Wow. We had an amazing time.
Originally, we had anticipated that our next visit to
White Pine Camp would be this summer with a group of friends and family members. While that trip is definitely on, we also ended up making an early spring trip to the US, and took that opportunity to spend four nights at
White Pine Camp. Our desire was to spend the four nights in
President's Cabin, but someone beat us to it for the first night, so we started out in
White Pine Camp's most basic accommodation:
Osgood. The innkeeper was kind enough to let us move into
President's the second night. For the duration of our stay, we were the only paying guests except for the ones in
President's the first evening. It was an honor, privilege and thrill for us - to have the feeling that for three nights,
White Pine Camp was basically ours alone. With all of the challenges we have faced in the beginning of this year, that was the perfect treat.
Our Accommodations
Osgood is the only cabin that has a common sleeping/living/dining area and the only one that neither has a fireplace nor a gas fireplace nor a wood burning stove. Considering the time of year of our visit, the latter was of particular interest. Since we were confirmed for what is arguably the most fancy accommodation at Camp for the last three nights (at least among those available in the Winter / early Spring months), we decided to spend our first night in the simplest space available. We are already familiar with "the lodge building" where
Osgood is located, because we have previously stayed in
Guides and
Mrs. Otis. So, we felt at home immediately upon arrival. We would have been happy to have settled into
Osgood but for the missing Fireplace. That and the extra room is nice for letting the wife get a few more winks of sleep when the husband is on his feet at some inhuman time of day.
President's is a point of pride and historical relevance for
White Pine Camp because this is where then sitting president
Calvin Coolidge spent his summer vacation in 1926, thus giving White Pine Camp bragging rights to name itself a "
Summer White House." While it is indeed interesting to have such a brush with history, the real draw of
President's for us was the large and luscious fireplace. We enjoyed lighting a fire each evening, but we were pretty much tuckered out from so much physical exertion each day that we dozed off pretty quickly in front of it. For the two of us, the cabin really offered the luxury of space: a bedroom probably as large as our own bedroom and study combined, bathroom with a claw foot bathtub, a well appointed galley kitchen, and a large living and dining room that spanned the depth of the house, overlooking Osgood Pond on the one side (as did our bedroom) and the central courtyard of the camp on the other.
So, in total, we have stayed in four different cabins at
White Pine Camp:
Guides,
Mrs. Otis,
Osgood and
President's. During our summer visit, our group will occupy
Gate Cottage,
Gardner's Cottage and
Kirkwood. So by then, we or members of our group will have stayed in half of the cabins at camp. And, I have been inside the majority of the cabins at one time or another by now. My feeling is that there is no bad cabin at camp, each has it's own unique features and they are lovingly furnished in Adirondack Style furniture and are all well equipped with thoughtful details. They are all rustic. I have read a few online comments about cabins showing signs of wear and tear. For me, that is very much a feature, and not a defect. It is such a pleasure to stay in a cabin that is over 100 years old, lovingly maintained with a sense of preservation. The worst thing imaginable would be to modernize the place into the form of a major chain hotel. When it is 0° Fahrenheit outside, I expect there to be a draft. The heating works fine, thank you very much, and what is better than a little draft to really appreciate that roaring fire in the fireplace.
White Pine Camp does a great job everywhere that it counts: bed, bedding, fluffy towels, a well equipped kitchen and all the basic consumables you will need in the kitchen and bath. As this was the first time we were in a cabin with a bathtub, we took note of the fact that they even thought about supplying bubble bath. Oh, and the pine scented hand soap and shower gel was a nice touch as well.
The Timing: On The Heels of the Arctic Spell
We stayed from 22-26 March, which I think is pretty much the in-between season in the Adirondacks. Winter is technically over, so typical visitors to camp probably don't have their minds on making a jaunt out for winter activities, and it is a time of year where you can be greeted by just about any kind of weather. The Innkeeper proudly informed us that they had "broken out of [their] arctic spell," meaning 48 consecutive days where the mercury hit 0° some time during the day or night. For those who don't speak Fahrenheit, we are talking about just a tad above -18° Celsius. That sounded promising enough. Still, I had this strange fascination about spending time outdoors at this temperature, as I hadn't experienced such a temperature in a
very long time, much less make a point of spending an extended period of time out and around in it. As it turned out, mother nature obliged my fantasy.
The first morning, we did indeed wake up to 0° temperatures. Thankfully, we came well prepared; we had stocked up on lots of high-tech thermal, moisture-wicking, multi-layered, windproof, water-resistant warmth. Still, I had a few moments of wondering if this outing was really going to be such a good idea. Actually, it was.
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Image from adirondack.net. Note, the actual temperatures
we experienced were cooler than what is indicated on this table! |
Our First Outing: The VIC
Our first full day was the coldest, but sunny throughout ... and windy. We packed two pairs of snowshoes into the car and headed to nearby
Paul Smith's Visitor Information center (VIC). The
VIC charges a nominal fee to access trails and has snowshoes available to rent, but as guests of
White Pine Camp, we got free passes in addition to being setup with snowshoes. Snowshoes are the latest addition to the
White Pine Camp inventory, and they plan on expanding on this with cross country skis and ice skates.
Once at the
VIC, we were greeted by really pleasant volunteers. And, when asked where we came from, the guy at the counter directly switched over to German. As it turns out, this guy just happens to be
Ed Kanze's next door neighbor. He introduced us to another volunteer who gave us some recommendations for snowshoeing at the
VIC. And, this other guy and I also have someone in common. He purchased a canoe trailer from Joe Reiners Jr., the director of
Adirondack Swim and Trip Camp,
where I spent a quite a number of summers as a kid. So, by the time we hit the trail, I started to have a feeling that I was a part of the neighborhood myself.
We took the Heron Marsh Trail to where it met up with the Jenkins Mountain Trail and then stopped for a quick bite of lunch at the gazebo. It was amazing to experience how much heat our bodies generated while snowshoeing. We cooled down really quickly during lunch, so we were quite motivated to continue on without delay. We then took the Boreal Life Trail loop to the outlook tower and returned to the
VIC. The trails were snow-covered and crispy-cold. The surface was hard as it wasn't powder snow, but a dusting over an icy crust. It was so cold that each step made a sort of crunchy-squeeky sound, vaguely akin to walking on styrofoam. Oh, and did I mention it was cold out? The air was quite dry, so it was actually a comfortable cold, if that makes any sense. We were careful to expose as little skin as possible. The vapor in my breath froze my scarf in the form of my chin and formed ice crystals on my eyelashes. When we stopped on the trail, it was s i l e n t. The only thing we heard was the wind whistling through the trees. There was
no one on the trail. We neither saw nor heard another living soul before lunch, and we crossed one or perhaps two people in the afternoon. As much as I enjoy interacting with the people we meet in the Adirondacks, it is such a treasure to be in a place of such pristine beauty and not see another living soul for miles and hours on end. I am guessing, but I think that we snowshoed a little bit over four miles.
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| Heron Marsh |
Back at Camp: Exploring Osgood Pond on Snowshoes
Even after trekking around the
VIC, we were still in for more. So, upon returning to
White Pine Camp, we spent the afternoon snowshoeing
across Osgood Pond. My wife was a tad nervous about this, at first, imagining the possibility of us breaking through the ice. Apparently however, the ice was about three feet (1m) thick and stable enough to safely carry the weight of a truck. We must have spent more than an hour crisscrossing the pond, taking in the sights. It was a strange and enjoyable feeling to walk instead of paddle across Osgood Pond. After the twin outings, we returned for dinner in our cabin and an evening in front of that luscious fireplace.
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| View of Mt. St. Regis, taken from the frozen surface of Osgood Pond |
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| This picture of the iconic Tea House conceals the fact that it is located on a small island. |
After our first day on snowshoes, we were hooked.
From Relaxation to the Next Challenge
Following a longstanding formula, we planned our next day's activities to be a bit less physically demanding. We started out taking advantage of another special
White Pine Camp offer: a free Whiteface Mountain "
Winter Passport." We took the ride up to the summit of Little Whiteface on the Cloudsplitter Gondola and got breathtaking views of the high peaks from our vantage point. It was another picture-postcard-perfect day.
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| "Cloudsplitter Gondola" ascent to Little Whiteface |
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| Panoramic view from Little Whiteface |
From there, we decided to continue on to the Olympic Jumping Complex, which would include an elevator ride up the 120m jump tower. As it turns out however, at least at this time of year, it is only open from Thursday to Sunday. We decided to forego some of the other attractions covered by the "
Winter Passport," including the Lake Placid Olympic Museum, the Olympic Speed Skating Oval and the bobsled/luge/skeleton track.
Now early afternoon, we started to think some more about how to spend the rest of the day. Once again, we had a beautiful sunshine filled day, and it became increasingly mild as the day progressed. By the time we got to the village of Saranc Lake, I couldn't resist embarking on another snowshoe adventure. This time, our destination was something a bit more challenging, our first snow covered mountain trek to the peak of Baker Mountain.
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| On the Baker Mountain Trail |
According to the
Saranac Lake 6er trail description, the round trip distance to the peak is 1.8 miles. Just after clearing the trailhead register we ran into a familiar face: the innkeeper, who was just returning from the summit, out with his dog. The Adirondacks certainly is a village.
Baker mountain has what is called a "lollipop trail" meaning that there is a single path leading to the mountain which continues in a loop to the summit then returns via a different route to main path. One part of the loop trail is steeper and shorter and the other is longer but more gentle. We made our ascent via the steeper trail and soon came to realize that what was manageable for the ascent could quite possibly be too steep for our snowshoeing skill level for the decent. That meant the only way down was via the summit … and we had a heightened sense of anticipation as to how long it would take us and what kind of terrain was waiting for us on the other side of the mountain. Meanwhile, the shadows became longer. On top of that, we pretty much doubled our hiking distance by not starting at the trailhead, but from the Saranac Lake visitor's center parking lot, a well intended recommendation made to us there. On the last leg of our journey - returning via the trail extension - I was feeling the trail in my legs and feet and began to develop a mild sense of aggression toward that nice lady at the visitor center.
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| We made it |
The increasingly mild temperatures gave us a softer, very slightly slushy snow on the trail, and early on in the hike I had shed all of my outer layers and was left in a T-Shirt and an open button-down.
Once we returned to the village, I had to take a closer look at the remains of the fabled Saranac Lake ice palace. The village has a
winter carnival that goes back over 100 years, and its focal point is an elaborate ice palace. While the weather remained sufficiently cold to maintain the palace until our visit, due to insurance limitations, it was already reduced to a pile of ice blocks by the time we got to town.
As it turned out, we ended up exerting a lot more physical effort on our second day out than we had originally planned - but it was well rewarded. I was looking forward to wrapping up another splendid day with one more reward, a trip to my favorite local restaurant, the
Red Fox. This lead us to the first of two minor disappointments during our stay …
As it was, the
Red Fox was a consideration on the evening of our arrival. Our inbound route took us right past their doorstep. I am guessing it was round about 6:00 at the time. I checked in to see if we would be able to get a table - "yes" but they were only open until 8:00. I was undeterred at first, but quickly came to realize that it wasn't going to happen, as we still needed to check in, unload and do some grocery shopping. At the time I thought: we are here for four nights, we'll have our dinner there yet. So I thought.
Undaunted, I was determined to find an alternate destination for my Prime Rib dinner, and my wife had her sights set on Lobster Tails. Our extra effort was rewarded when we found the
Great Adirondack Steak and Seafood Restaurant, with its own onsite microbrewery. While I had my choice of three different sized portions of Prime Rib, Lobster
Tails were not on the menu, so my wife had to graduate to eating an entire lobster. We were not disappointed.
And the sun went on hiatus …
The day of our arrival and the first two days of our trip were marked by nonstop sunshine and starlit nights. I didn't get to see much of the stars though, as we pretty much consumed all of our available energy during the daylight hours. I can tell you from previous experiences that this corner of the Adirondacks is terrific for stargazing as it is very dark, since there is a notable lack of light pollution.
Our third and final full day started out with
some sunshine, but we were starting to get some rain as well, and pools of water collected on the surface of the ice-covered Osgood Pond. We made a leisurely start of it, with a pancake and sausage breakfast (the wheat free pancake mix was a success), and puttered around the house a bit.
Later, we explored a few villages by car and stopped by at the
VIC to sign up for an evening activity, their "
owl prowl." Well, that lead us to the second of our mild disappointments. The evening event was subject to weather conditions, which became increasingly rainy as the day wore on, and the event was cancelled. The dark skies did have a silver lining though as they provided us with possibly one of the most dramatic skies that I have ever seen. If someone was going to orchestrate the scene for the end of the world, they quite possibly could use the sky we saw as their guide.
It was jaw dropping fascinating, and we were magnetically drawn back out over Osgood Pond to get a good look at it. We made a looping path from the "new" boathouse to the bowling alley where we played pool and watched the storm roll in. In retrospect, the weather played a symphony for us, showing such depth of character and breadth of mood. It was wonderful to experience the Adirondacks in such varying cinematography and it underlined to me what a gift each day had been.
