MikeAdminK09
17 May 21
Remote vacation land in the northern Adirondacks.
After church and taking care of a few chores around the house we decided to enjoy the spring weather by having a picnic in the northern New York woods. Our faithful time machine took 45 minutes to cover what would normally be a four hour drive to this very remote community in the Adirondacks. Our route of flight took us over Plattsburg and in the vicinity of Lake Placid. The views along the route are amazing with numerous deep gorge containing lakes and a vast trackless terrain. It is amazing but only minute from our house we couldn’t see a sign of civilization from 5,500 – not a road or building.
The runway at Piseco is a well maintained asphalt with clear new markings. The runway is just over 5,000 feet long with a large 2,000 cut into the woods on the approach to runway 24. While we didn’t need any the field is equipped with a self-service fuel pump that appeared to be working and the price was 35 cents cheaper than the 25 off member price at Franklin County Airport. The thing that was most impressive was the proximity to Piseco Lake. From the air the runway appears to almost run right into the lake it is so close. Piseco Lake is very remote with a camp ground along the northern shore and private camps along both shores.
While K09 is a great runway the real draw is what surrounds the airport. New York has decided to make this airport situated on one of upstate New York’s best fishing cold water lake with an extensive set of hiking and Nordic skiing trails. This field is also an ideal location to just get away for a picnic with little or big kids. There are numerous picnic tables and a very nice, new, aviation themed playground. Cell phone coverage is a little spotty, but the airport has a pay phone. Yes it works – we checked.
The FBO and restrooms were closed during our visit due to COVID though looking in the windows and both looked very nice. The restroom appeared to be full service, including showers. They had a rack for selling camp wood but we couldn’t see a designated camping area on the field, though there was ample space. The one local we spoke with did tell us there was a public camp ground just down the road from the airport, situated on the Shore of Piseco Lake.
As we sat down to enjoy our lunch we quickly realized there is one must have accessory for any trip to Piseco – BUG SPRAY. It didn’t take long for the bugs to find us and create a cloud, but fortunately for us Jaimie brought these nice OFF bug spray toilettes. They worked great, though because you have to hold the cloth to apply it your hands definitely get bug spray on them and so your food has a bit of a deet flavor if you eat right after applying. We were thinking the perfect combo would be a normal wipe along with the deet wipeJ.
After lunch we went on a hike along the Fox Brown trail. This trail is actually a paved bike path travels within 30 yards of the runway along its eastern side. The paved bike path continued in a clearing north of the runway and then into the woods. There are multiple dirt trails that branch off into the mixed conifer and broad leaf forests on both sides of the runway. Checking out the trail map one of the trails appeared to cover about 40 miles all the way back to lake placid. The woods were definitely beautiful and remote, these are no visit center nature trails.
After our hike we took one more walk about the trail head area and then planned our departure. Jaimie suggested we complete a circuit around the lake to plan our next visit. So after departing runway 24 we passed directly over the camp ground and believed we located the bed and breakfast that also has cabins. One very interesting building along the eastern shore was a large hangar, clearly for a seaplane of some type.
Our flight home was uneventful though we did have to stay below the overcast layer at 6,500 ft and dodge showers over Lake Placid and Au Sable, NY.
Summary: Great way to spend a Sunday and still get home in time to watch the Yankee came. Piseco is extremely remote, but it has an abundance of trails right on the airport and a large lake a short walk away. We didn’t see any restaurants or even a store in the vicinity so packing in your lunch in is key, as is brining plenty of bug stray.
We had a wonderful adventure visiting Lake Piseco, but sometimes the best part of the trip is arriving home and enjoying a gin and tonic to unwind.
