On the 2nd day of our camping trip, we drove up Whiteface Veteran's Memorial Highway near Lake Placid. It was a two-hour drive north from our campsite but it was so, so, so worth it.
Oh, there's also a fee to drive up to the castle (yes, there's a castle)--for the six of us it was $45--but boy, it was $45 well-spent.
This was unique because you can drive all the way up near the peak of the mountain and then take the elevator or the walkway to the top.
The road was quite difficult to drive up in. Thankfully it was paved and had barriers, but some parts of the road were quite uneven and bumpy.
Pretty awesome once you see the road from the top. It's like "we drove up THAT?!"
Mr. Grasshopper chilling on the rock.
Whiteface Mountain is 4867 ft high. At the peak, there is a restaurant, gift shop, and an elevator carved into the mountains. The road was dedicated by Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt (he became president later on) in 1929 and completed in 1936 (source: Whiteface.com).
My parents took the elevator but the four of us elected to take the walkway. At first it was quite normal but got rougher on the way up.
I believe this is Lake Placid.
This was the roof of the visitor building near the parking lot. The bottom of the elevator is in there.
As you can see the walkway "escalated quickly" to something very rough and tricky. It didn't help that I wore Crocs. Apparently slip-resistant footwear is required. Too bad we didn't know that before.
It was a pretty amazing experience though. The view was just fantastic and surreal.
It was a 180 degree panoramic view from the walkway.
Those steel barriers were the only thing separating us from the edge of the mountain.
I was panting when I got to the top. I took this shot from one of the drainage holes in the stone barrier.
I'm not sure how that person got down there, but man it was amazing.
The door to paradise.
360 degree panoramic view from the peak. No barriers separating us from wandering off to the edges (or falling off for that matter). It was refreshing to have that kind of freedom.
Mi dad.
Lake Placid again from the peak. It's quite distinct.
I never thought I would be able to see something like this just six hours away from my home.
This guy was sitting on the rocks and it made the perfect picture.
Here's the top of the castle. It houses the elevator.
One of my favourite pictures.
Hi there doggie~her name is Mishka (sp?). She's a rescue dog.
I asked this nice lady if I could take a picture of them both. She agreed :)
Photocred to my lil' brother. It took him a lot of tries.
A nice lady offered to take a picture of all of us.
Some kind of moss or fungus that thrives up here. I like the colour.
Woot woot.
The tunnel on the way down from the elevator.
I wouldn't mind waking up to this everyday
Pretty amazing how those flowers can live up here.
This guy biked all the way up here. My legs would fall off if I was him. The way down must be really fun though.
Another one of my favourites. I liked how it was staring right at the camera.
A nice view of the clouds from the side of the highway.
I never thought I could see mountains on the east coast. This place blew me away. It was so accessible and you have the freedom to explore the peak as much as you wanted.Though not as dramatic as the views at Glacier Point in Yosemite, it was still amazing in its own way. I highly recommend visiting that place if you're ever in upstate NY. I hope you enjoyed the photos from the trip. It was a perfect getaway before school starts again. I'll see you again on the next adventure!
-e.m.
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