Headed North Craft Style
Thread Starter
JK Newbie
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: Ellicott City, MD
Headed North Craft Style
After cutting our “overland” teeth on a few relatively local trips in our ‘10 JKU, we've decided it’s high time to test our trip planning and execution skills with a larger adventure. We are taking the next week to travel from Maryland to explore the wilds of New York’s Adirondack Park. Having never been to the area, we poured over numerous books and maps and spent hours internet scouring, resulting in our 1000+ mile route. While the majority of our travels will take place on asphalt, we are very excited to take in the back road scenery of Pennsylvania and New York that neither of us have yet explored, top back!
We will update this post, as we can from the road, with pics and stories of our travels over the next few days. I got a little discouraged after searching for the seemingly nonexistent public dirt roads and drivable trails in Adirondack Park. However, I believe I found a few roads and trails in the vicinity of our stopping points, hopefully still open to the public, that will at least give us a chance to get onto some dirt. In an effort to maximize the enjoyment of this trip for all of us, we decided to divide our non-travel time equally between camping and other accommodations. Stay tuned for what we hope is an epic trip.
J.Craft, NatCraft, BrewPup, and JKraft
We will update this post, as we can from the road, with pics and stories of our travels over the next few days. I got a little discouraged after searching for the seemingly nonexistent public dirt roads and drivable trails in Adirondack Park. However, I believe I found a few roads and trails in the vicinity of our stopping points, hopefully still open to the public, that will at least give us a chance to get onto some dirt. In an effort to maximize the enjoyment of this trip for all of us, we decided to divide our non-travel time equally between camping and other accommodations. Stay tuned for what we hope is an epic trip.
J.Craft, NatCraft, BrewPup, and JKraft
Last edited by j.craft; Sep 26, 2011 at 12:33 PM.
Thread Starter
JK Newbie
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: Ellicott City, MD
Lawrenceville Update
Jumping off from the Lakeview Lodge in Lawrenceville PA today. Had a good 300 miles yesterday, not too much in the way of scenery, but did make our way through a couple of cool college towns. Had a good night sleep and ready to get to camp. Looks like good weather today and tomorrow with showers arriving tomorrow night. Hope to have some pics to post when we reach civilization again on Tuesday. Into the woods we go...
Thread Starter
JK Newbie
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: Ellicott City, MD
Better Late then Never
Catching up where we left off (Day 2): We departed Lakeview Lodge under the cover of fog in the morning, headed to Moose River Plains in Adirondack Park. Our route took us through several quaint mountain and college towns - Ithica is beautiful. We stopped in Inlet, NY to grab some provisions for camp and embarked into the wilderness. We found at a great campsite within walking distance from the Mitchell Pond trailhead, sporting an outhouse which was a nice touch, thanks DEC.
A staple on this trip. IMO treading lightly requires cans.
Dark comes quick in the middle of nowhere, and cold follows in tandem. Before we turned in we took note of the amazing sky. The sky was bursting with illuminated energy - the Milky Way visible. The silence out there is notable. A coyote - or three - called out in the middle of the night, slicing the night with an echoing maniacal yip. Dawn broke and we found our entire tent covered in frost.
A cold morning lent itself to a relaxed pace (Day 3). We hiked from our campsite to Mitchell Pond and back - 4.1mi.
We embarked on Jeep exploration of the forest and found ourselves at Squaw Lake, where we noted the need of the future “Water Craft.” It was the perfect short hike to a paddling drop-in. We returned to JKraft and traversed to the Beaver Lake trailhead for a nice little 4.6mi hike, and learned (the hard way) everything in Inlet closes at 6pm, before retiring to camp for the evening. The night brought cloud cover, making it impossible to see any stars, and offered her bounty of rain - for 10+ hours.
Endless morning rain deterred us from our plan to hike 10 mi to and from Brooktrout and West Lakes, and instead encouraged us to sleep in (Day 4). We donned our rain gear, packed up camp, and commenced our travel to Lake Placid, NY, just as the sun stretched her rays. So, like all good Jeep adventurers, we popped the top and left the forest “tits out.” We discovered a questionably drivable trail, a flock of turkeys, and the beauty of this region - wild lake after wild lake.
Lake Placid was easily navigable, and brought the welcomed(?) return of cell service, voicemail, email, and social media. The house we rented here is crucial - planning on putting their canoe and laundry facilities to good use. A solid meal at Lake Placid Placid Brewery and Pub on two-fer Tuesdays was perfection, only topped by a fantastic view from our driveway of the town’s random fireworks.
A staple on this trip. IMO treading lightly requires cans.
Dark comes quick in the middle of nowhere, and cold follows in tandem. Before we turned in we took note of the amazing sky. The sky was bursting with illuminated energy - the Milky Way visible. The silence out there is notable. A coyote - or three - called out in the middle of the night, slicing the night with an echoing maniacal yip. Dawn broke and we found our entire tent covered in frost.
A cold morning lent itself to a relaxed pace (Day 3). We hiked from our campsite to Mitchell Pond and back - 4.1mi.
We embarked on Jeep exploration of the forest and found ourselves at Squaw Lake, where we noted the need of the future “Water Craft.” It was the perfect short hike to a paddling drop-in. We returned to JKraft and traversed to the Beaver Lake trailhead for a nice little 4.6mi hike, and learned (the hard way) everything in Inlet closes at 6pm, before retiring to camp for the evening. The night brought cloud cover, making it impossible to see any stars, and offered her bounty of rain - for 10+ hours.
Endless morning rain deterred us from our plan to hike 10 mi to and from Brooktrout and West Lakes, and instead encouraged us to sleep in (Day 4). We donned our rain gear, packed up camp, and commenced our travel to Lake Placid, NY, just as the sun stretched her rays. So, like all good Jeep adventurers, we popped the top and left the forest “tits out.” We discovered a questionably drivable trail, a flock of turkeys, and the beauty of this region - wild lake after wild lake.
Lake Placid was easily navigable, and brought the welcomed(?) return of cell service, voicemail, email, and social media. The house we rented here is crucial - planning on putting their canoe and laundry facilities to good use. A solid meal at Lake Placid Placid Brewery and Pub on two-fer Tuesdays was perfection, only topped by a fantastic view from our driveway of the town’s random fireworks.
