Welcome to Smidlap-Con 2020
We're nearing the end of the 2nd annual Smidlap-Con 2020 in the lovely Adirondack Mountain Region of New York State
Smidlap-Con 2020 is nearing its end.
Here's the recap of what has happened so far along with the likely award winners.
Sunday, August 2: Grocery shopping and driving to the cabin
Buy 1 get 2 Free! Muffuritos for everybody.
We had bought our usual outrageous quantity of wine the previous afternoon on our way into Saratoga Springs, NY. We hadn't yet stopped at the house and we were making a large purchase so our dog, Banjo!, had the pleasure of his first wine shopping trip. We had masks but the dog did not and we were in and out of the store in 20 minutes with our 18 bottles of delicious vino. We tend to spend a little more on wine for Smidlap-Con because it's vacation after all. We do the same with our grocery purchases for the week. As much as we would like to get all these supplies up in the Adirondacks it really is not feasible as the nearest Price Chopper store is probably 45 minutes from our camp. So we just go ahead and spend 300 bucks on some high quality items in Saratoga before we make the 80 minute drive up I-87 to the cabin.
We've been renting this cabin each year for 5-6 years now and really look forward to being here. Sunday when we arrived the temperature was in the low 70's and a welcome break from the stifling high 80's heat and humidity that was July in Buffalo this summer. We also noticed the water level of little Harris Lake was pretty low. Check out the dock in the top picture and remember that when you see the one later after a day of rain on Tuesday. We grilled up some swordfish steaks on Sunday and just chilled out with some wine on the porch. It was a good day.
Oh, and if you ever want to rent this place here is the link: Beachfront Cabin on Harris Lake
We bought the world's largest pork loin roast at almost 9 pounds for $14.72.
Monday, August 3: A long hike with friends and filet mignon
Mrs. Smidlap's sister and her fiancee joined us around noon for a long but relatively flat and easy to one of the famous Great Adirondack Camps called Santonini. It really is more like just walking as the route is a dirt road that a horse drawn carriage passes on to take people who can't make the 4.5 mile distance via their own legs or bicycle. Mostly that consists of the older crowd and the carriage did pass us with a load of passengers if you were curious. We did the same walk/hike last year as I wrote about here: Smidlap Con 2019 Wrap Up. Is That Sour Milk I Smell? So, Dan and I walked out ahead of the women folk who wanted a more leisurely pace and we passed a young park ranger who was coming back from Santonini and informed us the buildings were closed because there was a flash flood threat in the area which seemed odd because it didn't even rain that day. The result is that our guest got hosed on being able to go inside the buildings but if the camp was open this is what they would have seen.
Don't even think about it.
I'm glad I didn't have to help move those stones for the fireplace.
Well, our guests will have to walk in another time to see inside the camp. We humped it the 4.5 miles out at a pretty good clip wth 16-17 minute miles and while it was not especially hot everybody was ready for a Moosehead Lager back at the camp. The nice thing about the Santonini trail is that you only have to drive 3-4 miles up the road from the camp to get there. Later we grilled up filet mignon to go with some fantastic wine and even some sea scallops to make it surf and turf. We had a fire on the beach and everybody stayed up too late, which was a grand time. We all retired to bed as this cabin has a little guest room with a couple of comfortable twin beds. Day 2 was in the books.
Tuesday, August 4: Rain and more rain
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Tuesday was a pretty good rest day as Mrs. Smidlap was pretty wiped out from the 9 miles round-trip the previous day. That nicely coincided with a full and complete day of steady rain. Thankfully it wasn't particularly stormy during the day and a person could get ambitious and go and nature hike. That's not how we roll on vacation, though. We're perfectly happy to put on WWOZ.org on the hi-fi and sit around and read and cook. I ate some leftover swordfish and Swiss chard from our garden at home and took about a 3 hour afternoon nap. Then I woke up and it was magically the cocktail hour! We had some high end red zinfandel from Sonoma County called Rattlesnake while I cooked up chicken breasts on the bone in the oven. Just like hiking we could have lit up the grill in the steady rain but fuck that. I also took the time to bake up a dozen sourdough bread rolls with the sour starter from home. Like anything else we learned over the years the items best brought from home for these rental places like aluminum foil and plastic wrap and spices. This joint has a lot of stuff on hand compared to others but we like what we like and if you cook a lot like us then it's best to plan and bring those items along for the ride.
Did you notice how much that water rose from just one day of rain? That all took place the next morning as this lake is basically in a kind of bowl and all the run-off caused the water to rise that much. It got close to where we make our campfire so I hope we don't have to move all that.
Wednesday, August 5: We climbed a mountain and grilled an adventure
We usually do the same 4 hikes or some combination every year up here. While I could handle something like a 20 mile round trip hike and some more rough terrain Mrs. Smidlap just ain't down for that and I don't blame her. If you're gonna try and take on a task that would ruin your next day or two physically what's the point? We're not here to prove anything so much as have a good time and get outside as much as possible. One of the "usual suspects" of hikes is just 4 miles up Goodnow Mountain a few miles past Santonini. We've done it several times in the past and like going to the fire tower at the top.
The Goodnow trail was pretty rock yesterday
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that on the morning walk with Banjo! Mrs. Smidlap saw a bear! Unlike last year when we saw one cross the road in front of our car this time she was on foot and saw a bear cub sauntering around near one of the neighboring properties. It's just a little reminder that while we don't often see them these animals are in the woods around and maybe closer than you realize. For all I know Yogi and BooBoo bear were close by too.
Around mid-day we took that hike up Goodnow and it was slow going despite the relatively cool weather. The trail was more rocky than I remember but being a good trooper Mrs. Smidlap make it to the top with me in about an hour. I climbed the fire tower with Banjo! and MB stayed on the ground as it was a pretty windy day.
The dog doesn't mind climbing the tower at all, even on a windy day. You can see dense forest for many miles up there.
There's a little weather station atop the tower
MB found time to paint a watercolor of some birch trees
I didn't see a bear, just a salamander after the rain.
After the hike it was once again the cocktail hour so after another Moosehead Beer we dove headfirst into some chardonnay while I attempted to set up the grill for the other 2 chicken breasts and sausages.
I consider myself a pretty good cook but charcoal grilling has baffles and befuddled me for many years. I have a Weber gas grill at home we bought about 18 years ago and am plenty skilled with that set-up. This time we even brought our chimney type rig to light up charcoal good'n'hot but I still manage to poon-tang it up somehow. I ended up having to add new briquettes after the fact to finish off the chicken and I even grilled our first swordfish #muffuritos near the end. Everything worked out fine. Never had a muffurito? This is what they are and how you make them: Good Eats for Cheap #5 – Muffuritos! Everything turned out fine in the end as it usually does.
Looks hot to me. I'll figure it all out one of these days.
Thurday, August 6: Moving a dock and more cooking
We just moved the dock closer to shore on another perfect day and we did it without any instructional videos! You just pull up those poles that anchor the dock and the two of us easily moved 'er back into place and re-anchored it. Now the dog and get up there where he likes to hang out. Before we did it he went halfway through the water but it was too deep for him to join MB for a day in the sun. I think we all deserve a day in the sun now and them and a little glory. I'm in the process of cooking up red beans and preparing a giant 3 pound rib steak for tonight's dinner. As far as the award trophy's this year I lost all hope of that coveted hygiene award. Mrs. Smidlap will win that one again and Banjo! is likely to take home Dog of the Year uncontested. I'll just have to settle for the Heaviest Wine Drinker award. That's all I got for now and I'll write more when we get to Vermont in a few days. I'll see you all at Smidlap-Con 2021 I hope.