Our Trip To The Adirondacks!

A little fun fact about our family: We LOVE nature, mountains, and anything that offers a gorgeous view and an opportunity to explore. We're down for any chance to travel and extra family bonding time. 

We left on a Saturday night - (Packed our bags that day), waited for Zack’s sister to come over so that she could take our fur baby Bear while we were gone, fed Rylan his baba, changed his diaper, and headed for the road at 9pm. The drive was about 6 1/2 hours one way, and traveling at night time isn’t the most exciting thing but we really wanted to catch the sunset at the top of White Face Mountain.

If you’re unaware of White Face Mountain, it’s the only mountain in the Adirondacks that you could practically drive all the way up too… once you get to the top, there’s a small spot where visitors can park their cars and walk the rest of the way if they desire… If you choose to stay where you parked your car, you’ll still have a beautiful view, but there are some stairs that take you to the very top!

When we finally arrived, we drove halfway up the mountain. And to our surprise... what we saw next made us a teencey bit upset.

The first thing we noticed was a sign stating that the mountain is closed until mid May. And then, about 40 feet away we see that the entrance to keep going is totally blocked off. This was not mentioned on the website so we were at a total loss for words. Not only that, but we had no signal at all to find a different “possible” way up. The only thing we could literally do was drive back down the mountain, find the nearest town so that we could get some sort of reception.

We found a town, parked at a tiny hotel and talked about what to do next. We couldn’t check in to our Airbnb until 3pm, every little breakfast diner we passed was closed, we couldn’t go up the mountain, the sun was starting to rise. We were absolutely exhausted, disappointed, starving, and unsure of what to do.

The hotels parking lot we were sitting at overlooked White Face Mountain. The sun was starting to rise, and it turned out to be the most breathtaking view. My husband Zack, being the passionate photographer that he is, didn’t waste any time at all. He pulled out his camera gear and immediately started shooting.

The sun starting to rise. 

After 30 minutes of taking pictures, we drove into the town to finally get some food. We stopped at a diner called the Downhill Diner. The food was delicious, affordable, and very filling. And the staff was very sweet! They were really helpful with directions, locations, and great places to check out while in town.

Back on the road, and we fell in love with the area!! It was gorgeous everywhere our eyes looked. Zack is on a mission to “chase fall”. The Adirondacks was a couple days past peek when we visited but still the pictures he captured were so beautiful. Here’s a few 🍁🍂

We got really lucky too. It turned out to be a beautiful fall day. On the warmer side even. Perfect for the babies to enjoy! These pictures might make it look freezing out lol, but it was one of those perfect days you just didn’t want to be inside…

Finally 2pm rolled around the corner, and we received a message from our Airbnb host saying that the cleaning crew has left because a family was there the night before us, and that we are more than welcome to come and get settled in if we’d like.

We were all for it! We're on our way...

The road to our cabin.

So, that’s exactly what we did. We drove to our cabin, got settled, fed Mr. Rylan, and discussed dinner because after all of the exploring so far, we were hungry again… Lol

After dinner, we explored a bit more around the town before it got dark. At this point it got much colder, so we headed back to our cabin to relax. The kids were sleeping almost right away. Gracie fell asleep on the couch watching TV, and Rylan fell asleep mid bottle 🍼😂

We took our babies to bed, and Zack and I relaxed for a bit in the kitchen. Zack was determined to see that sunrise from White Face Mountain. He talked about it all day. The only thing holding him back was t of total fear of walking up a snow covered mountains in the middle of the night, and in the freezing cold, alone. I couldn’t bring the babies obviously, but I did my best to reassure him that if he does decide to go, he’ll be okay no matter what. He’s strong, he’s brave, he’s determined. He’s got this!

Not too long after, we went to sleep. Zack set an alarm for 4am, unsure of how long the walk will take him. From our cabin to the mid way point of the mountain where it was cut off, it took 15 minutes drive time. I can’t speak for Zack, or how he felt that night. But I do know that when he left, it was below freezing outside. The ground was covered in frost, you could see your breath, and IT WAS DARK!!!

He did have a very bright flash light, a head light, water, his insulin and test kit, snacks for lows, warm clothing, etc. But I don’t think he was prepared for just how long the walk ahead was… The road he took all the way up was covered in steep snow. And when he finally reached the top, he said it was about 7:10am. It took close to three hours traveling on feet in the freezing cold, and dark one way. And this is what he sends me via text…

Oh my gosh did he look cold ❄️

But he did it... And he caught some truly amazing pictures. Take a look!