We had quite a day on my 63rd birthday! First, we drove over to see the High Falls Gorge, which spills over granite cliffs for 700 feet which were formed over a billion years ago by the water, ice, and wind. It’s a stunning gorge. Then we headed for the Village of Lake Placid, site of the 1932 and 1980 “Miracle on Ice” Olympics.
After seeing the village and lake, we headed for some more scenic driving and ended up at the entrance to the Whiteface Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway. It’s an eight mile climb to the peak of Whiteface Mountain, which we drove, and and then it’s a choice between climbing another 300 feet up a narrow rocky trail with sheer vertical drops on both sides or an elevator. Jan chose the path, and I chose the elevator. We met at the top, took pictures of the 360 degree view, and waited to take the elevator down. Then it got interesting. After we crowded into the elevator, we had to step back out after it malfunctioned and jumped its track! People stood around for a while, but the men were no elevator experts, and couldn’t fix it, so, eventually, most of the people braced themselves for the scary descent except for eight of us, including a woman in a wheelchair. Well, eventually four more descended on the path, holding hands and scared to death, while Jan and I waited with the woman in the wheelchair and her companion to see what would happen. It was starting to get toward dusk, and the park was past closing time.
The elevator guys were having no luck. Finally, after listening to their situation, I made a suggestion they shut off all the power and reset whatever. They said they had already done that but would try again, and this time it worked! (I’m sure it needed to cool down after running all day, and we thought it probably had an electronic reset.) So, we were the last ones do get down, and we beat the four who finally braved the walk down. They were still up there, and men were hurrying up to see if they were okay. My mother had called earlier, and we had discussed my birth day 63 years ago. She said I was almost born in the elevator. So, I have finally figured it out. I need to stay away from elevators of all kinds on my birthday!
Canoes, kayaks and camps decorate the beautiful rivers here. The classic image here in the Adirondacks is of canoes and kayaks on these idyllically scenic rivers, while the cabins and cottages are called “camps.” The rivers are clear, and one can see the bottoms of the shallow rivers all the way across. The beautiful birch, spruce, and hemlock trees are reflected in these rivers where men are fly fishing and canoes drift lazily downstream.
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