Atop Whiteface Mountain in New York

While riding the shuttle through heavy fog and clouds up Whiteface Mountain the driver assured me that the visibility changes by the minute at the top. He was correct. I caught the 9:30am shuttle for $15 from the lodge. Easier and cheaper than driving Cecilia up there myself. The toll for the mountain road is $20.

Arriving at the shuttle drop off, about 4,000 feet above sea level, I was walking in the clouds. There are 2 ways to get to the very top. I took the good advice to climb up and take the elevator 27 stories down.

Up the road, through the castle built with granite excavated during construction and to the stairs. Patches of blue appearing momentarily as slivers of clouds passed in the wind. Probably only about 6 people up there this early.

The stairs mixed with rocks took some navigating. Within about 20 minutes the cloud cover cleared enough to reveal beautiful vistas in 360-degrees at the top. Lots of different places to take in the view. You can walk way out to the edge at the highest level.

Two men in the 1920's thought building a road to the top of Whiteface was a great idea. They lobbied the New York legislature in Albany persistently to get financial backing for the project in 1929. The promised access for people with physical disabilities won then Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt's endorsement.

FDR turned the ceremonial first shovel of earth in September of 1929. Construction began on 1931. Four years later the Veterans' Memorial Highway to the top opened on July 20, 1935. It cost $1,250,000. That would be $29,350,819 in 2025 dollars. And I'm sure it would cost more, go over budget and take more than 4 years to build.

FDR dedicated the highway on September 14, 1935 as a memorial to the New York State Veterans of WWI.

In 1985 New York Governor Mario Cuomo rededicated the Whiteface Veterans' Memorial Highway to veterans of all wars. Whiteface Mountain History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiteface_Mountain