Adirondac Loj Trip Day 1

So it was time once again to return to the High-Peaks for a mini end of summer "vacation". This time we were going to camp for 2 nights at the Loj camp-grounds and then try to stay in a hotel on Friday night. On holiday weekends there is always a 3 night minimum in the Adirondacks so I was hoping to just find a vacancy and we could stay in style for one night.

We decided to try and simplify our culinary camping experience so we tried to go with some of the freeze-dried backpacking meals. A few days ago we tested the spaghetti and meat-sauce and were pleasantly surprised how it turned out. This would give me a chance to try out my GSI cooking system and MSR Superfly stove. We also bought some new hiking gear including some new clothes, head-nets, super duper ABC watch( altimeter, barometer, compass) etc. Hopefully next time we make a camping/hiking trip we can just go and not spend money on gear. Although im always fine with injecting the economy with my hard-earned pay :)

We left around 9:00am and arrived in Lake Placid around 1:30pm. Made a quick stop to EMS and to a local deli and then made our way deep into the forest and the ADK Loj. On the way Heather and I agreed to camp Friday night if there was a site available. When we checked in we found that there was a site available for just Friday night. We took it and didnt mind moving our camp for one night, it would save spending over $150 for a hotel room.

This being the second time I have setup and used my tent we had a few small issues with the orientation of the pole system. But everything went up quite easy when we figured it out and we were all set for a few nights in the woods. We decided to head down to Heart Lake near the Loj and enjoy the beautiful weather. I brought my fly-fishing gear down with me to try and impress Heather with my elite fly casting ability ( /sarcasm). With a quick scan of the clear mountain lake I couldnt see any fish. I decided to try fishing blindly and it gave me a good chance to practice my casting. I caught nothing of course, but because of the thick brush behind me I got a good round of roll-casting in.

Around 6pm we made our way back to the camp and I started boiling water for our dehydrated meal. Being good rule followers we made sure to eat before 7pm. You see this is the time that bears most likely start awaking and get ready to go plundering for food. There was even a lamanated rule-card stating this fact among other more obvious rules. Basically dont spill anything, make sure all food is locked up in the car, and NEVER have food in your tent. We enjoyed some dehydrated beef stew and just like the spaghetti meal we were both surprised with how well it tasted. I could certainly get used to eating like this.

After dinner we started a fire and tried to make our fire the old fashioned way, no not rubbing two sticks together. But I wanted all of the fuel to be from the forest and not resort to using newspaper or toilet paper. We were rather unsuccesful, so of course toilet paper came to our rescue once again. While sitting there, our obviously french next door neighbors decided to grab an acoustic guitar and serenade us with some odd french songs along with some english tunes. It was two rather rough looking women, yet they sounded like song-birds when they sang together. Think the Indigo-girls. I think Heather and I even managed to get a little dance in, which was just odd being so deep in the wood. In fact while we were camped up there we heard acoustic guitars, flutes, bag-pipes, and a harpsichord. This was certainly our kind of place.

The night was growing colder and the fire started dying around 10pm or so. We made our way over to the tent and crawled into our rather warm sleeping bags. My watch alarm was set for 6:30 am so we could start our long day of hiking early. Sleep did not come easily for me. Being a person who is used to the constant drone of a fan on a nightly basis, sleeping in a creeking and very much alive forest takes getting used to. I did manage to get a good night sleep though and I certainly needed it for the next day, which turned out to be the most physically demanding day we both have ever had.