We are seriously considering this tour.
Could Jan or someone else who has taken it . . . . . and has a good memory, is not directionally challenged, and familiar with maps (Googlemaps or Mapquest, etc.) . . .
please answer two questions about the route taken through the Adirondacks?
1. After the stay at Lake Placid, does the bus head (a) east to I-87 (Adirondack Northway) before heading south, then west on SR-8/28 to the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake?
or
(b) slightly northwest from Lake Placid on SR-86 to the town of Saranac Lake before arcing south on SR-3 to the town of Tupper Lake, then via SR-30 to the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake?
2. The shape of the route on the basic map here and the itinerary description hint ("A drive through the region’s beauties ends at Blue Mountain Lake") to the more desirable (b).
If so, are there any vista or restroom stops enroute to Blue Mountain Lake?
When I was a kid (eons ago!!) my family spent several weeks each summer traveling around, camping, and boating in the Adirondacks- Our favorite spots were right on the water at Fish Creek Pond Campground which connects to and is just west of Upper Saranac Lake, and also on the islands of Lake George. After launching our boat at Bolton Landing, we would pass the Sagamore Hotel during each of the two trips it would take to haul our tent and all the camping gear to one of the many State-run island campsites on lake George. It has been many years since I traveled through this beautiful, unspoiled area with my wife.
FYI, though it certainly wasn't in the 19th century, tourism was still big at the Ausable Chasm when I went there during one of our Adirondack family vacations in the 1950's and 60's. We took a white-water trip on the Ausable River through the narrow chasm, but it was in an extremely heavy wooden (and beat up?) boat, instead of one of the inflatable rafts they use today. Those who wanted to stay dry and were less "adventurous" (? Depends on your opinion of the condition of the old steel walkway that clung to near vertical rock walls of the chasm, only a short distance above the water) could take the walkway through the narrow section. I'm sure the original walkway rusted away years ago, since they only offer a "rim walk" now.
