WEEK 14: ACROSS AMERICA

Fort Ticonderoga taken by Rob Stark.

SORRY FOR THE MIX-UP; WEEK 13 WAS NOT POSTED LAST SUNDAY BUT WEEK 14 WAS!
Please see the updated August 19 post for that week.

RUN-WALK-BIKE ACROSS AMERICA WEEK 14 STARTS TOMORROW
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 New York State from Speculator to the town of Ticonderoga.  The town is near the site of the famous fort (of the same name) involved in both the French and Indian Wars and the American Revolutionary War.

Before researching this route, I had heard of Lake George and Lake Champlain but had no idea that were near each other or in some way connected to Ticonderoga. 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 two large lakes, which when 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 Lake Champlain’s south shore. According to Wikipedia, the city’s name is derived from a Mohawk word, “tekontaró:ken”, which means "it is at the junction of two waterways".

As detailed in the itinerary of the Trek Travel bicycle tour on which this virtual route was based, a ferry will transport us from Ticonderoga, across Lake Champlain to Shoreham, VT. The route then makes its way into Vermont’s Green Mountains through the Brandon Gap (elevation 2170 feet). This time of year, the autumn colors of the forested hillsides might not yet be developing. A check of a website that follows and attempts to forecast the New England Fall Foliage Season predicts that early signs of the color to come will not be seen until later in September  2018.
 
The small town of Fairlee VT is near New York’s border with New Hampshire and 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 & MOVE 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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