Riding the Adirondacks



Eventually I begin to leave the farm area and see signs for Utica. It’s getting close to 7pm and it’s starting to get cold. One mistake I made on this trip was the decision to wear my mesh gear. Any other August that would be the way to go but not this summer, if you can call it a summer. I thought about stopping to add another layer but knew that after Utica I didn’t have much more to go.





Utica reminded me of their Utica Club beer and the beer balls we’d buy when in college. I know the brewery is still there but there’s no time for any tours this year. It was a pretty busy looking place as I suppose it was caught between the end of the commute time plus those making their way out for a Friday night. As I climbed out of Utica, still on rt. 8, my next and last town on my mind was Cold Brook, NY.

Just north of Cold Brook is the Ardirondack Gateway campground. My first criteria in hunting for a camp was price. There was no way I was going to pay more than $20 for a tent site as some do these days. In my searches, this one just gave me the right feeling from their web site and since that’s all I had to go by, I went with it.








This camp is very tucked away and if their 166 acres isn’t enough, there’s also a massive farm next door which gives the impression the campground makes up the entire hillside. As I pull in, a women who’s speaking with two men walks over towards me and says something. As I pull out my ear plugs and apologize for asking her to repeat she says “you look all bundled up there”. I told her “well actually this stuff lets all the wind through so I’m glad I’m here to warm up.”

I explain it’s just me and it’s only for one night. We go into the office which is part gift shop, video rentals, etc. and I pay the $20. She then shows me the map and explains the area so I can pick out a site. She says “you could go down here and be alone but you may not want to go there on the bike”. I asked if cars go there and she said yes. I said “well if cars go there I certainly can with this bike”. She explained how once a guy on a bike pulling a trailer broke the trailer down in there. I assured her this bike can handle it and so I picked the most remote spot I could find. As I descended into the area she sent me I thought this was perfect. I’m many sites away from anyone, there’s running water 30 feet from me, this is it.








The only problem however is there was zero cell coverage and I wanted the phone to be in contact if possible. I walked back to the top and found a nice site but it was getting near a family the owner had mentioned to me. I thought, “how bad could they be, this site looks great, I have running water and an electrical outlet at the empty site next to me. Fresh water, charged cell phone, this is going to be the place.


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