Catskills and Adirondaks

Since we had once lived in the vicinity, we blew through Pennsylvania and headed to new territory.  David set the Garmin for Catskill Park.  We expected it to be a state park.  When we arrived at our appointed destination, however, we discovered that there were a series of state parks in these mountains, not just one, and we had no idea where any of them were.  Unable to find tourist information and with rain settling in, we used our map to locate campgrounds.  Unfortunately, the map was far from accurate. 

We finally found a campground, only to discover that it was full.  We traveled on with a promise that we would find another in about a half hour.  To our dismay, it, too, was full.  With little help from any of the state park attendants, at dusk we finally located a private campground that charged us $30 to camp in a field.  We set camp as rain began to fall.  Within minutes, we were in a deluge.  Both of us were exhausted, so we snacked on the last of the crackers and another tin of smoked salmon before crawling into bed.

We broke camp in the rain and drove into the town of Catskill, looking for coffee.  We found the Ambrosia Diner and stopped for our first breakfast on the road.  David, of course, ordered pancakes.  It was a wonderful, authentic little diner.

From there, we drove to the Adirondack Mountains, hoping for greater luck than we had in the Catskills.  Again we were unable to find tourist information.  We drove two thirds of the range and located only one campground (which, unfortunately, was early in the drive).  With hopes of setting up camp early and letting Rox take a swim in one of the lovely lakes, we finally located a campground on Rollins Pond. 

As someone later said, New York seems to have taken the city into the country.  This entire campground was crammed with rig after rig, side by side. 

After driving through one campground, we found a second set behind it, with a tad more space between the sites and more tent campers. We pulled into the check in line.

In order to acquire a campsite, David had to sign five different documents…it appears, that at least in New York, our litigant-minded society has moved even into camping.  The first document indicated that he had read the pet regulations. The second indicated that he had read the bear warning and guidelines.  The third and fourth were campground permits.  The fifth was the credit card payment of $27.75 for a primitive site.  Finally, the park attendant gave David yet one more additional sheet explaining the recycling regulations. 

We took turns at the showers before setting up camp.  While waiting for David to clean up, I read, to my dismay, that pets were not permitted on the beach, in the water, or in picnic areas, among other restrictions.  Poor Rox would have to wait yet another day. 

Additionally, it is a law in New York that campers must recycle.  However, all recyclable containers must first be cleaned before they are deposited in recycling bins.  These recyclables cannot, however, be cleaned in camp restrooms or water stations.  

Upon reading the bear warning and guidelines, we were warned that indirect or incidental feeding of bears was a violation.  This included scattering gray water from the kitchen sink.  Needless to say, one regulation seemed quite contrary to the other.  How do you clean a recyclable and follow the bear guidelines?  

When David ditched the trash, he came back saying that it appeared that others had been caught by the catch 22 and had just thrown everything in the garbage. We are hoping there is no ID in our trash in case we missed a recyclable item and they try to track us down.

The vast majority of our travels in the west have left us feeling like welcomed guests.  Campgrounds most often have self-pay stations rather than attendants.  Their rules are short enough to be posted on a bulletin board.  The folks out west seem to trust that if they post the rules, that people will take responsibility for reading them and not require a signature. While upstate New York is a lovely area, its rules, regulations, and restrictions have left us longing for western hospitality and the freedom of the great outdoors.

So this morning, we broke camp and left New York, disappointed and disillusioned. I am sure there are some great quiet remote places in New York to camp but we have opted to move on to New England.