New York, The Adirondacks, and Colder Weather

After leaving Canada near Niagra Falls,  the terrain is getting hillier and the elevation higher as we travel from Canada across New York.  We rode a day on the Erie Canal trail before entering the Adirondack Mountains.  It was likely the last of the flat terrain we will see for the rest of the trip.  The trail is mostly packed gravel, but asphalt in some sections.  It was on one of these asphalt sections while cruising at about 15mph that I hit a rough section of lifted asphalt folds.  Thought I would bounce out of my saddle.  I slowed and we continued more cautiously.

A couple of miles further down the trail a familiar looking older gentleman and younger lady stepped out into the trail in front of us, "Are you from Oregon?" They asked as we rolled to a stop.  "Yes," I replied.  "Is your name Jonathen?," came the next question.  "Ummm, yes..." I answered suddenly very curious as to where this was going and how they knew my name.  "Is this your wallet?"  They held up my black wallet.  Now I knew why they looked familiar.  I had said hello to them on the trail just before the bumpy section.  I had hit the bumps hard enough that my wallet had bounced out of my handlebar bag.  No doubt my eyes were on the road ahead and I had no idea it happened.   They had found my wallet in that area and chased us down in their car in hopes of heading us off to return my wallet.  Wow!  How kind of them and how fortunate for me!  

That night we stayed with a wonderful Warm Showers host near Rochester, New York.  Gretchen Schauss made us a delicious pot roast dinner with potatoes and veggies out of her garden.  She has done several long tours over the years and we enjoyed comparing notes about the places we had all been while touring.  Gretchen made us feel right at home and she was up early in the morning to make us breakfast before we headed out.

Entering the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains we rode through many miles of apple orchards. They were all busy in harvest activity.  I never realized how many apple orchards there were in New York!

It is peak color in the Adirondacks and we are really enjoying seeing the colors as we ride higher.  We took a zero day today in Old Forge at about 1,850 feet elevation due to rain storms moving through.  It was a good day to do bike maintenance in our motel room and rest up for going further into the mountains tomorrow (Friday 10-14).

When we head out tomorrow the temps are forecast to be 31 degrees with a north wind.  We are likely to be camping someplace in Newcomb NY.  All of the NY state campgrounds closed on October 10th and many tourists services are shutting down now.  It will be challenging to find accomdations in the mountains over the next days.  Cell connectivity and wifi availability are also unknown.  It is looking like we will be on the coast in Maine in 6 days or so if the weather permits.

Niagra Falls

Obligatory Falls Photo

The Erie Canal

Bill & Jessica to the rescue!

At the Haus of Gretchen Schauss

Getting Hillier as we head east

Apple Orchards Southeast of Lake Ontario

Moose River Road - Adirondacks

Moose River

Bicycle Maintenance