Northern Tier Day #7 North Hudson, NY to Raquette Lake, NY
Northern Tier Day #7
May 26, 2019
North Hudson, NY to Raquette Lake, NY 63 Miles
Ride Time 6:16
Tour Total 509 Miles
It rained all night long at Jellystone campground in North Hudson. My tent was drenched in the morning, however I managed to stay dry and warm throughout the night. I was thankful that the rain had ended by the time I got up, and felt fortunate to have a picnic table in my campsite to assist packing my things.
My 30’ extension cord came in handy. I ran it into my tent before I went to bed, and charged all my devices. After rolling up my soaking wet tent, I strapped it to the top of my dry bag with my wet shoe covers. Despite all my things being wet, it gives me solace that a month from now when I’m in the high plains of Montana, I’m probably going to miss this moisture.
I saw a sign yesterday saying, “Divide New York State in half. Upstate doesn’t want to live by NYC rules”. I’m sure this is in regards to conservation. Look, it goes both ways. Update politicians blocked the 5¢ grocery bag fee for years, and they involve themselves in NYC rent legislation. Fracking is bad, and all New Yorkers should want to protect our environment.
It’s definitely more of a rural feeling here than Vermont. There’s spotty cell phone service and much greater distances between towns and services. The land seems larger and a little bit more wild. Compared to Vermont, upstate New York is like Kentucky.
About 30 minutes into the ride the sun began to come out. The colors of the trees were various shades of light green mixed with yellow, pink, and white. Visible too were dark blue patches with rock ledges jutting out. It was so beautiful! I passed a lot of rushing, roaring, frothy streams.
I felt like a glutton last night. It was a good sized pizza with a thick crust, and I finished it all. The music from the disco got loud and I was cold sitting out on the back porch by the camp store, so I finished my blog post from inside the fluorescent lit laundromat. I managed to get it posted on one bar. Before I went to bed, Yogi the Bear made an appearance in the campground disco. Throughout the night I could hear the nearby NY thruway.
Blue Ridge Road was one massive climb that brought me up into the Adirondacks. I climbed straight up an endless hill with no switchbacks. It was a never-ending straight incline that lasted for miles and went on for over an hour. As I watched the wet pavement evaporate, I wondered how long it would take for my tent to do the same if I laid it in the middle of the road. I’m positive that moisture had added at least 4 pounds to the weight of my tent. In the middle of what felt like the longest hill in the world, I stopped to remove my sweater, put on some sunscreen, and munch some awesome granola that Charlotte had made for me.
The weather forecast called for sunny skies all day, but there were definitely dark clouds on the horizon. After I removed my sweater and applied the sunscreen the sun went away. I don’t know how many miles this hill was but I climbed it forever. I finally got to the top, and I was rewarded a short down hill. After the big climb, the rest of the day continued to offer more ups and downs. I passed numerous recently downed trees that had been saw cut at the shoulder. Some branches even extended out into the shoulder.
On the other side of who knows how many hills, it was sunny again but the pavement was still wet. It was time for the sun to evaporate the moisture all over again. I started to get hot and thought about changing into my short sleeve jersey. However, whenever I stopped I found myself in a cloud of black flies. I could barely keep ahead of them on the uphill
I finally left Blue Ridge Road and found myself on state Route 28N, also known as the Roosevelt Marcy trail. Heading west on 28N I definitely noticed more traffic. It was oddly reassuring to see familiar New York license plates. Newcomb, population 436, is the heart of the Adirondacks. The problem is that it lacks services. I had climbed that huge hill and still hadn’t eaten breakfast. There were no stores nor restaurants- nothing.
The black flies were nasty. I saw a man mowing his lawn with a bug net on his head. The only good thing about a headwind is that there are no bugs. I passed the source of the Hudson River, also known as the North River. There was a large raft and canoe rental outfitter that also had mountain bikes for rent.
I saw a gray wolf run across the road in front of me. First I thought it was a deer but it’s gate was more similar to a dog. It was too large to be a coyote. I passed another smashed turtle, and I swallowed a lot of bugs.
Now that I was back in New York State the recent incident returned to the back of my mind. I just needed to slip out the other side into Pennsylvania and deal with it when I got back to Brooklyn. Exactly one year ago I started my Trans Am tour from Yorktown Virginia with Steve H and Steven G. I was so psyched to be doing my second cross country tour.
There are two types of guard rails on New York State highways. There’s the braided galvanized steel cable, three of them in parallel supported by 3” I-beam posts every 12 feet. The second type is 6” square tubing hung 3 feet off the ground again supported by 3” I-beam posts every 12 feet. I saw signs cautioning me about Amish horse and buggies. It was Sunday, which perhaps had something to do with their absence.
I stopped at Hoss’s store in Long Lake. I used to camp at nearby at Tupper Lake with my upstairs neighbors, the Kono’s. Hoss’s was always our first stop. The ice cream stand across the street is now called 'The Park'. I had a hamburger and enjoyed two bar service.
After lunch I laid out my tent in the sun to let it dry. I talked to my mom and called Charlotte. I also uploaded photos that I couldn’t get up the night before. There were many garage sales today. I noticed camps along Long Lake with boat access, stacks of canoes, and fishing access.
I was treated to Adirondack streams, bogs, black flies, pine trees, scrub and low-hanging puffy clouds. I’m looking forward to bringing back my farmer tan from last summer. It never completely went away on my legs, which are already now covered with scratches and bug bites. I can’t wait to have the tan back in full effect.
I stopped at the gas station in Blue Mountain Lake and got myself some Gatorade. It was was windy riding around Blue Mountain Lake. I gave myself a couple of good sprays to deal with the blackfly problem. So far I really like my new strategy- an aerosol can of Deepwoods OFF. I can spray myself anywhere very quickly and it doesn’t leak all over the inside of my pannier.
I saw two more wild turkey hens, and hit 500 on my odometer, which means that my tour is one ninth finished, and I’ve got eight more weeks to go. I could smell campfire smoke as I rode towards Raquette Lake where my Warm Showers hosts were waiting for me. Liz & Mark had hosted Heath a couple days ago. Liz signed up to be a host after her cousin’s son did a cross country bike tour a few years ago. Their beautiful house sits at the end of a point jutting out into the lake. Mark’s grandfather built the house. Originally from Finland, he worked in the area as a guide. As the lake developed, He built the house and adjoining cabins. This being the ridiculously small world that it is, Andy from the TransGang stayed with Liz & Mark last year. They cooked me hot dogs and burgers and we drank beer by a fire lakeside. I pitched my tent right next to their house.
"...New York is more like Kentucky." Ha, not something you're likely to hear around here :-) Had the memory on my FB page pop up yesterday with the pic of me, you, and Stephen with our back tires in the water in Yorktown last year.
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