When I was a small boy my family visited Ausable Chasm, the “Little Grand Canyon of the East.” The 2 mile long sandstone gorge begins at Rainbow Falls and eventually empties into Lake Champlain. My mother tells the story of my brother Mark who crawled under the railing to drop leaves into the chasm and how she snatched him back from the edge of the cliff. Only now can I appreciate how terrifying that must have been. Jeanine and I got an early start and took the ferry from Vermont to New York arriving ahead of the Memorial Day weekend crowds.

The Pink Lady Slipper orchid below is one of two Jeanine spotted while hiking along the chasm trails. They have become very rare in this part of the world. After completing the gorge trails we ventured upstream to investigate Rainbow Falls.

In the afternoon we visited Lake Placid, home to the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics and one of the more pristine lakes in the Adirondack Mountains. A boat tour of the area provided a wealth of information about the lake and close views of the “summer camps” of the rich and famous who flock here during the warmer months.

Jeanine located a primitive campground adjacent to Taylor Pond where we enjoyed my rudimentary camp cooking, a nice fire, and the company of three loons.