I drafted this post a few months ago and never had a chance to finish it....
Day #1 - 51 Miles
I took a bike tour of the Southern Adirondacks starting at Lake Desolation, NY. The trip was a Thursday thru Saturday to avoid the worst of the summer weekend traffic. We rode gravel bikes and camped out two nights. From Lake Desolation, we headed north to Sacandaga Reservoir and then Northville. There was still a short section of Fox Hill Rd beyond Lake Desolation that was unpaved. However, it was paved several weeks later, so the entire way through is now pavement. From Northville, we headed north on Rte 30, this was the busiest road on out trip. Fortunately, there is a good shoulder and traffic was not too heavy on a Thursday afternoon. We enjoyed a brief quiet ride through the NYSDEC Sacandaga campground and then it was back on Rte 30 for a few more mile to the village of Wells. The ride around Lake Algonquin was quiet and then we headed up to Lake Pleasant via Gilmantown Rd. It was a pretty good climb on a paved road that eventually turned to a soft gravel road, we had to push a bit on the soft gravel climb. There was virtually no traffic until we got into Speculator. We made a quick stop at the Mountain Market and we were off to find a place to camp near Fawn Lake. I had not been to Fawn Lake From the south in a number years. I was surprised to see how wet everything was. It had been a wet summer and the trail was very wet and there was standing water in the woods. We were fortunate to find a relatively dry spot to set up our tents and enjoy a quick swim before dinner.
Day #2 – 67 Miles
The next day was a beautiful morning with loons on the calm lake. We quickly packed up and headed to the west. Traffic was light and we made good time down to Piseco and Rte 10. It was hard to leave Rte 10 that has a great shoulder, no traffic, and nice views, but I planned on riding the Powley-Piseco Rd. I was quickly questioning my plan when we encountered miles of soft gravel. The road has been resurfaced and it has not been packed in yet. We struggled through the soft dirt, but occasional sections of packed road kept us hopeful that that the road conditions would improve. As we pushed south, the sections of hard pack became more frequent and longer. We took nice breaks where the road crosses the East Canada Creek at a couple of different spots. By the time we got to The Potholers, the road upgrades were done and it was a quick ride back to civilization. We had a nice ride across Rte 10A to Caroga Lake. One of the highlights of our ride was a camp road along Canada Lake and London Bridge Road that avoid the busy state highway and got us down to County Rt 112 that we took to Benson. The road to Benson was just beautiful; great pavement, occasional views, and no traffic; it went very quickly. We were hit by showers a couple of times, but they did not last very long. We ended up going to North Hampton to camp for the night, fortunately, they were able to squeeze us in.
Day #3 – 44 Miles
The trip home was uneventful. We went back through Northville and across the bridge. Traffic headed north was busy on a Saturday morning, but traffic was not too heavy headed south. We opted to avoid the climb back up to Lake Desolation and instead headed a little further west to Fayville Rd. My partner for the ride is from Niskayuna, so we parted ways near the former Camp Boy Haven. I had an easy ride back into Saratoga, Broadway was busy with the start of track season.
A few pictures from our trip:
Day #1 - 51 Miles
I took a bike tour of the Southern Adirondacks starting at Lake Desolation, NY. The trip was a Thursday thru Saturday to avoid the worst of the summer weekend traffic. We rode gravel bikes and camped out two nights. From Lake Desolation, we headed north to Sacandaga Reservoir and then Northville. There was still a short section of Fox Hill Rd beyond Lake Desolation that was unpaved. However, it was paved several weeks later, so the entire way through is now pavement. From Northville, we headed north on Rte 30, this was the busiest road on out trip. Fortunately, there is a good shoulder and traffic was not too heavy on a Thursday afternoon. We enjoyed a brief quiet ride through the NYSDEC Sacandaga campground and then it was back on Rte 30 for a few more mile to the village of Wells. The ride around Lake Algonquin was quiet and then we headed up to Lake Pleasant via Gilmantown Rd. It was a pretty good climb on a paved road that eventually turned to a soft gravel road, we had to push a bit on the soft gravel climb. There was virtually no traffic until we got into Speculator. We made a quick stop at the Mountain Market and we were off to find a place to camp near Fawn Lake. I had not been to Fawn Lake From the south in a number years. I was surprised to see how wet everything was. It had been a wet summer and the trail was very wet and there was standing water in the woods. We were fortunate to find a relatively dry spot to set up our tents and enjoy a quick swim before dinner.
Day #2 – 67 Miles
The next day was a beautiful morning with loons on the calm lake. We quickly packed up and headed to the west. Traffic was light and we made good time down to Piseco and Rte 10. It was hard to leave Rte 10 that has a great shoulder, no traffic, and nice views, but I planned on riding the Powley-Piseco Rd. I was quickly questioning my plan when we encountered miles of soft gravel. The road has been resurfaced and it has not been packed in yet. We struggled through the soft dirt, but occasional sections of packed road kept us hopeful that that the road conditions would improve. As we pushed south, the sections of hard pack became more frequent and longer. We took nice breaks where the road crosses the East Canada Creek at a couple of different spots. By the time we got to The Potholers, the road upgrades were done and it was a quick ride back to civilization. We had a nice ride across Rte 10A to Caroga Lake. One of the highlights of our ride was a camp road along Canada Lake and London Bridge Road that avoid the busy state highway and got us down to County Rt 112 that we took to Benson. The road to Benson was just beautiful; great pavement, occasional views, and no traffic; it went very quickly. We were hit by showers a couple of times, but they did not last very long. We ended up going to North Hampton to camp for the night, fortunately, they were able to squeeze us in.
Day #3 – 44 Miles
The trip home was uneventful. We went back through Northville and across the bridge. Traffic headed north was busy on a Saturday morning, but traffic was not too heavy headed south. We opted to avoid the climb back up to Lake Desolation and instead headed a little further west to Fayville Rd. My partner for the ride is from Niskayuna, so we parted ways near the former Camp Boy Haven. I had an easy ride back into Saratoga, Broadway was busy with the start of track season.
A few pictures from our trip:
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