The Adirondack Mountains are not technically a part of the Appalachian Mountains. Instead, they are more closely related to the Laurentian Mountains of Ontario and Quebec. As such, they are much more ancient in origin, dating back to the Pre-Cambrian more than 500 million years ago. Many of the high peaks near Lake Placid rise above 4,000 feet with the highest peak being Mount Marcy at 5,300 feet. The Adirondacks have only a few peaks with small alpine ecosystems above treeline.
While we were in the High Peaks area, the weather was very cloudy. So, we were unable to see any of the High Peaks. The cloudline hovered around 3,000 feet, so for the most part, all we could see was about where the colorful deciduous hardwoods transitioned into the evergreen conifers.
There is a developed summit area on 4800 foot Whiteface Mountain that you can drive to for expansive views of Northern New York, but alas there was no point with the heavy cloud cover.
Despite the cloud cover, the fall colors were outstanding. The best we'd ever seen!
One day we decided to take a hike to one of the many lakes that dot the landscape. We hiked out to Owens Pond. The trail started next to the Au Sable River on NY-86. Then it heads into a nice deciduous hardwood forest with eastern hemlocks mixed in.
Along the way we encountered this beaver area
Not far down the trail we arrived at Owens Pond
This tranquil place was a great place to soak it in
Hilina had a great time playing with the rocks and dipping her fingers into the water
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