The Adirondacks

The Adirondack Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountain Range, was the site of my annual camping trip to Floodwood Creek and Rollins Pond, in upstate New York, just north of Tupper Lake, NY. Here, we stay on an island in the middle of the pond, so we canoe our supplies and gear out to the island, where I read my books, fished, canoed, played cards, went for some runs, and generally just relaxed. One memorable run led me down what I thought was a paved road...but eventually became dirt, and eventually I saw a state sign, "Floodwood Mountain, 1.0 miles." Being a bit ambitious, I decided to run (yes, run) up the trail. At first, I thought, "Hey, not too bad!" until the moutnain trail really became, well, a mountain trail. Nonetheless, I continued on running, despite my pace becoming a near-crawl. The vista was gorgeous, though, and worth the run/hike to the top: mountain tops scattered among lakes. Lesson learned? 1. A hike is definitely worth the patience, wait, and effort. 2. Don't try to run up and then down a mountain alone!

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