, even if it was a bit gross to see them all piled up on the summit.

Going down the mountains, we were impressed with how high we had climbed. It was a long way down. We did really well! The boys were proud of successfully summiting their first peaks. This was a big deal for them since Ian had climbed several Adirondack peaks with his Scouting buddies and the boys wanted to be just like their Daddy.

After showers and changing into warm, dry clothes, we headed into downtown Lake Placid to celebrate our last night of the Great North American Road Trip (the Sequel). We picked up badges to commemorate our summits.

The boys selected the Lake Placid Brew Pub based on a blinded reading of several area restaurant menus. They were very excited for supper as they got us to agree that they could order off the adult menu AND have dessert. It was, as they pointed out, a special night. Dinner was exceptionally delicious and we are all stuffed.

Evening held one final (short) campfire as we can’t bring our firewood across the border. We are all exhausted and ready to bed down for our last night of camping before our trip concludes tomorrow.

Day 159: Ticonderoga to Wilmington, NY

Today’s adventures involved hiking and rafting at Ausable Chasm near Plattsburgh. We lucked out and it rained both before and after our outdoor activities but not a drop during.

The chasm was huge. It started over a bridge at Rainbow Falls (a three in one waterfall) and we headed along the canyon rim and then along a boardwalk down into the canyon. The rocks and stairs were wet and slippery so it was slow going but we took our time.

We enjoyed the cliffs and canyon wall views until we made it to the raft departure area. We donned life jackets and climbed aboard a big blue inflatable raft with guide Nate. He  expertly navigated us down the river flowing along the canyon bottom. The river was low and calm, though we did navigate over two rapids sections. That part was fun! We saw the remnants of the old pulley system that used to be used to move wooden boats on the river prior to the transition to inflatable rafts.

We explored two dry chasms on our hike back and eventually returned to the truck. After lunch we checked in to our campground at Wilmington Notch. It was definitely raining by this point so, even though our campground is located at the base of Whiteface Mountain, all we could see was fog.

We headed in to Lake Placid to pick up a few items at the grocery store and then hunkered down for another rainy night. We have our biggest hike of the trip planned for tomorrow so we need to rest up.