Aerial Adventure
The woods that surround the town of Long Lake in the central Adirondack Mountains are lovely, dark and deep; too deep, says pilot Tom Helms, to appreciate them from the few roads that wind through town and along its namesake 14-mile-long body of water.
Which is why for more than six decades, travelers have sought out the seaplane services of Helms Aero Service — currently two Cessna 206 craft equipped with straight floats — on the beach near the bridge along St. Rte. 30. Make an appointment (or if you’re feeling lucky, just stop by) and, weather permitting, Helms and his crew will give you an aerial tour — one that takes off and lands right on the lake.
Scenic tours last about 20 minutes and cover 25 to 30 miles, soaring 1,500 to 1,700 feet above the water. On a clear day, says Helms, you’ll see a piece of Vermont’s Green Mountains through a notch in the Adirondacks, and for an even better introduction to the area, sign on for the 40-minute tour of the High Peaks Wilderness Area.
Helms says the central Adirondacks were a playground for the wealthy during the latter half of the 19th century, when it was fashionable to “rough it” in elaborate family compounds that came to be called the “great camps.” The Great Camps tour takes you past the remains of some of these abandoned bits of local history, including plots once owned by the Vanderbilts and the Carnegies.
Planes fly every day, weather permitting, and can carry five passengers in addition to the pilot.
Popularity:This article has been viewed
636 times.