Lisa and I wanted a nice camping getaway, and decided on the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. I had found a place online where you could camp on an island. There was also a place nearby that rented canoes. Perfect.

We loaded up the bike and rode up there. The place was beautiful. Most of the sites on the island have built-in lean-to's. Unfortunately none were available, so we had to "make do" at the tent camping area. Oh, the horror. It was very well maintained and there was plenty of dead-fall around for making a fire.

Alger Island is on Fourth Lake, which is part of a chain of lakes called the Fulton Chain Lakes. You could canoe between a bunch of them, or ford to all of them. We only made it to one other, since the wind was high. It was a heck of a lot of fun.

Enjoy.

Alger Island from the Fourth Lake picnic area, where the park office and dock are.

Lisa digging in. It was about a 30 minute paddle to the island. The speed boats they allow on the lake made it a bit difficult, and we kept having to cut into their wakes. They're supposed to slow down when passing canoes, but most didn't seem to know about that. Harumpf!

The dock on Alger Island. Each camp site had its own dock.

Tying the canoe to the dock.

The dock and our trusty canoe.

Setting up camp.

Making coffee. Must have coffee.

Coffee and oatmeal. Mmmm... Hearty.

The second day we went out to explore the lake.

We canoed to a small peninsula in Third Lake, jumped out and snooped around.

Supernerd in his safari-wear.

The weather was perfect, with blue skies and some puffy, high-flying clouds.

Enjoying a nice cold beer at the end of the day.

We went out in the canoe the second night we were there. The water was calm, and it was very quiet and peaceful.

Packing up to leave. Everything went in garbage bags, or waterproof bags, incase we tipped over. Luckily we kept the boat upright.

Somehow, we managed to way over-pack the bike. If I saw someone riding with this configuration on their bike, I'd shake my head at them. It looks pretty ridiculous, but it was sturdy, and work out well. It won't happen again, though. I promise.

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