A New Lake (Or Two)

Deep in the Adirondack Mountains is the little oasis of Long Lake. Traveling through the mountains, we hardly saw another vehicle until we arrived and found that the town was bustling on this beautiful Sunday. Long Lake is aptly named because the the lake itself is 14 miles long and very narrow. It is divided by the Route 30 bridge and also has picturesque Park Lake (more like a pond) that connects to it. We found a parking spot between the pond and the big lake and launched the kayaks at a small public fishing dock on the pond, planning on heading into Long Lake after circumnavigating Park Lake. 

I trailed behind a whole gaggle of geese, into the marshes filled with gorgeous water lilies.

As we got closer to the tiny foot bridge where we wanted to enter the lake, I heard water rushing, like a waterfall. Looking out into the lake it all looked normal until I got closer and realized that Park Lake is higher than Long Lake and there is at least a 6 foot drop! Both lakes blended in together on the sight line, sort of like an infinity pool. There were no warning signs or ropes. Thank goodness we are observant.

Instead we went back to where we launched and portaged the kayaks the short distance across the road to the big lake's public beach. It certainly is pretty!

We had to check out the seaplanes, and Dave reminisced about the flight he took here on one many years ago. It was good to see that they still do the tours. 

Dave said that this Haviland Beaver float plane is probably my age!

You don't see this sign too often...

While paddling the lower part of the lake we came across this 'barn find' seaplane. Looked like it hadn't been in service for awhile.

When our stomachs started growling, we loaded up the van and had lunch at the 1850's built 'Adirondack Hotel' across from the beach (photo borrowed from the internet). The lobby was historical Adirondacks, complete with taxidermy animals including a bear standing up and a moose head.

What fun it was watching all the goings on while eating a great meal overlooking the lake. Plus we saw one of the float planes land and taxi over to the beach. Another '10' day!