A 5-mile drive to the top of the world V ISITING THE W HITEFACE V ETERANS M EMORIAL H IGHWAY By Lee Manchester, News Staff Writer

WILMINGTON — The timing was paved up Pike’s Peak in Colo- rededicated to the memory of all Ameri- couldn’t have been better for the annual rado. can veterans. opening last weekend of the Veterans The prospect of constructing a new Built in the 1930s, the itself Memorial Highway up Whiteface road through the Wilmington Wild For- has been nominated for the National Mountain in Wilmington township. The est split the membership of the Adiron- Register of Historic Places. weather was perfect, and the fact that it dack Mountain Club and was opposed “It was really an amazing feat of en- was Memorial Day weekend made a by other leading conservationists, but it gineering to put this road up the moun- drive up ’s fifth-highest peak won support from one highly influential tain,” observed Steve Engelhart, execu- on a roadway dedicated to the memory group of Empire State voters: the net- tive director of Adirondack Architec- of America’s servicemen and women work of American Legion members all tural Heritage, “and there’s a certain just that much more appropriate. across New York. aesthetic to the road, to the retaining From , the trip up White- The owner of the four acres at the walls, that sort of thing, that’s of the era. face Mountain starts with the 10-mile peak of Whiteface contributed them to Even the very idea that there should be drive north on Route 86 to the little the project with the proviso that the road an aesthetic element to a road-building hamlet of Wilmington. At the Wilming- be dedicated to the memory of Amer- project was a reflection of the time.” ton stop sign (yes, there’s only one), ica’s Great War veterans. It was later The construction project was dedi- take a left — you’ll see the marker pointing you up the mountain to the Memorial Highway. Climb past Santa’s Visitors tips Workshop, America’s oldest theme park, on your right and past the road to • Dress for the weather — On the day our reporter drove up the Memorial the Atmospheric Sciences Research Sta- Highway, the temperature was in the upper 70s in Wilmington but close to tion on your left. When you get to a fork 40 degrees Fahrenheit at the top of Whiteface Mountain. Just because it’s in the road, bear left (there’s another spring down here doesn’t mean it’s spring up there! To check weather sign, so you’re not likely to lose your conditions before you set out, call (518) 946-7175. way). • Observe highway signs — You’ll see several signs on the drive up and down the Veterans Memorial Highway: the 25-mph , for one, The tollhouse, and the history and the suggestion that you use your low gear to help save your brakes Just ahead, you’ll see what looks like on the downhill trip. Both signs are well worth observing. a Swiss alpine chalet. That’s the 1934 • Visit the Castle first — Whether you plan to climb the 26-story staircase, tollhouse that marks the beginning of the which starts from the Castle , or take the elevator to the top of 5-mile-long Veterans Memorial High- Whiteface, stop at the Castle first. In addition to the grill and gift shop way. It’s more than just a toll gate upstairs, it has the only restrooms you’ll find on the mountaintop. where you’ll pay your part for the up- • Elevator up, staircase down — Once you get to the parking lot at the keep of this amazing feat of civil engi- top of the Veterans Memorial Highway, you have a choice as to how you’ll neering — it’s also a visitors interpretive get to the summit of Whiteface: by elevator, or by stairway. Our center highlighting the historic and natu- suggestion: Take the elevator up, and take the staircase down. Neither is ral significance of the area. to be missed, but the steep, rocky staircase is best experienced as a The center has been run since 1999 downhill journey. by the Whiteface Preservation and Re- • Bring a picnic lunch — There are plenty of tables on the drive up, or you source Association, and it’s worth a stop can lay out a mountaintop luncheon at the summit. The menu at the inside before heading up the highway. Castle grill isn’t especially pricey, but the selection is quite limited. On display are exhibits highlighting area • Essential equipment: map, compass and camera — The view from the geology, flora and fauna, along with top of Whiteface Mountain is truly unique, because Whiteface stands apart maps, aerial and satellite images, and from all the other . To get the most from the view historic photographs depicting the plan- you can only get atop this mountain, bring a good topographic map and a ning and construction of the Memorial compass to help you identify the geographic features laid out below. (The Highway and its associated buildings. map that comes along with the Adirondack Mountain Club’s hiking guide A road up the mountain was first to the High Peaks region suited our purposes just fine.) To bring home a suggested over 100 years ago by a Lake record of the stupendous views you’ll see up there, make sure you take Placid entrepreneur, but it was not until along a camera, too — even a disposable camera with a fixed lense is the 1920s that a highway up Whiteface better than no camera at all. was promoted with real vigor — after a cated in 1929 by New York Governor impossible to distinguish features in the pretive markers along the describe Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Six years very far distance, but there below lay some of the features you’ll find there. later, Roosevelt returned as the Ameri- Taylor Pond, lying like a dark blue Before you embark on the walk can president to cut the ribbon opening blanket across a valley nestled against (make that, hike!) up the 26-story sum- the highway. It was the suggestion of a the next range of mountains north. mit staircase, here are a few things to wheelchair-bound FDR that led to the Higher still, past the 3,300-foot ele- consider: blasting of an elevator to carry vation marker, Taylor Pond could be 1) Though the “staircase” starts with visitors from the parking lot to the seen even more clearly below — and cut-stone steps, and though there are summit of Whiteface Mountain, rising looking up over their shoulders, visitors stone, metal or wooden steps built into 4,867 feet above sea level. could get their first glimpse of “the Cas- many segments of the trail, there are tle” above, a cut-stone-and- also long stretches that climb across The memorial drive structure erected at the end of the Veter- smooth, bare rock. Granted, the iron The drive up the Veterans Memorial ans Highway. guardrails that line both sides of the trail Highway takes visitors from 2,351 feet Despite the lateness of date, fossil are a great help — but still, the climb to above sea level at the tollhouse to 4,602 banks still lay in shaded curves the summit is much more than just a feet at the Castle driveway, 5 miles along the Whiteface roadway over the long walk up a staircase. away, an increase in elevation of 450 Memorial Day weekend, becoming 2) If you are going to climb the stair- feet per mile. Besides the steady climb, more common the higher visitors drove. case, make sure you’ve worn a sturdy the narrowness of the road, and the hair- At about 3,900 feet, visitors caught pair of shoes. pin turns, there’s one more good reason another hint of just how alien the 3) Remember that upward climbs are for the 25-mph speed limit: frost heaves, weather of the Adirondack High Peaks also downward climbs — it just depends the washboard-like deformations left by could be: The road swept past a thin upon where you start from. You can water freezing beneath the layer of ice draped like a transparent avoid a strenuous hike while still partak- surface through the long, cold Adiron- curtain across a northern rock face cut ing of the stairway ridge trail by leaving dack winter. into the mountain, the snow melting in the Castle and heading down through the Information posted on the chalkboard the direct sunlight above it dripping parking lot to elevator tunnel entrance. at the tollhouse last Saturday said that down into the shade and freezing again. Take the elevator to the summit, and the clear skies allowed for up to 80 At 3.7 miles along the mountain walk back down the Castle staircase. miles of visibility. Visitors had a chance highway, just past a hairpin turn, drivers to test that boast in about a mile when should slow down, preparing for a big The ride to the summit the first big view sprang up through the surprise: the first fabulous view from Beneath a cut-stone archway is the trees at the Union Falls overlook, eleva- Whiteface to the south and west, where entrance to a 426-foot tunnel cut into the tion 2,700 feet. A light haze made it Placid Lake with its southern peninsula living granite. The ceiling of the gradu- and three signature islands rests, the ally rising tunnel is perhaps 7 feet above Olympic Village nestled just beyond it, the floor, and there are maybe 6-1/2 feet How do they stack up? the High Peaks rising behind it. between the walls. Lamps are affixed every 10 feet at about knee height be- From the top of Whiteface The Castle neath the metal handrails on either side Mountain, visitors can see the From there, it’s just 1.3 more miles of the path. The low lights and narrow entire High Peaks region of the to the parking lot at the top of the Vet- tunnel lend a distinctly subterranean , including New erans Highway, just below the Castle, tone to this short walk through the heart York’s highest, . built in 1936. From the parking lot, the of the mountain nearly a mile above sea Here’s how the highest peaks in Castle doesn’t look like much, but the level. several eastern states rank with Moorish stone arches along its driveway The smallish elevator car — it holds the top of the Adirondacks: and inside, and the view from the up- 15 kids or 12 adults, jam-packed — rises Mount Mitchell, N.C., 6,684’ • gift shop and snack bar, are stun- into the middle of the Summit House at • Clingman’s Dome, Tenn., 6,643’ ners. The Castle has two other signal the top of Whiteface Mountain. When • Mount Washington, N.H., 6,288’ attractions: It’s heated, and it has the you step out of the circular stone house • Mount Marcy, N.Y. — 5,344’ only bathrooms available for use by onto the wide porch surrounding it, • Mount Katahdin, Maine, 5,268’ Whiteface summit guests. though, the spectacular 360-degree view • Mount Mansfield, Vt., 4,393’ Outside the Castle is the start of an will give you the impression of being on All of these are dwarfed by the iron-railed staircase that climbs a fifth top of the world. Western mountains, many of which of a mile up a bare granite ridge past While the other High Peaks are all climb over 14,000 feet, and the dwarf pine forests, lichens and other grouped together, Whiteface rises alone. Alaskan peaks, the highest of vegetation that can be found only at Nothing close by is anywhere near its which is Mount McKinley, whose alpine heights. These are among the height, giving visitors a viewing experi- summit rises nearly 4 miles above oldest plant communities in New York ence they can’t get on any other moun- sea level to 20,320 feet. Mount state, and they are similar to what is taintop in the Adirondacks. Add to that Everest is 29,028 feet high. found a sea level hundreds of miles the facts that you can motor up White- closer to the Arctic Circle. Five inter- face and ride in an elevator to the sum- mit, and you begin to appreciate how hit Lake Placid with a rock from here. Hours, fees, info extraordinarily accessible is the experi- It’s impossible!” The Veterans Memorial Highway on ence there. Adjacent to the Summit House is a Whiteface Mountain will be open daily The Shelter House and the elevator shingled tower rising several stories from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. until June 28. tunnel rising into it were the last pieces above the granite, the Whiteface Moun- Starting June 29, the hours are 8:30 a.m. of the Memorial Highway construction tain Summit Weather Observatory, af- to 5 p.m. daily. From Sept. 3 through project, completed in 1938. filiated with the SUNY weather research Oct. 14, the hours of operation go back Atop the Summit House shines a lan- facility headquartered down the moun- to 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. If the weather tern. A plaque affixed to the wall ex- tain near Santa’s Workshop. allows, the highway may stay open past plains, “This Memorial Light ... is a Past the weather observatory, the Oct. 14. mark of tribute to the war veterans of the mountain summit vista opens out at last. The toll for trips up the Veterans nation. It burns constantly from May 15 As many visitors hike up from Wilming- Memorial Highway is $8 for car and until the Memorial Highway is closed to ton or the Marble Mountain trailhead to driver, $5 for motorcycle and driver, and the public at the end of October.” the summit as ride the elevator or climb $4 for each additional passenger up to a There are two exits from the Summit the staircase, and the rough granite $25 maximum for a non-commercial House: one due north, and one due mountaintop was crawling with guests vehicle. Children 6 and under can ride south. The north-facing doorway opens last Saturday, all entranced by the glori- for free. There is a group rate of $4 per onto the portion of the surrounding patio ous view presented for them there, many person. There is no additional charge for that looks out toward ; the south- munching on lunches packed up in parking at the top. ern exit leads to the rocky summit and knapsacks or picnic baskets. For more information, visit the Web the view of Placid Lake and the High Flying level with the summit, a pass- site for the Olympic Regional Develop- Peaks. Standing with his family last Sat- ing small plane dipped its wings in ment Authority at orda.org, or telephone urday on the southern patio, a little boy greeting before cruising on. (518) 523-1655. was heard to exclaim, “You could never