Be sure to check out Part 1 – Maine and the Maine photos. Of course, there’s Adirondacks photos as well.

After spending the week in Camden, Maine, we headed back sort of toward home to spend a week in the Adirondacks. We had spent a week there in 2020 as well, but it seemed like another good spot. This year, instead of heading toward the north end of the region (Long Lake), we stayed further south in Caroga. Once again, we found the wonderful Auskerada Lodge AirBnB. This was down the end of a road, nestled back in the woods. It was wonderfully decorated and had two great screened in porches. One proved perfect for breakfast. It would have been nice to be right on the water but it was a seven or so minute walk down to a dock. Another reason for staying in the area is that Mick, a very good friend from my time in Boston, has a summer home about 10 minute drive from where we stayed.

The drive from Maine didn’t take as long as we expected given the traffic we saw on the way up to Maine, which used some of the same route. We ended up getting there around 5pm, including a stop at the supermarket in Gloversville as there isn’t so much in Caroga itself. We lucked out that it was the last night of the Caroga Lake Music Festival. We ended meeting Mick down at the pavilion, had some great local beer, and heard some great local music. It was a very nice way to start the week.

On Sunday, we met Mick again late in the morning for a hike up Kane Mountain, one of the more popular hikes in the area. It’s only a couple of miles but it was great to be out in the woods. For lunch, we grabbed some sandwiches from the Canada Lake Store which was a small spot but had good sandwiches, a surprisingly good beer selection, and a great bakery next door. After our late lunch, we used the time to relax around the cabin before a dinner in.

On Monday, it was some more hiking, this time to Indian Lake. This was a 4.5 mile hike so a bit longer but it was quite wet in many places. Again, it great to be outdoors. After our hike, we did the loop drive up to Speculator, with a stop for some decent ice cream, and then back though Wells and Benson. All in all a nice way to spend an afternoon. Dinner was once again at the cabin.

On Tuesday we ventured a little further afield, heading down to Saratoga Springs, about an hour east. We spent some time walking around town, including getting some excellent tea, both some leaves for home and some brewed to drink, at Saratoga Tea & Honey Company. For lunch, we headed to Druthers Brewing for some good burgers and good beer. After some more wandering, we headed out of town and stopped at Artisanal Brew Works for some really good beer. While I’m not usually a huge fan of sours, I loved a couple of theirs enough to bring a four pack. After another stop at the supermarket, we headed back to the cabin for the evening, including having a very nice time sitting around the fire.

For Wednesday, it was another day afield. This time we headed down to Little Falls, about 45 minutes southwest of Caroga. Here is Lock 17, the largest lock on the Erie Canal at 40.5 feet. After wandering the area a bit, we had some very tasty pizza at Mangia Marcina’s in an old mill building. After lunch, we stopped for a short walk around the Herkimer Home State Historic Site before stopping at the Dolgeville Bread Basket on the way home. For dinner, Mick and Liz had invited us to their house for a cookout. It was great to hang out him them, have some burgers and beer, and just chat the evening away.

Mick and I had made plans for a decent length hike on Thursday. We met up around 9:00, stopped at the store for some sandwiches and snacks, and then headed about an hour north to Indian Lake, not too far from where we stayed last year, to do the OK Slip Falls hike. It had been quite some time since I’ve done a real hike but given my regular running over the last 18 months or so, I’m up to around 30 miles per week, I was looking forward to it. The hike was quite good. We did all the way down to the Hudson River where we stopped for a lunch and beer break. Overall, the hike totaled 9.5 miles with a couple of good uphill sections. The view of the falls was also very nice. It was good, strenuous walk. On the way back, we stopped at Lemon Tree Brewery in Speculator for a quick fruited sour, perfect after the hike. (Lemon Tree isn’t really a brewery, at least not yet, but had a nice selection of local brews.) After Mick dropped me off at the cabin, we had some dinner and relaxed the rest of the evening.

Friday was yet another hike after a relaxing morning, this time the short 2 mile hike out to Nine Corner Lake. After hanging out at the lake for a bit, we hiked back to the car and ended up back at Mick and Liz’s. We had a nice time just hanging out for a while before Mick headed out to get some take out dinner a spot I can’t remember and then hanging out some more for the evening. I was a really nice way to spend our last evening on vacation.

Overall, both weeks were really nice. It was nice to see my Dad and to catch up with Mick and Liz. Camden was a great as was Caroga. Camden was a bit more active with lots to do while Caroga was more relaxing. It was nice to have the full two weeks away from work. Having two smaller, laid back vacations was nice but we’re really looking forward to our Christmas cruise in December and to our big Baltic Sea cruise next year for a “real” vacation.