Hiking Mt. Jo and ADK Things

This weekend was full of Adirondack goodness. I went camping near Lake Placid with my friends Meredith and John. We had grand plans of hiking some high peaks this past weekend, but weather diminished them. However, the weather was still great on Saturday after we set up camp, and decided that we better get a hike in now, just to say we saw  some views.

Enter Mt. Jo.

The trail to Mt. Jo is at the Adirondack Loj parking lot. It was a short hike, so we didn’t mind starting the hike at about 4:30pm. First we stopped to see Heart Lake.

Then we began the 1.1 mile climb on the “short trail” to the summit of Mt. Jo. It was short, but steep!

There were some great views up here, right in the middle of the high peaks! We could see Algonquin, Wright, Iroquois, Marcy, and even Haystack.

We took the long trail back down, which wasn’t as steep. The sun started going down when we got back to Heart Lake.

Mt. Jo
2.6 mi RT
Elevation: 2,876′

After our hike, we drove into Lake Placid for dinner at the Pub. (I recommend the Moose Island Ale with the Maple Cheddar Melt.) Then we went back to the campground for the night. We were staying at Lincoln Pond Campground in Elizabethtown, about 45 minutes from Lake Placid.

The following morning it was gloomy, and it looked like it was about to rain any second! So instead of going on our hike, we drove back into Placid for brunch at a great spot called the Breakfast Club. The food was amazing! We then wandered around town and stopped to get maple creme soft serve.

Some other random Adirondack things we did on Sunday:

• Saw the antique car show parade drive down Main Street
• Drove to Saranac Lake to see what Hobofest was all about
• Had a tasting at Blue Line Brewery
• Stopped to browse at the Mountaineer
• Tried the famous pie at the Noonmark Diner {I recommend the raspberry rhubarb crumble}
• Wandered around a unique antique shop
• Enjoyed the view at Cascade Lakes

When our hiking plans fell through, we looked at it as an opportunity to do all the things we have been wanting to do when in Lake Placid, but never had time for in the past!