r/Adirondacks

Hey campers,

First off- don't laugh at me! I am a bit of an anxious person and an overthinker with some OCD traits, so bear safety can easily trap me in a loop. I’m really curious where people draw the line between common-sense caution and total paranoia when car camping in campgrounds.

On my last trip, my less-experienced guests were stressing out and asking me a million hyper-specific questions before bed. Because of my own overthinking, it really made me wonder how far people actually take these rules in the wild.

For example, how do you handle things like:
The Cooking Jacket: Wearing a fleece at night that you wore while eating dinner or sitting right by the fire (not actively handling raw meat, but definitely in the "food zone"). Do you sleep in it?

Smoke and Clothes: A shirt that was hanging on a line near the fire pit to air out while dinner was happening. It smells heavily of woodsmoke and campfire...

The Random Crumb: A couple of tiny crumbs of a trail mix bar fall on your lap right before bed. And so on…

Personally, I manage my anxiety by having a strict structural habit of changing completely into "night clothes" and "day clothes" so I don't have to overthink it.

But it got me thinkin. So far, even where I've camped in the Adirondacks, there weren't any drive-in campgrounds I’ve camped at, that banned storing food in your locked car—meaning the black bears there aren't that bold. I even stayed at a place in the Florida Springs where they provided metal bear boxes, but the rangers said a locked car trunk was fine too. So I let myself relaxed for wtvr might have stayed in the car unintentionally…
If the rangers are okay with cars, are the bears really going to sniff out a smoke-infused hoodie inside a tent?
Where do you draw the line between "you can't be too careful" and overthinking it? Do you change down to the skin before bed, or do you relax a bit if you're in an area where car-storage is allowed?

And in places where the bears are bolder?

Any insight will be helpful…

What’s up guys! My name is Matt and I’m new to this subreddit. I went to boarding school in Lake Placid from 2021-23, and we went on weekly hikes off campus. There was this place that I remember being beautiful, but I cannot remember the name of it. Now that I have my license, I want to go on a weekend trip with my buddies to hike, and I would definitely go back to this spot. Here are some things that could help pinpoint the name:

-Couldn’t have been further than 25 minutes away from LP.
-I believe the name had “mouth” or “neck” or “ridge” in it (don’t quote me on it).
-There was a lookout at one point, and across the street, you could see a lot of climbers climbing a huge, popular face.
-Big thing that’s not very common: there was a super cool pond on the way to the summit. Like it was literally high up on the mountain. And the trail went right next to it I believe and you had to cross on wooden planks because it was marshy.

I appreciate the help yall ❤️

Hello all. Later this July I plan on doing a moderate climb because I'm not quite back in High Peak shape. It seems like Hurricane (9N approach) and Rooster Comb are my best choices for ROI but have never tackled these

For Context:

- This will be on a Monday

- Tentative 6 or 7am start time

- I would like the best views and few people

- Solo hike but will have my dog (not her first climb)

- I plan on a slow slog taking plenty of breaks

- Will have food, water, etc. for extra time (15-20 lbs)

- I have reliable and sturdy trek poles

- No stranger to deer flies

- I am staying in Keene Sunday to Tuesday

Any advice or alternate suggestions are greatly appreciated TIA

EDIT: Probably wouldn't climb the fire tower on Hurricane and if I do Rooster I may hit Snowy first to make a loop

EDIT 2: I mixed up the names Snowy and Mt Snow. Big difference

EDIT 3: Thanks for all the recommendations!

Hi all!

Planning a trip up to the ADKs (Saranac Lake area) in late July with a friend, going to be camping there for a week. I have been when I was younger (~13), and I'm excited to be coming back! :)

When traveling, I love to find wacky things. I'm sad that we will be missing the Invasion of Camp Cryptid cryptozoology event, but I have down on our lists to jump off the Boob in Long Lake, say hello to Pig Rock in Speculator, maybe do the "Discover Biathlon" course at Mt. Van Hoevenberg.

Does anyone else have any other suggestions for similarly silly/wacky/unique things to do?

I got suspicious paying big money for electrolyte products, so I went full nerd and compared fifteen popular options, electrolyte by electrolyte, and costs. I looked at sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, cost per serving, and then calculated the cost per milligram of electrolyte so they all could be compared fairly.

Here’s what stood out:

1. Venture Pal was the best value among dedicated electrolyte mixes.
2. LMNT is excellent, but it’s much more expensive than a nearly identical alternative.
3. SaltStick isn’t nearly as good a value as I expected.
4. Energy chews like Clif Bloks and Honey Stinger are basically expensive sugar with very few electrolytes.
5. The biggest surprise: Salt & Vinegar potato chips are actually a remarkably inexpensive source of sodium for long hikes.

Since switching from Gatorade and SaltStick to LMNT and now Venture Pal, I haven’t had the headaches and leg cramps that used to kill me on long summer hikes.

I can also post the full comparison table here if people are interested. Otherwise it’s on my website if you’d rather see the raw numbers.

Hello,

I my fiancé and I are planning on doing a Bog River trip, out and back, from Lowe’s Lower Dam to Bog Lake. I’ve got a few questions for you experienced canoe campers out there!

1. Can a Subaru Impreza (Low clearance) make it to the parking lot at Low’s Lower Dam?

2. Any recommendations for amazing camp sites!?

3. Will the water be high enough toward the end of July?

4. Any other sage advice?

Hi everyone! We’re planning a 3-day road trip from Toronto during the 3rd week of July. Day 1 we’ll drive to Lake Placid with scenic stops along the way, Day 2 we’ll spend the whole day at Whiteface Mountain, and Day 3 we’ll explore nearby attractions before driving back to Toronto.

I’ve searched Google and YouTube but couldn’t find much recent information. What should we expect, are there any must-see viewpoints, hikes, or hidden gems? Do we need to book tickets or passes (Veterans’ Memorial Highway, elevator/gondola, etc.) in advance, or can we buy them on arrival? Any tips on parking, weather at the summit, food, or nearby places to visit before heading back would be greatly appreciated.

Mistakenly put June in the title.