Adirondack Visit - POI?

JoeinNY wrote: ny_nautique wrote: Joe that's perfect. He can come up through the Albany area, see Todd in Scotia, north to LG and Placid area, west to Alex Bay, and then south to you. Then take 81 south to get home. Or for the way home the future I99 corridor (current route 15) down the west side of the state - not much more mileage/time but more scenic and less chance of construction/backup.

Sounds Great!

Very Cool - We are friends with the Ken(s) (Christensen) at the Viking Inn and Resort ..... Can you Bluff folks fix us up with a Chapel renewing of vows? Hard to get on the schedule if you're not a local...That would be an awesome feat.........!

If you were to search nearly any of Donald's posts, you would understand the d*ck Pope reference...... suffice it to say - it is full of "lore"!

Finger Lakes are great....looking to explore the Adirondacks now.

If you don't want to drive all the way to NY on day 1, you can stay in the Parsippany NJ area and check out Lake Hopatacong. That looks to be about a 7-hour drive from your home. There are some cool state parks in the area for hiking and sightseeing. I was just there 2 weekends ago. From there it's only another 3 hours to Albany.

So if you're looking to start off traversing the Hudson River to the Mohawk through the locks, you might want to make that 2 days in the area. You can launch your boat in Rensselaer, which is right across the river from downtown Albany. I work 1.5 miles from the public boat launch.

You could head south for a few minutes to check out the skyline, port of Albany, and big ships, then head back north to the Troy Lock, and have lunch at Dinosaur Barbeque. After lunch head towards the Waterford Flight of Locks which connect the Hudson to the Mohawk.

There are 5 locks here and you can buy a 2-day pass from the first lock for $10. The locks are open from 8am to 6pm.

There are a lot of marinas, restaurants, cool sites, and side trips along this route. Peebles Island is within walking distance to a public dock. It is a easy hiking island that I've done about 20 times with my kids. We always see tons of deer and snakes when we go and huge fish in the water below.

There's also the Cohoes falls (which is the reason for the locks) and a hike to them, and plenty of things to do between Troy, Cohoes, and Waterford - or just sights to see from your boat.

After Peebles Island you will enter the Flight of Locks at Lock E2.
Finish up after Lock 6 and you've got open water on the way to Latham, Niskayuna, or Scotia.
You could stop at Blaine's Bay Marina to keep your boat overnight, or continue through to Lock 7.

Wave to Jeff Toro as he works at Knolls Atomic Labratory and admire the huge cliffs on this part of the river.

A few more miles down the river and you can stop for dinner at The Water's Edge Lighthouse where they have a public dock right in front, good food, and good drinks.

Unfortunately, you won't be able to eat at Jumpin' Jacks because I think they close on Labor Day. But, you're only a few minutes away from Todd's place which is right before you get to lock 8.

You can then go back to the public launch next to the Lighthouse Restaurant and pull the boat out. We can get you a ride to your truck and trailer, which is only a 25 minute drive from here.

You could do this all in one day if you hit the lock at 8am. According to this table, it is about 6 hours of transit time between the Troy lock and Lock 7. If you split it into 2 days, you'll have time to enjoy the sites and be on your way north to your next destination.

So... if you do want to do the locks, you could do this:
Day 1 Home to Parsippany
Day 2 Hopatacong and area, drive to Albany
Day 3 Boat through the locks; Albany -> Latham via river full map
Day 4 Latham -> Scotia via river (2 hours), relax, Todd's house, evening drive to Lake George (1 hour)
Day 5 Lake George
Day 6 Drive to Placid, Saranac (1.5 hours); enjoy area; stay over at Mirror Lake Inn
Day 7 Enjoy Lake Placid area. Drive to Alex Bay in evening(2.5 hours)
Day 8 Enjoy Alexandria Bay. Evening drive from Alex Bay to Auburn (2 hours)
Day 9 Enjoy Finger Lakes / Auburn area
Day 10 Drive home (9 hours)

Or, cut out the Hopatacong leg and head straight to Albany on Day 1 and spend one more day at one of the other destinations.

BTW - I'm a huge Red Sox fan and I typed this out as I watched the game. In the time I wrote this, they blew a 6-3 lead in the 6th and lost 9-6.

Update: We are home - what a great trip!



Thanks to all who helped put our itinerary together - esp. Ny_Nautique. We were also so fortunate to spend a couple of days with Got_Tiques for some terrific river fun!

The 1,800+ mile trip started with a visit to Scotia, NY. We crashed at Todd's place. Looked at some great boats, spent time taking in the sights and making new friends.

Was going to bore everyone with a long pictured-filled narrative..... but had to take the kid back to college.... more to come.....

Day 2 on the Mohawk we decided to put in at the Marina and take out the Yellow/Black Ski (So many neat boats from which to choose!)

Before leaving that morning, Todd and I went over the hoses and fittings of the Barefoot to reduce the chances of another exciting time on the water.

Day 3 we headed out to Lake George...walked around the town of Lake George...great dog beach and water view dog friendly pubs....

Hiked up Buck Mountain to view Lake George - some incredible scenery!






After the hike, we packed up and drove to Schroon Lake. We put in the boat for a quick lap around the lake before dinner.....

Air206 wrote: If you were to search nearly any of Donald's posts, you would understand the d*ck Pope reference...... suffice it to say - it is full of "lore"!

Hey, I am just repeating what the Previous Owner told me and I am SURE it is true. There was a old wooden d*ck Pope Ski in the boat when I purchased it. It has his signature on it. That alone should be enough hard proof.

There was a Bush Beer Can under the seat so I am sure the boat was also at BUSH GARDENS.

It looks like you had a great trip.

Donald