I’ve covered before how the first time I drove from Asheville into Chimney Rock, my cousin remarked that it reminded him of the Adirondacks—specifically the town of Lake George—only for us to find out later that Chimney Rock State Park stood in for the Adirondacks during the filming of The Last of the Mohicans, one of my favorite movies, possibly simply by osmosis as it was perenially on TBS, TNT, or USA any time you channel surfed on a weekend afternoon growing up.
Last week, I had the distinct pleasure of spending a Sunday to Monday taking in the views—and generally acting a fool—in Chimney Rock, before flying up to the Adirondacks via Albany that Wednesday, and taking in the sights of those mountains via drive and hike. Both were—and are—startlingly beautiful areas, but the experiences couldn’t have been more different.
My Adirondack Experience
I’m starting with the Adirondacks, just because this blog is about the greater Asheville area, so that should be the final word.
I didn’t stay in the Adirondacks, though flying into Albany is an easy way to do that. I was staying north of Burlington, Vermont, with my family to celebrate my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary (Albany is still three hours from Burlington, but my parents have to drive past it on their way there and flights into Albany were like, $400.00 less and at better times than flying straight into Burlington).
You can take a ferry across Lake Champlain to the Adirondacks though, which is what my brother and I were planning on doing one day…except that the unprecedented Vermont flooding had the ferry closed, so we drove 2.5 hours instead. The Adirondack Park is one of my very favorite places to visit, where I sort of cut my teeth doing big hikes as a proper adult, and spending time there is probably something of a catalyst for my move down to the Blue Ridge Mountains.
My brother and I at one point were trying to summit all of the 46 High Peaks (honestly, it’s probably still very doable at our young, spry age…it’ll just take longer now that I’m below the Mason-Dixon), and decided to add another with Wright Peak. I’m not necessarily going to go into the ins and outs of our hike, but will share these photographs. While the Blue Ridge Mountains are often higher than the Adirondacks, those peaks photograph as more monumental…however, I think you’ll easily be able to see the similarities.
My Chimney Rock Experience
My pre-Adirondack Sunday at Chimney Rock was what I affectionately call my now-annual “White Trash Weekend,” staying at the Geneva Hotel and Tiki Bar, which I just documented this past July as part of my Best Summer Sundays in Asheville series.
As per that post, my friends and I started our Sunday at the Chimney Rock Brewing Company, where one can sit directly in the river—especially lovely on that particular 92° day—and enjoy a couple of beverages.
Around three, we moved downriver to the Geneva Motel and Tiki Bar, where we’d commandeered four rooms, and set ourselves up on a picnic table next to the river just outside the environs of the bar, so we could both witness the magnificent karaoke and frolic in the river if we so pleased, which we ended up doing much more than in years past. In fact, the whole day was a very relaxing one half-spent, half-submerged in mountain streams. Not that karaoke wasn’t sung. People in my party sang “Friends in Low Places,” “Calling Baton Rouge,” and I believe maybe some Cher, but I think I was in the river for that.
We also ended up eating at the Tiki Bar this go around, and the food was better than I remembered, before retiring to the deck of the suite some of my friends rented. I know this isn’t sounding particularly white trash, but compare the pictures I have of the fake Adirondacks with the real Adirondacks and see for yourself.
Also, after I’d already gone to bed, a bear started digging through the motel’s dumpster. It wasn’t necessarily hurting anyone, but the owner and several patrons rushed out…and fired a few shots in the air to scare it off…
AshevilleExplorer 