Hiking into Camp Santanoni

Sunday, January 13, 2019
Adirondacks, October, 2018

It’s hard to beat a hot shower, a good burger and a comfortable bed after a week of sleeping on the ground.  It was a wet miserable day, so we headed for Lake Placid and toured around the beautiful, little hamlet for the afternoon.  Justin was getting antsy and I knew he couldn’t do anymore hiking on his bad knee, so I suggested he take my car and drive home.  “I’m pretty sure John will give me a ride home once he gets here,” I said.

He was anxious to get going, so we bid him goodbye and headed back to Blue Mountain to meet John.  He arrived around six and after a dinner at the local (only) tavern, we headed back to the hotel for another night of comfort.  The following morning we headed for Newcomb and the trailhead to Camp Santanoni.  Built by the Pruyn family in the 1890’s, the 15,000 square foot main lodge and many of the outbuildings used by the staff to maintain and farm the property, are maintained by the state and in excellent condition.  It is open year round with the main structure sitting on Newcomb Lake where boating and camping are available.  In fact, the old boat house for the camp currently houses several kayaks and canoes available to the public.

The road in is about a four-mile hike, but it is packed limestone and in excellent shape.  It rises and falls, but is a beautiful hike.  It took us about 90 minutes to hike in since we explored as we hiked, but by the time we reached the main lodge, John’s back was giving him difficulty and he needed to lay down.  I was so happy I had decided that we not continue on the Northville/Placid trail where he would most certainly had been in even worse pain and with no easy way back out.  He confirmed for himself what he was pretty certain of…he’d lost a ton of conditioning over the past couple of years and needed to get really serious about his training if he was to return to the Adirondacks for hiking and climbing in any meaningful way. 

By day’s end, I’d added another 12 miles to my hiking, which brought me to 100 for the week.  I felt very fit and with the exception of the blistering on my hips from the hip pads, I had experienced very manageable difficulties.  Though with the passing of time I may soften my position, for the time being I no longer feel a strong desire to hike several months on any of the long trails in the US.  I am formulating another plan of hiking and biking that would incorporate my personal life’s journey, but for now it’s all about getting my van and myself ready for trips this spring and summer.
Hike: Five hours.
Training Heart Rate: 70-90 bpm.
Calories Burned:  1,750.
Bonus: 25,000 steps