Although the weather had improved a little at Lake Placid (elevation approx. 1750 ft) (Location), we left there hoping that the cloud clover might break enough for us to get some nice views from the top of Whiteface Mountain, New York State’s fifth highest mountain. (Location) We expected, though, that the clouds would obscure our view but took the trip anyway.
Although it is possible to hike to the summit of Whiteface Mountain from an area near the base of the downhill ski slopes, we opted instead to take the Veteran’s Memorial Highway option, pay the toll ($10 for car and driver and $6 per passenger) and drive to the summit along the Veteran’s Memorial Highway. The highway rises about 2300 feet over the five mile distance to the summit so is quite steep in places. At the lower levels we had some visibility.
Lake Placid
As we continued to climb, we were soon engulfed in the low clouds and visibility became very limited.
By the time that we reached the parking area at the summit, visibility was down to about 5 – 10 feet and at times less than that. A neat, eery kind of environment to be in when visiting the top of a mountain. Not great for seeing the surrounding countryside though.
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