July 9th – Penns Cave to Ticonderoga:  Awakening to the sound of a thunderstorm, I chuckled as this was a flying day and it would seem to be the first day with clouds in a long time. I checked the weather to see that Westminster was on the very northern edge of the massive storm and that thunder was more distant than I had thought. I finished packing and made my way to the airport, arriving in time to see a Caravan launch to the SE only to disappear into the clouds before leaving the end of the airport property. Looking to the north, however, there were a few wispy clouds and very flyable clouds – scattered about 6000’. Perfect.

Looking to the west as I departed, I could see the large fog bank in the near ground – we were truly JUST on the edge; but my route to Penns Cave Airport was still clear. I climbed out to 2800’; enough to clear all of the rolling hills and sprawling valleys but close enough to get a close up view of everything. Some areas were relatively overcast with the sun straining to peek through leaving sun rays that formed an opaque curtain of haze over the landscape. I was hoping for a little bit less haze but the scene was quite picturesque none-the-less.

Penn’s Cave was a 2500’ runway with a note in the AFD about a 3.35° upslope on the first 800’ of runway 7, making 7 the preferred landing runway all else being equal; but the winds were decidedly favoring 25. Approaching from the south, I could not see the airport at all until I was practically right on top of it. Unless you plan on making a really tight pattern, you were not going to be doing your downwind leg inside of the valley. The airport in tucked neatly into Penn’s Valley, lodged between 2 small “hills” each about 1200’ about the airport elevation. I flew an extended downwind over the southern hill, and then turned a quick base and 4 mile final giving me plenty of time to lost 1400’ on the final. The approach through the valley was fun and I was able to lose the altitude and slow my speed before touching down. But this airport would be a great photo for “deceptive views” in the Airplane Flying Handbook: it is 2500’ long, 40’ wide and that “800’ up-sloping” thing seemed to more like just over half of the runway rather than 800’. I guess the part that is mentioned is the last 800’ because of the severity of the slope but the remaining part of the slope just seemed to go unmentioned … along with that dip in the first 600’. So immediately upon touching down I was easing on the breaks – not enough to flatten the tires, but certainly with a bit more enthusiasm than normal – an rolled, and rolled and rolled out to the end of the runway parking area in the grass. I chuckled as I looked out to see the upped part of the runway completely disappear and the departure end of 25 drop off before the sharply rising section of farm field. . . note to self: use 20° of flaps on departure and your best short field technique.

Penn’s Cave is only a short ½ mile walk from the airport so I made my way there and took both the cave tour and the wildlife tour. This cave is a water cave and the tour is via boat. There are not nearly as many formations as there were in Luray Caverns but the history and the geology were still quite fascinating. The wildlife tour took us through the 1500 acres of farming area and wildlife preserve seeing various species of deed, elf, black bear, mountain cats and wolf; and ended (for me) just past the Africa exhibit back at the airport. I skipped the Texas Longhorns and the Mustangs to avoid that short ½ mile walk at high noon.

Departing the area I made a long straight out departure while gaining altitude and cleaning up the plane, then sashayed right to get enough space to make the turn in the valley to head north. I was still climbing but did not have quite enough altitude to clear the peaks. Turning on course, I finished my climb to 3500’ and skipped across the hill tops on my way to Ticonderoga. Weather was reporting overcast at 7000’ at Lake George, just southeast of my destination so I stayed under the clouds not wanting to get stuck, but also wanting a view of the greenery below. After so many days seeing brown rocks, the greenery was still a welcomed sight … and the haze had finally dissipated enough that the view was nothing short of spectacular.

My approach into Ticonderoga was over Lake George so I could descent rather than doing a dive bomb to the runway. The lake was a beautiful blue-green hue filled with boats and sporting a shoreline with homes scattered in and amongst the trees. I made a straight in approach to runway 2 and was met by Caroline Baldwin and husband, Bill, to spend a couple of days at their summer retreat on Eagle Lake. We unloaded Wild Mama (did I really have that much stuff in the plane???) and headed off for the tour of the old town and local area and Mount Defiance. Bill is an excellent tour guide, obviously having studied the history of the area. He told about the strategic location of the town along the waterway, being at a narrow point in the River. He pointed out that one can travel by water from New York City up through the river and lake to get into Canada, and then continue on back out to the Atlantic Ocean. He pointed out the old location of the paper mill and we stopped in the Visitor’s Center where I got a box of pencils (remembers those old pencils we had as kids that said Dixon/Ticonderoga #2?). We continued up atop Mount Defiance where you could see the Fort and an expansive view of the River that divides New York and Vermont.

We ended our tour and headed to the house. My first words were “Wow!”. The house sits on 2 acres on Eagle Lake, right on Eagle Lake with the main living area overlooking an expansive view of the lake through a smattering of trees. The lake is surrounded by hills forming a “lake valley” and the whole area is quite peaceful and quiet except for the sounds of an abundant array of wildlife. Easily heard were chipmunks and squirrels “arguing” over nuts and many varieties of birds (where is Ellen when I need her – she could name them all). As evening fell, Caroline and I sat playing games and listening to the serenade of the loon echoing through the valley. There is no internet nor cell phone service and no TV. Ahhhh…..

June 10th – Ticonderoga:  The heat of the summer was left behind as I awakened to a cool morning at the Lake. I grabbed my morning coffee and watched the sun rise while the loon serenade continued. The house faces west and the thickly wooded area surrounding the house prevents a full out view of the morning sun but the colors of the morning reflected off the clouds revealing a red glow that infiltrated the sky for a brief time before giving way to the brilliant blue sky of the day. A breeze was blowing across the lake and I sat sipping coffee to the site of shimmering leaves and the chatter of the chipmunks and squirrels, still arguing over those nuts.

Bill got up a bit later and lit a fire in the fireplace. Oooooo: can life get any better? We enjoyed a morning full of finches, squirrels and chipmunks snatching peanuts from our fingers before heading into town for a tour of the old Crown Point Forts at the bridge leading to Vermont. The afternoon wasa spent on the lake paddling about and game playing long in to the wee hours of the morning. But all good things must come to an end and it was time for me to retire to be prepared for a milestone tomorrow.