Adirondack style Thanksgiving -Holmes Lake

The largest group ever for our Adirondack style Thanksgiving. The location was chosen to entice Ian to join us, but work responsibilities interfered. During the lead-up, Eric would joke "who is this Ian?" as it has been a long time since he has been able to join us for turkey day.

The parking for Holmes was expected to be an issue, so we had a back-up plan in case of too much snow. What we did not anticipate was the condition of the dirt road. A lot of muddy ruts, rocks and washouts. It was amazing my car made it. In hindsight, I should have parked at a pull-off earlier. From the gate, it was only a mile to camp. Thursday was cool, upper 30s, and the trail was sloppy. We arrived with plenty of time to gather wood and start a fire.

In the afternoon, Jennifer and her puppy "john lennon" arrived and we put the chili on the fire. As it was close to being ready, eric slipped on the ice and almost fell into the fire. He avoided injury, but the chili did not fare so well as the pot flipped over. We had to eat our hot dogs with normal condiments.

Evening comes early in winter, even though it still is technically not winter. Eric and I crashed in the lean2, while Jennifer (and johnL) slept in a tent. Was expected to get colder. Friday night was to be the colder of the nights though. We were glad the lean-to was well away from the lake because near the lake was considerably colder.

Slept like a champ, Eric and Jennifer not as well apparently. I restarted the fire and put on a pot of water. The lakeside was still much colder, but pretty in the morning dawn.

We collected more wood and took a few strolls through the woods while waiting for the rest of our party. Andy was the first to arrive, followed shortly by Kalie and Chad. This was Kalie's 3rd Adk Tgiving in a row, and second for Chad. We all joked around, gathered more wood. Took a few more strolls. Sang a few bars of Alice's Restaurant. Then back at the campfire cooked up a Thanksgiving dinner which couldn't be beat. We certainly ate a lot. Turkey came out divine.

After dinner we loaded up the fire with some nice cherry backers which provided a lot of heat once they got glowing. We all went to bed and like usual I was the first one up at first light. The fire still had some coals which I fanned back to life.

After breakfast and cleanup we made the long stroll downhill for a mile where are cars awaited.

The drive out was rather treacherous as the road was now icy and rutted. We drove slow; slower than if we walked it. I do not think I will try my luck on that road again. Looking forward to next Thanksgiving as our crew is growing.