July 9th Whiteface Mountain

The pictures are backwards: The first few are from the gorge, and the last ones are from Whiteface mountain...
Happy Anniversary to us! 15 years, I can't believe it! Today was actually a beautiful and perfect day. We got up "early" and Rod went for a 3.5 mile run. We were out of the campground by 9 am and drove up to Whiteface Mountain on the Veterans Memorial Hwy. It was a beautiful drive with lots of little turnouts to pull over and take in the gorgeous view. Eventually we reached the top of the roadway and were at about 4610 feet. The last part was the walk/hike up to the summit. Stupid Audra was unprepared. Yes, the "hiker" in the family was wearing flip flops. Oh was I yelling at myself in my head! If one of my children had been wearing flip flops they wouldn't have heard the end of it from me. So, I took my ankle's lives in my hands and made it up to the top at 4867 feet. The view was great but it was still a bit "foggy" up there. We hung around the top for a while enjoying the cold air and the misty views before taking the elevator back down again. I didn't want to risk it on the way back down.

Once we got into the elevator we were taught some interesting facts by the elevator operator. For example, it took 22 boxcars full of dynamite to blast away the 400 foot tunnel and the elevator shaft through the granite mountain to make way for the elevator! Wow! The roadway is a memorial to World War I veterans and was built in the midst of the Great Depression. All pretty cool stuff!

After driving down the mountain in 1st gear to save the brakes, we stopped back at the campground to obtain my sneakers and then we drove to High Falls Gorge, about 5 minutes down the road from the campground. The day was really getting nice now and the gorge was really interesting with tons of waterfall views. This gorge was cut into the anorthoclase rock and even through the basalt by the Ausable River. The pictures say it all, so check them out! At the gorge you can also hike through the forest, which we did. The kids were in front of us the whole time and I noticed such a difference since the '06 trip. We didn't have to hold anyone's hand or help anyone, or wait for any "tired" children... They are growing up too fast!

After returning to the campground, having (for Sheldon a tortuous)lunch we (finally) headed to the pool and sat there for hours (some of us were swimming the whole time (Sheldon)). It was great! Then we showered (at least the grownups did) and headed on a short hike through the campground to the Ausable River and another waterfall that is right at the campground. Brianna was really wondering why mom was hiking with her purse, but she found out why when we crossed the highway and had dinner at the Hungry Trout restaurant for our anniversary. It was a nice place and we had a delicious meal. We haven't been really out to eat in "forever" so it was quite a treat. We even had dessert! Yum. That one meal cost more than half of what it is costing us to camp here for the entire week! Kind of funny, huh?

Tomorrow we are hoping for good weather again and are planning to drive over to Ausable Chasm which looks to be about 25 miles from here...