Lake George

Way back in January, we started planning a Memorial weekend camping trip with our friends Mike, Kelly and Ryan. We had a couple of state parks in mind but they were already booked. Already booked - in January. We decided to camp in a private campground and after considering different locations, we chose the Lake George area. We had never been to Lake George, and it had been some time since Kelly and Mike were there, so it would new to all of us. I researched campgrounds on the Internet, compiled a short list of suggestions and we all decided on King Phillip's Campground, just 1.5 miles from the village of Lake George. Lake George is located at the southeastern edge of the Adirondacks and I had heard from several sources that the area is very touristy, so my expectations were low. And since we did not plan to spend much time in the village of Lake George, the tourist factor did not matter too much.

We were excited to be trying out our popup camper for the first time. Even when compacted and locked down, it can still hold a lot of gear. And since we did not have to pack a tent or air mattresses, we had less gear to pack. As with any camping trip, getting the food planned and ready was a big portion of the work, and I spent almost all day on Thursday getting food prepped and packed.

It did not take long for James to get the hang of driving with a camper attached to the back. We pulled into the campground around 3:30 on Friday afternoon, and Mike, Kelly and Ryan arrived about an hour later. Our sites were side by side and we were fortunate to have spacious, shaded sites. We were also fortunate to have great weather - no rain - the entire weekend and although it was hot, the shade kept our sites comfortable.

While most of our meals were cooked and consumed at the camp site, we did enjoy two excellent meals out. On Friday evening, we ate at the Barnside Smokehouse BBQ, which is a fun place with pretty good barbecue. No, the barbecue was not as good as Eastern North Carolina barbecue, but you expected me to say that, didn't you? For lunch on Sunday, we enjoyed food and brews at the Adirondack Pub and Brewery, and brought home a growler of their very tasty Black IPA - a most excellent souvenir.

On Saturday, we hiked Shelving Rock Mountain. Depending on the source material, it is either an easy or a moderate-to-difficult hike; either way, it is 3.4 miles round trip with a 650 foot ascent. The trail follows an old carriage road with a series of switchbacks. I am glad that I was walking those switchbacks rather than riding in a carriage! Along the way, Aidan added a rock to a cairn beside the trail:

At the top of the mountain, we were rewarded with a pretty view of Lake George:
 

As we descended, we met one of the locals:

Like many mountain people, he did not have much to say and since he was well over a yard long, we gave him wide berth.

During the weekend, we spent a lot of time relaxing at the camp site, the boys went swimming in the campground pool and we went for a stroll in "downtown" Lake George. Remember what I said about it being rather touristy? Even with my expectations set low, I was still surprised at the number of tacky souvenir shops and tourist attractions. I saw the outside of Fort William Henry, but with the wax museum, parasails, and All Things Plastic stores cluttering my vision and my thoughts, I couldn't conjure up images of Hawkeye, Cora and the British settlers leaving the fort and walking into the Huron ambush.

We came home tired, dirty and covered with bug bites, and while I will never mistake a camping trip for a vacation, it was fun and a good time was had by all.