ACROSS AMERICA 2017: WEEK 14

RUN-WALK ACROSS AMERICA WEEK 14
Segment 36 Speculator NY to Ticonderoga NY
Segment 37 Ticonderoga NY to Fairlee VT
Segment 38 Fairlee VT to North Conway NH
 
Traveling onward through the eastern Adirondack Mountains, the first day of this week takes runners and walkers through NY State from Speculator to the town of Ticonderoga.  It’s near the site of the famous fort involved in both the French and Indian Wars and the American Revolutionary War. Before researching this route, I had no idea that Lake George and Lake Champlain were in some way connected. 

A map and a Wikipedia entry reveal that these two lakes are longitudinally-oriented along a waterway that partially forms the borderline of New York State and Vermont, and that courses north into Canada. Lake George is southern-most and Lake Champlain lies north of it.  The town of Ticonderoga and the two-mile long La Chute River represented a historically natural portage crossing between the large lakes, which combined with rivers, allowed a direct travel route between NYC and Montreal  in Quebec, Canada.  Ticonderoga is located on the route segment that extends from Lake George’s north shore to lower Lake Champlain.

Like the Trek Travel bicycle tour on which this virtual route was based, the Ticonderoga Ferry will transport us across Lake Champlain to Shoreham, Vermont. The route then makes its way into the Green Mountains through the Brandon Gap (elevation 2170 feet). This time of year, the autumn colors of the forested hillsides should be just starting to make an appearance. A check of a website that follows and attempts to forecast the New England Fall Foliage Season shows a few early signs of the color to come (in Maine) in late August.
 
The small town of Fairlee VT is near New York’s border with New Hampshire and is Lake Morey.  It claims to have the longest groomed ice skating trail (4.3 mile network) in the US, when winter conditions permit its full operation. Next the route courses through the White Mountains to the village of North Conway, NH, which is about 60 miles from the last destination of the trip, Portland Maine!
 
You won’t be climbing it, but not too far north of the route is Mt. Washington, at 6288 ft. the highest peak in the NH and most the prominent east of the Mississippi River. The mountain summit is famous for its erratic and sometimes treacherous weather (highest wind speed recorded was 231 mph in 1934); a non-profit observatory there researches Earth’s weather and climate. North Conway is in a year-round, outdoor recreational resort area, well known to climbers and hikers.
 
Only one more day left of moving your legs!!!
 
RUN HAPPY!

Segment maps for week 14 are on the RESOURCES page

http://trektravel.com/trip/cross-country-usa-bike-tour/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticonderoga,_New_York
 
http://www.jeff-foliage.com/2016/08/state-fall-foliage-new-england/

https://www.trailfinder.info/trails/trail/lake-morey-ice-skating-trail

https://www.mountwashington.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Washington_(New_Hampshire)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Conway,_New_Hampshire
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