Part 29 (1/2)
=Lake George to the Adirondacks.=
The reader who does not visit Lake George may feel that he is switched off on a side-track at Fort Edward; so, coming to his rescue, we return and resume our northern journey _via_ the main line, through Dunham's Basin, Smith's Basin, Fort Ann, and Comstock's Landing, to--
=Whitehall=, at the head of Lake Champlain. From this point north the _Delaware & Hudson_ crosses all thresholds for the Adirondacks, and shortens the journey to the mountain districts. It pa.s.ses through five mountain ranges, the most southerly, the Black Mountain range, terminating in Mt. Defiance, with scattering spurs coming down to the very sh.o.r.e of the lake. The second range is known as the Kayaderosseras, culminating in Bulwagga Mountain. The third range pa.s.ses through the western part of Schroon, the northern part of Moriah and centre of Westport, ending in Split Rock Mountain. The fourth range, the Bouquet range, ends in high bluffs on Willsboro Bay.
Here the famous Red-Hook Cut is located, and the longest tunnel on the line.
The fifth range, known as the Adirondack Range, as it includes the most lofty of the Adirondack Mountains, viz.: McIntyre, Colden and Tahawas, ends in a rocky promontory known as Tremblau Point, at Port Kent.
Afar the misty mountains piled, The Adirondacks soaring free, The dark green ranges lone and wild, The Catskills looking toward the sea.
_Benjamin F. Leggett._
No wonder, with these mountain ranges to get through, that the subject was agitated year after year, and it was only when the Delaware and Hudson Company placed their powerful shoulder to the wheel, that the work began to go forward. For these mountains meant tunnels, and rock cuts, and bridges, and _cash_. Leaving Whitehall, we enter a tunnel near the old steamboat landing, cross a marsh, which must have suggested the beginning of the Pilgrim's Progress, for it seemed almost bottomless, and pa.s.s along the narrow end of the lake, still marked by light-houses, where steamers once struggled and panted ”like fish out of water,” fulfilling the Yankee's ambition of running a boat on a heavy dew. Then winding in and out along the sh.o.r.e, we proceed to--
=Ticonderoga=, 23 miles from Whitehall. Here terminates the first range of the Adirondacks, to which we have already referred, viz.: Mount Defiance. Steamers connect with the train at this point on Lake Champlain, also with a railroad for Lake George. Near the station we get a view of old Port Ticonderoga, where Ethan Allen breakfasted early one morning, and said grace in a brief and emphatic manner. The lake now widens into a n.o.ble sheet of water; we cross the Lake George outlet, enter a deep rock-cut, which extends a distance of about 500 feet, and reach Crown Point thirty-four miles north of Whitehall.
Pa.s.sing along the sh.o.r.e of Bulwagga Bay we come to--
=Port Henry=, 40 miles from Whitehall. A few miles further the railroad leaves the lake at Mullen Brook, the first departure since we left Whitehall, and we are greeted with cultivated fields and a charming landscape.
=Westport=, 51 miles from Whitehall, is the railroad station for--
=Elizabethtown=, the county seat of Ess.e.x. It is about eight miles from the station, nestled among the mountains. A county consisting mostly of mountain scenery could have no happier location for a head-centre. Elizabethtown forms a most delightful gateway to the Adirondacks either by stage route or pedestrian tour.
A health to Ethan Allen and our commander Gates; To Lincoln and to Was.h.i.+ngton whom every Tory hates; Likewise unto our Congress, G.o.d grant it long to reign, Our country's right and justice forever to maintain.
_Saratoga Revolutionary Ballad._
A short distance north of Westport we enter the well-cultivated Bouquet Valley, and after a pleasant run come to Wellsboro Falls, where we enter seven miles of rock cutting. The road is about 90 feet above the lake, and the cuts in many places from 90 to 100 feet high.
After leaving Red-Rock cut, we pa.s.s through a tunnel 600 feet long.
Crossing Higby's Gorge and rounding Tremblau Mountain, we reach--
=Port Kent=, the connecting point for the progressive village of Keeseville.
=Ausable Chasm=, is only three miles from the station of Port Kent. It is many years since we visited the Chasm, but its pictures are still stamped upon our mind clearly and definitely--the ledge at Birmingham Falls, the Flume, the Devil's Pulpit, and the boat ride on the swift current. Indeed, the entire rock-rift, almost two miles in length, left an impression never to be effaced. The one thing especially peculiar, on account of the trend of the rock-layers was the illusion that we were floating up stream, and that the river compressed in these narrow limits, had ”got tired” of finding its way out, until it thought that the easiest way was to run up hill and get out at the top.
Hear what the gray-haired woodmen tell Of this wild stream and its rocky dell.
_William Cullen Bryant._