Tag: Travel with kids

When driving the Going-To-The-Sun Road you want to head out early for great light and views without the crowds. The parking lot at Logan’s Pass fills up very early. If it’s full on your drive over in the morning, try to aim for 5pm or later on the way back over and you will probably be able to find a spot. Plan for a full day to explore the road as there are hikes all along the route as well as pull offs and some picnic spots near the bottom on the West side.

There are lots of pull offs along the road to stop and take in the views which we appreciated. The road is narrow and winding so you are not able to take trailers or vehicles that are wider than 8ft or longer than 21ft. If you have a truck where you can fold in mirrors you will find that at certain points you will have to fold them in when passing vehicles going in the other direction.

Once on the other side of the park our first stop was Sacred Dancing Cascade which is a pull off with a very short boardwalk/path to see the falls.

We took being on the West side of the park as an opportunity to stock up on a few grocery items and drove over to Kalispell as we knew we were going to be camping on the West side later in the week and would have time to explore this side of the park.

After a picnic lunch of grocery pick up we started making our way back up over Going-to-The-Sun Road. We had noted a few spots we wanted to stop on the drive over.

There are lots of waterfalls all along the road which are pretty neat to see. Note how low the barriers are along the road, which meant our oldest was too nervous to get out and look at some of the pull offs.

When we reached Logan’s Pass some of the parking spots were starting to open up so we lucked out. Since the sun doesn’t set until quite late we decided we would take the hike to Hidden Lake. This hike is for a large part a boardwalk and stairs to protect the surrounding landscape. The hike is 3 miles with an elevation gain of 500 feet. The trail is fully exposed so, this is best done early morning or early evening and make sure to have water with you.

Watch for mountain goats along this trail as this is their habitat and they will stroll right across the path. Make sure to give them as much room as possible when you see them coming as they are wild animals. We also saw California ground squirrels and a marmot.

Our youngest loved spotting all of the wildflowers along the trail.

This is a beautiful trail and the views are stunning the entire way. We couldn’t believe that we were here and that this was real.

When you reach Hidden Lake there is a viewing platform and this tends to be a busier spot on the trail. The trail continues on if you wish to do more hiking. When we were there, people coming from that portion of the trail warned of bears, so we decided that was as far as we would go.

Once we got back to the parking lot the visitor centre at Logan’s Pass was closing up. Being that it was getting fairly late it was time to keep heading back to our camp site.

At this time of the evening the road was much quieter. We lucked out and saw a black bear on the side of the road on our drive back down. As always, keep your distance and leave the animals alone. There was a family in a vehicle in front of us on the road that were harassing this bear. I pulled out my zoom lens and took this photo from a distance.

Being that it was quiet, it was a great time to stop at the Jackson Glacier pull off so the kids could see the shrinking glacier and get a sense of how quickly glaciers are disappearing.

We then headed home to get a good night’s sleep as we had planned to join a full day ranger led hike the next day. This campground is very open and does get quite windy in the afternoon, early evening. This area of the park sustained a forest fire in 2003 and as such there aren’t any big trees yet. Some of the sites appeared to be a bit more private that others. These are small pull through sites with no hook ups.

If you are visiting the park in June, it is best to check the road conditions to find out if Going-to-the-Sun rd has opened yet. The road typically opens late June and remains open until Thanksgiving, this however is all weather dependent.

Have you driven the Going-to-the-Sun road? If you have driven this road, what were your favourite stops or hikes?

Don’t forget to come back each week for more details of our trip.

If you missed the previous posts, you can find them here:

Day 1 – Ge tting our Bearings in St Mary’s

Day 2 – Waterfalls and a boat tour on the East side of the park

Day 4 – Full day ranger led hike to Iceberg Lake

Day 5 – Quiet day exploring the west side of the park

Day 6 – Ranger led hike to Avalanche Lake

Day 7 – Family fun at Whitefish Mountain

Day 8 – Hungry Horse Dam

Day 9 – Two Medicine Valley

Glacier National Park Day 2 – Waterfalls and a Boat Tour

By coachkatye

On January 27, 2020

In Camping/Road Trip Adventure, Glacier National Park

The kids were up early and raring to go for our first full day in the park. We were hoping to get in a couple ranger guided hikes to waterfalls.

Since we were up so early it gave us a chance to take our time and pull off at the scenic lookouts on our way to our first hike.

The first hike we joined was the hike to Baring Falls. This is an easy child friendly hike that is 2 miles with a 400 ft elevation gain. This trail follows along the lake for a portion as well as through a burn site from a forest fire that happened in this area in 2003.

This would be a quick hike if you did this on your own, but with the ranger it was a couple hours due to stopping to tell us stories of the parks history. It was neat to hear about the huts and accommodations that had been located in this area and see the photos. Once we got to the falls then we were left to do our own thing and hike back at our own pace.

Since this hike was short enough we had time to head back to camp for lunch and to refill water bottles before we needed to be at the dock for our ranger led boat tour of St Mary’s Lake. One our way back to our campsite we lucked out and saw a young grizzly in the distance at Two Dog Flats. We pulled over, I put on my zoom lens and was able to capture a shot while the kids watched through their binoculars from their seats.

There are three ways to access St Mary’s Falls. You can take the boat tour of the lake which will cut off part of the hike, you can hike from the Baring Falls trail head or hike from the St Mary’s Fall trail head. The Baring Falls and St Mary’s Falls trailheads are located along the Going-to-The-Sun Road. If you choose the boat tour option you can join a ranger led hike to the falls and you will cover 3 miles with an elevation gain of 250 ft, making this a great option with young children. If you hike from the St Mary Falls trail head , the hike is 5.2 miles with a total elevation gain of 700 feet.

During the boat tour of the lake, the ranger told us stories and information about the park and the surrounding area, as well as answering any questions anyone had about the park. There is the option to sit outside at the rear of the boat or inside the boat.

Throughout the hike you travel through burn site and see varying landscape. Part of the trail is along a cliff over the lake. We had a great ranger for this hike who really engaged the kids and kept it interesting.

At the waterfalls, we were given a bit of time to sit and have a snack and look around. There were some families who had hiked in on their own that were enjoying swimming in the water at the falls.

On the hike back to the boat, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for wildlife. We stopped and watched a moose off in the distance for a bit with our binoculars. He was swimming so it was neat for the kids to see.

Have you done either of these hikes? What wildlife did you encounter?

Don’t forget to come back later this week for more of our trip to Glacier.

If you missed the first post about our trip to Glacier National Park you can find it here:

Day 1 – Ge tting our Bearings in St Mary’s

Day 2 – Waterfalls and a boat tour on the East side of the park

Day 3- Driving the Going-To-The-Sun Road and hiking at Logan’s Pass

Day 4 – Full day ranger led hike to Iceberg Lake

Day 5 – Quiet day exploring the west side of the park

Day 6 – Ranger led hike to Avalanche Lake

Day 7 – Family fun at Whitefish Mountain

Day 8 – Hungry Horse Dam

Day 9 – Two Medicine Valley

Glacier National Park Day 1 – Getting our Bearings in St Mary

By coachkatye

On January 24, 2020

In Camping/Road Trip Adventure, Glacier National Park

This summer our big family camping trip was to Glacier National Park.

Glacier National Park is situated in Northwest Montana in the Rocky Mountains. The park has a number of entrances, but we chose to start our vacation off on the East side of the park as it is the closest to our home.

The east entrance is located in the village of St Mary which is just over 3 hours from Calgary.

We crossed the border at the Piegan-Carway Port. As it is a small port, be prepared to wait in a line up during busy summer months.

We had been a little late at trying to book a campsite within the National Park so our first night we camped at KOA St Mary. This campground is not very well maintained, with sites overgrown and lots of Cow Parsnip throughout the sites (beware with little ones as it can cause nasty burns on your skin). It is completely open with no privacy between sites. One thing to be aware of at this location is that the wind whips up in the afternoon so make sure to stow away any loose items before heading out for the day.

St Mary KOA is situated on a lake so can be a nice spot to cool off in the morning or evening.

Being that we couldn’t bring fresh food across the border, we had to pick up groceries after checking in at the campground. The staff at the KOA told us the closest grocery store was Browning. Browning is about 45 minutes from the KOA and with road construction in the area it took us longer.

We found out on our way back that there is a small grocer right in St Mary outside the park gate which had more fresh options than the store did in Browning. These are small grocers so you can pick up your basics, but don’t expect anything fancy. It was sufficient to get what we needed to make meals while on this side of the park.

Our first stop with any National Park is always to the visitor centre to get the lay of the land, pick up maps and chat with the rangers to get a sense of must do hikes. We also like to pick up a copy of the schedule of activities. In Glacier National Park there are quite a number of ranger led hikes as well as kid geared activities.

Of course we had to grab a photo with the park sign. The nice thing about going in the evening is that the visitor centre tends to be quiet, giving us a chance to chat with rangers a bit longer and for the kids to collect their Junior Ranger Books to complete throughout our time in the park.

There are some great views from the St Mary visitor centre along with a number of paths and shorter hikes.

We arrived at the park early enough to find out about the children’s evening program at the campground just inside the park. The kids really wanted to attend. They had lots of fun learning about some of the wildlife we may encounter in the park.

Check back later this week to see what we got up to on our first day in the park.

Have you been to Glacier National Park? What were your favourite spots, hikes or memories?

To read about what else we did on our trip to Glacier, check out the links below:

Day 2 – Waterfalls and a boat tour on the East side of the park

Day 3- Driving the Going-To-The-Sun Road and hiking at Logan’s Pass

Day 4 – Full day ranger led hike to Iceberg Lake

Day 5 – Quiet day exploring the west side of the park

Day 6 – Ranger led hike to Avalanche Lake

Day 7 – Family fun at Whitefish Mountain

Day 8 – Hungry Horse Dam

Day 9 – Two Medicine Valley

Day 13 – Catch up with an old friend

By katyemanuel

On July 22, 2012

In Camping/Road Trip Adventure

We had a great night in Halifax and a great sleep at the hotel and actually ended up all sleeping in for the first time on our trip.

With sleeping it didn’t give us any time for some more exploring since we were meeting up with an old friend for brunch so we could catch up and meet his girlfriend. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at the Ardmore Tea Room on Quinpool Rd. It is a greasy spoon type of restaurant where the servings are a good size and the prices are right. We had a great visit and caught up on all of the most recent news.

Once breakfast was over we were headed back to Truro, but not without a stop at Darthmouth Crossings which everyone out east had been talking about. This is similar to any of the new shopping plazas being built full of “outlet” stores.

Once we were back in Truro we met up with Dave’s oldest sister for a walk in Victoria Park. We followed the path up to the waterfalls and on the way back stopped under the shade of a tree for a visit and to let our daughter stretch her legs some. There are quite a few trails in this park, so next time we are out we will have to explore more of them, since we didn’t really have time on this trip.

Check out what we got to on some of the other days of this trip:

Day 1 – Lake Placid

Day 2 – Heading to Silver Lake State Park, VT

Day 3 – Quechee Gorge and Woodstock, VT

Day 4 – Driving to Freeport, ME

Day 5 – Bar Harbor, ME & Acadia National Park

Day 6 – Exploring Mount Desert Island, ME

Day 7 – Early morning hike up Cadillac Mountain and Bass Harbor, ME

Day 8 – Driving to Truro, NS

Day 9, 10, 11 – Family Visits

Day 12 – Halifax, NS

Day 12 – Halifax

By katyemanuel

On July 21, 2012

In Camping/Road Trip Adventure

We set aside a day and night on our trip to head into Halifax. We both love this city as it was somewhere we had both lived at some point.

We headed for the city shortly after breakfast to be able to enjoy the day wandering around and doing a little shopping. Our first stop was the Delta Barrington to see if we could check in early and park the vehicle. The room was ready early so we could off load our stuff before heading out by foot to explore the city. They definitely welcome families at this hotel and were quick to get a crib for our room. They also gave our daughter a little gift pack which consisted of a phthalate free dinosaur which was just the right size for her little hands and a little board book. She loved these gifts and we can’t keep the book out of her hands!

Once we were set we headed down to the waterfront for some lunch at Salty’s. This is one of the best waterfront restaurants for fish and chips and a great view. It was a busy spot out on the patio. The restaurant did not disappoint.

We wandered along the boardwalk running the length of the harbour area making our way to the Keith’s brewery.

We did not go for a tour on this trip, but instead turned up towards Spring Garden road to wander and maybe some shopping. The rain started to come down pretty hard as we were making our way up this road so we stopped to buy an umbrella so we could keep wandering. Once the rain lifted we ventured into The Halifax Public Gardens. These are lovely gardens that are open to the public during the day and are locked up at night. They are a great spot to enjoy a picnic lunch.

After wandering around downtown Halifax we made our way back to the hotel for our daughter to have a nap. She was not having any of that, so I thought it might be nice to take a drive out to Fisherman’s Cove since it is written about in all of the tourist information. I have to say that it is not what it is cracked up to be, however there was a nice little beach area where little ones can splash about in the ocean water. Since it is a shallow cove the water isn’t too cold either. Our daughter had her first step in the ocean here.

After our little play in the water our daughter was sleepy so we loaded her in the car and headed back to the hotel. Once back at the hotel she was ready to go again and full of energy so we changed into dry clean clothes and figured we would grab some food down on the boardwalk. We grabbed a bite from one of the huts and sat at one of the picnic tables set up in the harbour. We got to see Theodore Tugboat up close as well. Maybe next time we are out there we will have to take her on a tour on Theodore.

What is your favourite thing to do in Halifax?

Check out what we got to on some of the other days of this trip:

Day 1 – Lake Placid

Day 2 – Heading to Silver Lake State Park, VT

Day 3 – Quechee Gorge and Woodstock, VT

Day 4 – Driving to Freeport, ME

Day 5 – Bar Harbor, ME & Acadia National Park

Day 6 – Exploring Mount Desert Island, ME

Day 7 – Early morning hike up Cadillac Mountain and Bass Harbor, ME

Day 8 – Driving to Truro, NSParagraph

Day 9, 10, 11 – Family Visits

Day 13 – Catching up with an old friend

Days 9, 10, 11 – Family Visits

By katyemanuel

On July 20, 2012

In Camping/Road Trip Adventure

Day 9 – Our first full day in Nova Scotia was set aside to visit with my sister-in-laws and their families as well as Dave’s grandmother and parents. It was a warm day so the little ones had fun playing in the kiddie pool and getting to know each other. It was great to catch up with everyone and this was their first time meeting our daughter.

After which we took some family photos and enjoyed a nice dinner. Day 10 – Was a nice relaxing day. The kids played together in the morning and then after lunch Dave and I headed out to catch up with friends and their little ones for a bit. When our visit with friends was over we made our way over to Dave’s oldest sister’s place for a swim in the pool and some more visiting. Day 11 – Dave’s parents took us out to Masstown Market for lunch. This is a large fruit and vegetable market as well as some grocery goods, deli counter and some household goods. They also serve lunches and ice cream. We had a wander around the market checking everything out before sitting down to a great lunch. I had a half a sandwich and salad. The salad was a spinach and strawberry salad which was fantastic. While Dave enjoyed another lobster roll.

To read about more of our trip check out the links below:

Day 1 – Lake Placid

Day 2 – Heading to Silver Lake State Park, VT

Day 3 – Quechee Gorge and Woodstock, VT

Day 4 – Driving to Freeport, ME

Day 5 – Bar Harbor, ME & Acadia National Park

Day 6 – Exploring Mount Desert Island, ME

Day 7 – Early morning hike up Cadillac Mountain and Bass Harbor, ME

Day 8 – Driving to Truro, NS

Day 12 – Halifax, NS

Day 13 – Catching up with an old friend

Day 8 – Driving to Truro, NS

By katyemanuel

On July 19, 2012

In Camping/Road Trip Adventure

It was another early morning, but not as early as we had been getting up (5:45am) which meant we got a good start on the road.

Our original plan was to drive as far as St John’s, NB and then camp for the night. Dave had other ideas though once we got on the road. We took Route 1A up to the Maine/ New Brunswick border and enjoyed some of the sites along the way.

From the border we then headed to the main highway since Dave wanted to get to his parents that night instead of the following day. On the way we did take one detour to St Andrews By the Sea to enjoy our picnic lunch by the water and wander the main street. This is a really cute town and they have a great art shop where we picked up some pottery to take to my mother-in-law.

Then it was back to the main highway to reach our destination. This was our daughters first time meeting Dave’s parents and we arrived just after dinner.

To read about what we got up to on the other days of our trip check out the below links:

Day 1 – Lake Placid

Day 2 – Heading to Silver Lake State Park, VT

Day 3 – Quechee Gorge and Woodstock, VT

Day 4 – Driving to Freeport, ME

Day 5 – Bar Harbor, ME & Acadia National Park

Day 6 – Exploring Mount Desert Island, ME

Day 7 – Early morning hike up Cadillac Mountain and Bass Harbor, ME

Day 9, 10, 11 – Family Visits

Day 12 – Halifax, NS

Day 13 – Catching up with an old friend

Day 7 – Early Morning Hike up Cadillac Mountain

By katyemanuel

On July 18, 2012

In Camping/Road Trip Adventure

Early morning trend continued on day 7 with our daughter waking up at 4:45am. Since it was nice and early and the weather forecast for the morning was good it seemed like the perfect day to hike up Cadillac Mountain. We headed out of the campground around 6:15 once we had woken up enough, brushed our teeth and made some peanut butter sandwiches for the hike. We hiked the Cadillac Mountain South Ridge Trail leaving from Blackwoods campground. The trail is fairly flat and moderate from the campground to the main trail head and involves crossing the main island road. There are some boards you need to walk across in the swampy areas as well.

Once you hit the main trail head the climb begins. The South Ridge Trail is the easiest of the trails leading up Cadillac Mountain but the trail could be challenging at times, especially with a little one on my back. It is recommended to hike up the mountain to be at the top for either sunrise or sunset. After hiking this trail in the light, I would definitely not want to hike this in the dark. They were working on the trail in a number of spots when we were hiking up to help preserve and protect the surrounding landscape. There are some fantastic views along the way. At the right time of year there are also a great deal of blueberries lining the trail so you could have a nice snack. Our daughter napped in the carrier for a large portion of the upwards climb.

Once we reached the summit we enjoyed a bit of a snack and a break before hiking back down. Many people will hike one way and take the Island shuttle back down. Nearing the final stretch is where you can meet the biggest challenge. It is rocky and a bit of climbing is involved. You reach this portion after hiking down a bit where there is a pond. The views are definitely something else once you are up at the summit.

As we started the decent back down Tessa had a run in with a porcupine. She would not let us remove the quills while on the trail so she had to hike back to the campground with them in her mouth and nose. We were back at the campground by 11:00 am, so Dave headed into Bar Harbor to take Tessa to the vets while our daughter and I made and had some lunch and relaxed a little. The vet told Dave that they have dogs in there at least a couple times a week who have had a run in with the porcupine on Cadillac Mountain. After lunch we headed out of the park to grab a shower and get cleaned up. There is a private operation offering paid showers just outside of the campground located on the main road. It is $2 for 4 minutes since there are no showers within the campground. Once cleaned up we headed back into Bar Harbor to pick up a few items, check emails and then pick up Tessa from the vets. Since Tessa was in no state to walk (she had to be put under to have the quills removed), we took a drive down to Bass Harbor to see the lighthouse.

The drive was nice and it was a great way to spend part of the rainy afternoon. Once we reached the lighthouse the sun decided to come back out.

After a little drive around Bass Harbor we continued on to Southwest Harbor to grab some dinner before heading back to camp. We decided to order take-out from a little place on the main street. Once I had ordered dinner I headed next door to check out Hatched On MDI. This is a gorgeous children’s shop carrying clothing, toys, etc that are not your run of the mill. She carries lots of the brands that I like for our daughter which are more unique and the woman who owns the store was a great help in choosing some outfits to take home with us. Once my shopping was done dinner was ready and we were back on the road. We decided we would take our dinner to a freshwater beach we had passed on the way down. Paige was enjoying watching a family play frisbee on the grass while we ate. Then we let our daughter wade in the water and play in the sand.

We had trouble getting her out of the water to head back to camp. Once back at camp it was time for our daughter to head to bed and then we got ourselves organized and partially packed for the trip the following day.

To see what else we got up to on this trip check out the links below:

Day 1 – Lake Placid

Day 2 – Heading to Silver Lake State Park, VT

Day 3 – Quechee Gorge and Woodstock, VT

Day 4 – Driving to Freeport, ME

Day 5 – Bar Harbor, ME & Acadia National Park

Day 6 – Exploring Mount Desert Island, ME

Day 8 – Driving to Truro, NS

Day 9, 10, 11 – Family Visits

Day 12 – Halifax, NS

Day 13 – Catching up with an old friend

Day 3 – Quechee Gorge and Woodstock, VT

By katyemanuel

On July 14, 2012

In Camping/Road Trip Adventure

We woke up about 6:30 am to a nice day. Had breakfast, cleaned up and took it easy, then headed out from camp about 8:30 am. We took route 107 through Woodstock, VT to Quechee Gorge where we stopped at the visitor centre to gather some information on sights to see. We then took the trail from the visitor centre down to the gorge. It is a fairly steep hill down, but easily manageable as the distance is about 0.5 mi down. Once down we wandered out on the rocks to get a better view of the gorge and let Tessa play in the water.

At the bottom we headed up the trail past the entrance to the visitor centre to the dam to see the waterfall there and then on to the pond.

After the hike it was time to explore the area. We drove through Quechee Village and stopped at the Simon Pearce Glass Blowing studio to see the artists at work. They had some beautiful glass blown items as well as pottery at the studio for sale. Unfortunately we did not have room in the vehicle on this trip to be able to pick up a piece. There is a nice little waterfall off the rear of the studio as well.

After our short stop we continued on our way to Sugarbush Farm (http://www.sugarbushfarm.com/)which I had seen mentioned in a number of different posts on the internet as a place to see. At the information centre they also recommended this so we figured me better check it out. The drive is very nice and scenic out to the farm. You will pass by some high end resorts and gorgeous old mansions. The staff there are very nice and friendly and there is an old lab that wanders the property named Max. They were very open to letting us tie our dog up in the shade near the cars and Tessa and Max laid near each other just checking each other out while we went to try some cheese and maple syrup. After trying a number of cheeses we decided on the 8 yr old cheddar and the sage cheddar. our daughter liked all of the cheeses she was offered to try. We enjoyed the maple syrup tasting as well and picked up a couple different grades to take home with us. After tasting and shopping we went out to the petting zoo area which is near the entrance. They had a calf tied up and various small animals in their pens which you could see. Our daughter wanted to pet all of the animals.

We decided to continue on the backroads back into Woodstock where we wandered the main street, checking out some of the shops and we stopped for lunch at one of the local cafe’s.

Once we were shopped out we headed back to camp so our daughter could take a nap before we decided to hit up the beach. It is a small sandy beach with a nice park area around it. The water was the perfect temperature with a nice sandy bottom. There were many families there with their kids. Our daughter was having so much fun swimming in her lifejacket and watching some of the older kids play in the water. That evening we cooked dinner at the camp and once our daughter went to bed we played some more sequence. It rained overnight, but thanks to the lean-to our tent was nice and dry.

To see what else we got up to on this trip check out the links below:

Day 1 – Lake Placid

Day 2 – Heading to Silver Lake State Park, VT

Day 4 – Driving to Freeport, ME

Day 5 – Bar Harbor, ME & Acadia National Park

Day 6 – Exploring Mount Desert Island, ME

Day 7 – Early morning hike up Cadillac Mountain and Bass Harbor, ME

Day 8 – Driving from Maine to Truro, NS

Day 9, 10, 11 – Family Visits

Day 12 – Halifax, NS

Day 13 – Catch up with an old friend

Day 1 Of Our Road Trip Adventure

By katyemanuel

On July 12, 2012

In Camping/Road Trip Adventure

Technically this will be about the first night and the following days adventures since we headed out after dinner and a bath the first night.

Loaded in the car and ready to go As soon as we had loaded up the car the skies opened up and the heavy rain started. We didn’t want to delay getting on the road too long as we didn’t want to mess with our daughters bedtime too, too much. We waited a few minutes then decided to head out anyways since it did not look like the rain was going to let up. We drove through the rain on and off until about the Hwy 35 exit. We decided just to head along the 401 for the quickest and most direct route for the first portion of our trip. We crossed over into the USA at Ogdensburg, NY. This is a very small bridge crossing and no large trucks or trailers are permitted on the bridge. It is a metal grate bridge so with the slow posted driving speed it can be a rather noisy trip over. We were the only ones on the bridge when we crossed. The border guard was very friendly and probably got a good chuckle out of us driving over the bridge. He said it was pretty obvious we had not crossed over at this spot before. There is a $2 toll fee after you pass through the crossing. We stayed at the Quality Inn Gran-View on State Hwy 37. This was the one recommended on Trip Advisor. It was a clean hotel and there was a continental breakfast offered in the morning. One of the up sides was that they do allow dogs. The downside was that they do not have baby cribs, cots or playpens for your little one to sleep in, so we had to share the bed. Our daughter was so excited when we woke her at the hotel. She had to climb all over the bed, us and the pillows when we were trying to sleep. It ended up being a rather late night before she finally wore herself out. We were off the next morning fairly early on our way to Lake Placid. We drove through the outskirts of Saranac Lake on the way, but Dave was very focused on getting to our destination for the night that there was not much stopping along the way. We stopped in a little town along the way to pick up a few grocers and pick up some lunch. We ended up stopping on the side of the road in front of a cute little cemetery to have our picnic lunch and allow our daughter to stretch her legs a little. Where possible we did stray a little from the more direct route and took some winding and more scenic roads instead as we approached the Lake Placid area. There were some beautiful mountain views along the way. We arrived at the campground in the early afternoon. We stayed at ADK Adirondack Loj. We had decided to rent a canvas cabin to ease our daughter into the whole concept of tent camping. The check in was nice and quick. They were however warning lots about bears. The canvas cabin was not what we expected, but was rather a canvas tent on a platform with 3 sets of single bunk beds. Since bunk beds weren’t going to work with a 9 month old, we decided we would set up our tent within the tent (we have a small canoe tripping tent so it fit very easily inside). There is no privacy between the canvas cabins and you are not permitted to set up another tent on the site. While the campground was nice enough, next time we would most likely stay somewhere else as this was quite a ways out of the town of Lake Placid. The great part of staying here is the proximity to a wide range of hiking trails on site.

Lake Placid Ski jumps from a distance Once the tent was set up we headed to the little shop on site to get some information about the various hikes on site and for recommendations. The ladies in the store suggested we hike out to Rocky Falls since it was a nice destination. This was roughly an 8.5km hike from our campsite. The trail was moderate- rocky trail near the beginning with some ups and downs, but overall there were no real challenges for us. We only passed 1 person on the trails so it was nice and quiet and we could hear the birds and enjoy the woods.

Once we reached the falls Dave went in for a swim with the dog while our daughter had fun splashing at the waters edge and enjoying the view.

We did find the blackflies to be quite thick on the trail, so I would recommend some bug spray or bug patches while hiking this trail. Once we returned to camp we headed into the town of Lake Placid to do some wandering and have dinner. We settled on 3 Bears for dinner. The service was excellent, great views and the food was good as well. Lake Placid is a really cute little town with some neat shops as well as your standard stores, lots of places to eat and spectacular views. We would love to return to this area again to do some more exploring. Our daughter was too excited again to sleep this night so we were up fairly late while she checked out every square inch of the tent and climbed on us.

To see what else we saw on this trip check out the links below:

Day 2 – Heading to Silver Lake State Park, VT

Day 3 – Quechee Gorge and Woodstock, VT

Day 4 – Driving to Freeport, ME

Day 5 – Bar Harbor, ME & Acadia National Park

Day 6 – Exploring Mount Desert Island, ME

Day 7 – Early morning hike up Cadillac Mountain and Bass Harbor, ME

Day 8 – Driving to Truro, NS

Day 9, 10, 11 – Family Visits

Day 12 – Halifax, NS

Day 13 – Catching up with an old friend