“May your trails be crooked, winding, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” – Edward Abbey

The past two weeks have been full of mountain biking and summer adventures. Reed and I got to travel to Lake Placid for his work and explore the area up there for a few days. We have ventured there before to hike and camp, but never to hang out in the city as much. It was so fun! Not only are the Adirondacks BEAUTIFUL, but they are home to some good eats and tasty brews.

A few weekends ago we checked out the Blueberry Lake Bike Trails for our first laps this year. It is one of my favorite sections of trails near us, containing mostly easier terrain, but beautiful overlooks nonetheless. We rode their newest trail, Amenta’s Way, an intermediate trail with lots of berms, rocky features & scenic views of the Green Mountains. It is so flowy, and pretty magical seeing as you feel like you are going mostly downhill but it miraculously doesn’t have a huge dig out. Check it out if you’re in the Warren area! You can follow it (like we did) with a jump in Warren Falls to cool off and a delicious lunch at the Mad Taco.

We also got to do some downhill biking at Killington for their 2nd annual Bike & Brew festival! I demoed a new bike which was great, but I felt far more comfortable on my own bike. Funny how that works, huh? Sideshow Bob is one of my all-time favorite trails to hit, and I tried a new trail, Blue Magic, which was also loads of fun. I even got some air (like 1 inch), which is huge for me! Following our rides, we sampled some Vermont craft beer at the brew tents and ate lots of pizza. A fun Saturday all around.

On to the Adirondacks! Since my husband wasn’t feeling 100 percent, we did some pretty tame hiking and camping, traveling as far as Marcy Dam before setting up camp. Fortunately, the weather was lovely at a cool 55º up there, dropping at sunset to perfect sleeping weather. We met up with some friends at Heart Lake the following day and shared some beers, laughs, and stories around the campfire. I also started a GREAT new book, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. If you’re into fantastical books, I reccommend it.

The next few days we spent soaking in the culture of Lake Placid. It is a quaint and wonderful town, home to the Olympics in 1932 and 1980. We ate some wicked good food at Delta Blue, the Big Mountain Deli & Creperie, ice cream at Emma’s Creamery, and drank some great beer at Big Slide Brewery and the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery. An informative boat cruise wrapped the weekend up nicely.

When we arrived home again, we were beyond excited to pick our dog up from Doggy Day Care and veg on the couch. Our movie choice? “Miracle” of course.

I hope you enjoyed some wonderful adventures to start summer off right too!

Wander On,
Colleen