It should be noted that additional “road walks” are necessary from the trailhead at NY 8 to the trailhead parking in Piseco by Cold Stream bridge (3 miles); in the section getting to Wakely Dam (.8 miles); from Wakely Dam to the former McCanes resort along Cedar River Rd. (6.6 miles) and along Averyville Rd. to the official northern terminus of the trail in Lake Placid (1.2 miles). Just as with the first 10.3 miles that most hikers, including ourselves, skip we are also skipping the 6.6 miles of road walk on Cedar River Rd. but have completed the 3 mile road walk in Piseco and the .8 road walk getting to Wakely Dam and intend to complete the 1.2 mile road walk in Lake Placid. So let us begin.......

Northville - Placid Trail

We headed to the area on Saturday, July 17th. We spotted Mike’s car, “Blue Thunder”, at the Piseco trailhead parking lot. Spotting is the act of leaving a vehicle at one end of the trail so that hikers have a means of transportation back to the beginning of the trail to pickup a second car. This is in lieu of having someone dropping off the hiker at the beginning of the hike or picking the hiker back up at the end of the hike. Our drive time to the area from Rochester, NY is approx. 3 to 4 hours. Driving two vehicles that distance didn’t make any sense but not knowing anyone in the area who could drop us off or pick us up created the need to be self-sufficient and having two vehicles at our disposal. The dilemma was solved by purchasing a car dolly. Thus, I could tow “Blue Thunder” behind my Ford Expedition eliminating the need for driving two vehicles.

Section I - Upper Benson to Piseco
July 17, 2004 - July 21, 2004

“Blue Thunder” on the car dolly being “spotted” at the Piseco trailhead parking lot.

We stayed at the Trailhead Lodge, a B & B located .4 miles from the trailhead parking in Upper Benson on July 17th. This gave us the opportunity to relax, get a good breakfast the next day and an early start on the trail on Sunday.

John and Jane Washburn, the proprietors of the Trailhead Lodge, are delightful people and we enjoyed our stay and visit with them. We highly recommend staying at the Trailhead Lodge, 206 Washburn Road, Benson Center, Northville, NY 12134 518-863-2198

John and Jane Washburn, Trailhead Lodge B&B
Hey, where’s Duke?

(Northville-Placid Trail continued)

(Click on pictures for larger view)