Day 6 - 2020 Northville Placid Trail Thru Hike - Zero
The Northville-Placid Trail is a 139-mile long distance hiking trail that runs through the heart of the Adirondacks - from the village of Northville in the south to the village of Lake Placid in the north. The trail is unique in the Adirondacks that it does not traverse any significant mountain peaks, but instead stays to the valleys and lowlands throughout the Adirondacks. That results in the trail passing many lakes, streams, ponds (and there being plenty of mud along the way).
Hotel time on a zero!
We thru hiked the NPT between August 9, 2020 and August 18, 2020. We had one zero near Long Lake. We had two cars so we set the hike up with a handful of car shuttles. That gave us a chance to resupply and grab some town food.
Day 6 of our Northville-Placid Trail Thru Hike was a zero. We shuttled cars, checked into a hotel, and enjoyed a non-trail day.
As part of the hike, Jeff kept a journal of each day and so, with so we will be using his journal to provide a description of each day’s hike. You can also find the entire NPT thru hike on our YouTube channel here.
Woke up at Wakely Dam (very chilly), packed up and headed out to go get my car in Piseco. On the way we stopped in Indian Lake at Stewart’s and had multiple breakfasts while sitting at their outdoor picnic tables. From there it was down to get my car and then we figured we’d head to Long Lake and see if there was a hotel anywhere we could stay at.
After getting my car, we hit the Town of Speculator beach (very nice) to rinse off and enjoy some time doing nothing. Then it was north to Long Lake. Everything everywhere seemed booked. Finally found a hotel with a room in Saranac Lake, which worked out okay since we needed to shuttle cars to Placid. So up to Saranac we went. For what we paid it should have been a 4-star hotel but the Best Western was just fine for me, even at that price point. Felt so good after 5 days in the woods to get in the shower and clean up. Then it was lots of takeout, followed by crashing hard in that comfy bed.
Resources for the Northville-Placid Trail in the Adirondack Park
The best guide to the NPT is the Adirondack Mountain Club's Northville-Placid Trail Guidebook
The best map is the National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map for the Northville-Placid Trail
You can save a few bucks and get both the Guidebook and Map as a bundle
Both proved indispensable for this hike. The NPT isn't currently in an app like Guthook and the AllTrails data is very, very limited. For the NPT definitely go with the old fashioned map and pick up the guidebook so you know what to expect. We carried both with us, but if I did it again, I'd just have the map. The map is waterproof/tearproof so it'll survive the hike.
Interested in hiking the NPT, but want guide services? Hike On Guides can do that - we have special long distance hiking services tailored for the Northville-Placid Trail.
Gear we used on the Northville Placid Trail
Gear we used on the Northville Placid Trail
