When we spent a week in Lake Placid with the kiddos three years ago, I had a list of flattish, easy-ish hikes to try with them; we made it on quite a few, but the list was longer than a week’s worth and we didn’t have time for all of them. On this trip, we were kid-free, but that list of family-friendly hikes proved useful for squeezing in quick jaunts around work. Finding ourselves able to knock off a bit early on our anniversary (which was a Friday – yay!) we decided to nip over to Henry’s Woods, a privately maintained preserve just outside of Lake Placid, for a pre-dinner ramble.

Ferns! Fun fact: when I was thirteen, I spent a summer as a counselor-in-training at Camp Is-sho-da, and one of my assignments was to draw and label every variety of fern in the camp’s fern garden. I used to know them all. Not so much anymore – lawyering and parenting have chased that knowledge out of my head, sadly.

Anyway – it was a lovely, peaceful trail, winding through a quiet wood; perfect for unwinding after a week of work and adventuring.

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We followed the gently inclining path up to a quiet overlook.

Just the exhale we needed! We admired the view and then wandered back downhill, bound for Lake Placid and a delicious dinner at Top-of-the-Park, overlooking Mirror Lake. A totally perfect celebration of sixteen years of marriage. Can’t wait to see what the next sixteen (and more!) bring.

Next week: one final Adirondack adventure, and it’s quite the adrenaline rush.