Last Wednesday, after rush hour, Debi and I were packed up and driving toward the Adirondack Mountains. The plan was to stay through the weekend and travel back to Long Island on Monday (for the final East Meadow Lacrosse, Fall Clinic). Sunny skies enhanced the spectacular colors of the fall foliage and made the four plus hours, seemingly fly by. Once, off the “Northway” and heading west, we stopped at Oscar’s Smokehouse in Warrensburg, which has an amazing array of meats and other country provisions. Having now sampled their products, I anticipate stopping there pretty much every time I am up that way – the Bacon alone, is reason enough!

Upon arriving at the Condo, we were confused and pleasantly surprised to find the refrigerator working fine! When Karl and Elise were there over the previous weekend, it was not working at all. By the time we got unpacked and settled, we only had time for a short hike. We parked behind the Library in town and began on the Carol Thomas Walking Trail and then connected to the Ski Bowl Loop. Having had a lot of rain the previous couple of days, the water flowing on North Creek was much higher than it had been when I was last up there.

By now, it had become a bit cloudy, but the views from the Ski Bowl Loop were still really nice. Altogether, the roundtrip was probably no more than three and a half miles, and not difficult at all, but it was just about perfect for us, after the drive up. Of particular interest, was the view of Moxham Mountain, which we were considering for a longer, more difficult hike in the future.

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We had gone north, thinking that we would definitely be purchasing, at least a new Refrigerator, and possibly all new Kitchen Appliances (so they would match). But the Refrigerator was working, so now what? All of the Appliances are old (we came to learn that the Refrigerator was made in 1987!) and just because it had miraculously started working again, did not mean that it would continue to do so for much longer. We decided to not decide, at least until the next day.

We woke Thursday morning to frost and a temperature of 31 degrees! I am not a meteorologist, but that is cold enough for snow! We took our time in the morning before deciding that we would go Appliance shopping the next day, so that we could get a good hike in, on this day. We settled on Moxham Mountain which was about twenty minutes away, listed as “Moderate” and five and a half miles, roundtrip. We only encountered a few sets of hikers throughout the day, which had become clearer, though still pretty cold by midway up. There were many beautiful stopping points with fantastic views, along the way, each new one seemed to be better than the last.

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The final ascent was the steepest and we were both a bit fatigued and hungry, but had decided we would not pause again or have lunch, before we reached the summit. It was worth the wait, as the views from the peak were quite spectacular and it was a wonderful place to rest up, fuel up and just enjoy!

It was so nice at the summit, I did not feel like heading back down. But eventually, we began our descent. It always takes less time and energy on the return trip and it provides you with a different perspective on everything you saw on the way up. As we made our way down, we could feel a late afternoon chill in the air. We made it back to the Condo, just in time to bundle up and sit on the deck to enjoy the last rays of sunshine before it disappeared behind Gore Mountain.

Friday was another cold morning, a reminder of what is soon to come. We decided to make the 40 minute drive to Glens Falls, and shop for Appliances – Ugh! I chose Lowe’s, which turned out to be a good choice, as we got great help and were probably out of there in a little more than an hour. Considering all of the “Supply Chain” issues these days, we were happy and a bit surprised that everything was in stock and would be delivered in two weeks We stopped at a couple of Outlet Stores, and for lunch before driving back to North Creek. Though Shopping is never how I would like to spend my time, at least it was a productive day.

The weather was mostly dreary and wet for the remainder of the weekend and we did not really do too much. Come Monday morning, it was time to head for home. You know you have had good trip, when you don’t want to leave and are already looking forward to going back there. Gore is likely to try to open before the end of the month – I can’t wait!