Adirondack Road Trip Day 2 - Crocodiles & Bears!
I don’t know what most people think when they hear “Lake Placid,” but two things come to my mind - the Olympics, and man-eating crocodiles thanks to that crazy movie in the 90s which I don’t think I ever saw. Regardless, I was extremely excited about re-entering, or actually finding much civilization in this part of New York. I may be sounding very Long Island or New York City-like to make an ignorant remark like that, but after a couple days in this part of the state I wondered what the main appeal of living in the Adirondacks was other than its natural beauty - which is probably enough of a reason for most people.
So with my full tank of gas I left Essex and started heading west towards Lake Placid. There was something a little disturbing in my mind that I kept getting farther and farther away from home during my trip, and had to constantly remind myself I had work on Tuesday, not in a few weeks. It was already Sunday and there was still plenty to see.
The drive to Lake Placid was breathtaking - that’s actually a good word to explain how I felt driving around the Adirondack Region. Everything about it seemed so wild and natural that it was impossible for me not to fall in love with the place. Nature an man seemed to coexist in some weird but agreeable manner and I was somewhat happy to see untainted natural New York. I took numerous pictures of the area while driving and after a half hour of driving towards Lake Placid I pulled my car to a screeching halt when I saw one of the most intriguing things I had seen during this road trip - a walking trail. I couldn’t pass this opportunity up, and turned my car into the snowy lot nearby and saw a sign that said something to the effect of - “New York State Park Trail - You are entering the wild. Animals live in the wild - be smart!” I thought this was a wonderful way for me to get in the proper mindset for a nature hike as I delved into the wild and made my way onto the trail.
I immediately noticed something different about this walk than any of my previous walks through forests -it was the middle of the winter, and it was freezing. I was wearing a coat, hat, gloves, a scarf, jeans and sneakers. This is far from proper winter attire, and I didn’t really want to freeze to death in the wild, so I allotted myself 30 minutes into the woods and 30 minutes back. I’d spend an hour in the woods so I could see quite a bit and still not freeze to death. I grabbed my camera and was off.
I saw a man walking towards me with his pet dog and I immediately felt reassured that this was a legitimate trail and I’d be fine in the wild. Markers were placed on so many trees that I thought it’d be impossible to get lost, but I’m sure people have managed to stray off a dirt path that clearly doesn’t belong in the middle of the forest. My biggest concern was that I couldn’t see any dirt, only snow, and this could make things complicated if I did manage to lose the trail. However, I kept walking deeper into the woods until I reached a fork in the path.
One path had a triangle sign with a person on a snowboard. This path looked well walked, wide and open. The other path looked like a walking trail, but was much narrower and not nearly as obvious to follow as the snowmobile path. My natural sense of looking for a challenge and adventure directed me towards the walking path - plus I needed something to write about and talk to my friends about other than Westport and Essex. So I headed along the walking path into an even deeper and more ominous part of the woods- it was phenomenal.
The further I ventured on the trail, the quieter things seemed to get and the more acute my senses were becoming. I felt as if I could hear every sound around me - the trees swaying in the wind, branches and leaves causing the wind to whistle. birds chirping, and leaves rustling. I seemed to be the loudest and most unnatural sound with every step I took.
About 15 minutes into this path I felt as if I had reached an entirely different world than the one I had been in before. I was about 30 minutes into my walk and was definitely deep into the woods. Far enough away that I couldn’t just sprint to my car if something happened, but not far enough away that I couldn’t quickly get to my car just in case. My body was acting in ways that I rarely feel. I felt my primal instincts were kicking in, but I didn’t really know why. I was paying attention to everything, and felt this amazing adrenaline rush pour through my body. Then I felt as if something was following me or looking at me. I didn’t know what it was, if it was anything at all, but I looked around and didn’t see anything in the trees - because it was winter, there weren’t any leaves on the trees - but I walked over to a nearby tree and broke off a five foot branch to aid me in my walking. I had myself my first ever walking stick.
I don’t know what made me feel so foolishly secure and safe now that I had a walking stick, but I felt on top of the world, and more importantly on top of the food chain. I thought to myself, man has successfully evolved into the most complex objects on the planet - I can deal with nature. This was a completely asinine feeling to have when you’re alone, deep in the woods, and you’ve lost most feeling in your feet and toes. However this is how I felt with my new walking stick, and I wasn’t letting anybody or anything stopping me from my walk.
Then I heard a bunch of birds fly from a nearby tree which caused more stir and noise than I had heard in the past 20 minutes and I froze. Something was going on around me, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. I was in the woods, in the wild, by myself with a stick I could’ve easily broken in half, and I foolishly felt ready to fight whatever it was that I had sensed for the past ten minutes. I really felt like superman - and it was AWESOME.
Then I took one step forward and I heard the loudest and most threatening growl I had ever heard in my life. I grew up with medium sized dogs, and small dogs, and they would bark a bunch, but they would yip in high pitched noises more than anything. Our cats meowed, pigs squealed, cows moo, horses neigh, and large dogs growl in menacing ways. But this growl dwarfed any other animal sound I had heard anywhere in my life, whether it was at home, at a friends home, a zoo, ANYWHERE! Of course I’ve sen large animals like elephants make very loud noises, but those were just noises more than anything. What I heard in these woods was a threatening and menacing growl that told me one thing, and one thing only - “If you take one more step, whatever you are, you are making the worst decision of your life - so don’t” - or that’s how I interpreted the sound of something that seemed as if it could easily rip off my head and was possibly twice, three times or even larger than that compared to my 170 pound body. I honestly felt that I was possibly in somewhat of a bind - and I’ll admit, I was kind of nervous.
Tags: New York Road Trips, Travel
