Nice to Meet You, Lyon Mountain

One of the pleasures of Lake Champlain is being surrounded by mountains -- the Adirondacks in New York and the Greens in Vermont. One of the few frustrations is trying to identify those mountains. I've been at it since April, with limited success.

We have a nice view from the cabin of one of the taller Adirondack peaks. Early on, I asked a neighbor which one it was, and she said she thought it was Whiteface. Not knowing any better, I went with that. 

Don grew doubtful, however. Whiteface is much pointier than "our" mountain, and it's farther south. A few weeks ago, he got out the compass, took a reading, and plotted a bearing line on the New York tourism map. He guessed we were viewing either Dannemora, Lyon, or Averill. It was clear the mountain wouldn't come to us; we'd have to go to the mountain.

A week ago Saturday, we headed out on our quest. We crossed from Alburgh, Vermont, into Rouse's Point, New York, and headed south on Interstate-87, peering west through any break in the trees in search of the mountain. Since the border with Canada is closed due to the coronavirus, the freeway was nearly empty, with long stretches of open road.

We stopped at the first rest area and were studying the map on the travel kiosk when a friendly volunteer groundskeeper sneaked up on us (not really, but he startled me and didn't seem to understand social distancing). Don explained our mission, and he was more than happy to offer suggestions.

He thought Dannemora was a possibility and told us his father worked at the prison near there after returning from serving in the Navy during World War I. He gave us sketchy directions, and we were on our way.

Don had ordered a New York Atlas and Gazetteer so we'd have more detail to guide us, but it hadn't come yet, so I was navigating with the tourism map and Google Maps. Unsurprisingly, we got a bit lost while probing numerous side roads and back roads, looking for a view of the mountain. 

We eventually made it to the Village of Dannemora and drove past the Clinton Correctional Facility, whose razor-wire-topped walls came right up to the road. Sarah was some impressed and full of questions about the people held inside.

We could tell Dannemora Mountain wasn't tall enough to be ours, so we continued on Route 374 over a pass and down to the north end of Chazy Lake. And there, to the southwest, was a familiar sight -- Lyon Mountain. I pulled up the photo taken from the cabin to confirm it.

From the north end of Chazy Lake:

From Route 374, on the way back to Dannemora:

Mission accomplished, we headed back to Vermont, stopping at a Subway in Dannemora for lunch. I think that and the prison were Sarah's highlights of the 147-mile round-trip. Don and I, however, were pretty pleased with ourselves for tracking down our mountain.

Now, when we admire the prominence in the distance, we call it by its proper* name: Lyon Mountain. What's in a name? Reverence, intimacy, a sense of place.... What a joy it is to get to know our new surroundings.

*I'm sure the mountain was called something else by the Iroquois people who lived near it before European settlement, but my Google search was fruitless.