After a gorgeous morning at Niagara Falls, we drove through upstate New York towards Camp. Readers from the East Coast might know that a Camp is not necessarily the kind that your parents send you to every summer. A Camp is a sort of family retreat. My grandparents bought Camp back when my mom was in high school and they have been spending their summers there ever since I can remember. My family would spend about 2 weeks a summer at Camp during my childhood, and it seemed no matter where in the country we moved, Camp was always our touchstone.
Camp has all the toys you could ask for: speedboat, rowboat, canoes, kayaks, a little Sunfish sailboat, waterskis, fishing gear, ping-pong table (more on that later!), and bikes, with hiking, tennis, and golf just down the road. While we were there, Tom was at the end of his training for a sprint-distance triathlon in Nantucket. He swam across the lake (I was his spotter from the rowboat), then we biked about 12 1/2 miles through beautiful mountain back roads, and then a short run up and down the lake road.
We also hiked Peaked Mountain with my mom. We thought we had picked a relatively easy and enjoyable hike, but it turned out to be much longer than we anticipated! We actually ran into 2 other groups that were heading back because they thought they were on the wrong trail due to the fact that they had been hiking a few hours and had yet to start ascending. We ended up at a beautiful pond with a great spot for lunch. The actual peak was just past that. We often joke about the difference between East Coast hiking and West Coast hiking - there are very few, if any, switchbacks on East Coast trails, they just go straight up the gut! This trail was no exception. It was a gorgeous day and we could see the river we had hiked along all the way to the pond. It was a very cool landscape with lots of beaver dams, grassland, young forest growth, and dense brush/marshland.
Back at the homestead, Tom was able to help out my grandfather with a list of fix-it jobs. They spent a few days chopping trees, clearing bogs from the boat launch, sweeping leaves and debris off the roof (!!), and even built a new ping-pong table. We spent some time learning how to skull with my mom and grandmother. They (along with my grandfather) had taken classes and had just bought a new (used) single skull with a red hull which they named the Winnie Lee. It was so much fun to take out in the morning when the lake was nice and calm.
It was such a great few days with perfect weather, delicious food, and people we love! We can't wait to head back again next summer.
Camp has all the toys you could ask for: speedboat, rowboat, canoes, kayaks, a little Sunfish sailboat, waterskis, fishing gear, ping-pong table (more on that later!), and bikes, with hiking, tennis, and golf just down the road. While we were there, Tom was at the end of his training for a sprint-distance triathlon in Nantucket. He swam across the lake (I was his spotter from the rowboat), then we biked about 12 1/2 miles through beautiful mountain back roads, and then a short run up and down the lake road.
We also hiked Peaked Mountain with my mom. We thought we had picked a relatively easy and enjoyable hike, but it turned out to be much longer than we anticipated! We actually ran into 2 other groups that were heading back because they thought they were on the wrong trail due to the fact that they had been hiking a few hours and had yet to start ascending. We ended up at a beautiful pond with a great spot for lunch. The actual peak was just past that. We often joke about the difference between East Coast hiking and West Coast hiking - there are very few, if any, switchbacks on East Coast trails, they just go straight up the gut! This trail was no exception. It was a gorgeous day and we could see the river we had hiked along all the way to the pond. It was a very cool landscape with lots of beaver dams, grassland, young forest growth, and dense brush/marshland.
Back at the homestead, Tom was able to help out my grandfather with a list of fix-it jobs. They spent a few days chopping trees, clearing bogs from the boat launch, sweeping leaves and debris off the roof (!!), and even built a new ping-pong table. We spent some time learning how to skull with my mom and grandmother. They (along with my grandfather) had taken classes and had just bought a new (used) single skull with a red hull which they named the Winnie Lee. It was so much fun to take out in the morning when the lake was nice and calm.
It was such a great few days with perfect weather, delicious food, and people we love! We can't wait to head back again next summer.
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