May 28 Ticonderoga NY to Newcomb,NY

I left Ticonderoga in clouds but no rain but by nine it was pouring but I couldn’t bear the idea of turning around after climbing for several miles as I left the shores of Lake Champlain. I rode through some beautiful scenery today as I entered the Adirondack Mountains.  It appears to be a fairly impoverished area with only very small towns.  I went through Paradox, Severance, North Hudson and Blue Ridge.  I ended up in Newcomb because it had a B&B and a population of 436, a large town for this area. Camping wasn’t an option with so much rain.  I stopped at a small farm store outside of North Hudson to buy some local baked goods. The owner told me that the rain and cold is causing lots of problems for this area.  Tourism on the lakes is down and the farmers can’t Plant their crops because the ground is too wet.  The loggers can’t get to the forest because it is too soggy.  She said that she had about 4000 leak plants that needed to get planted and can’t do it.  So while it’s already an impoverished place this is making it worse.  Apparently Adirondack is an Indian word for bark eater because the Indians from this area were so poor they had to eat bark in the winter.  It is tough terrain with little farmable property.  I would guess people are at the edge of financial collapse all the time.