On Friday November 21 I went up to Vermont to bring my son home for Thanksgiving. On the way up I stopped at Saratoga National Park. I got there at about 9:30 in the morning and had a nice talk with one of the rangers. I had to wait until they got the "all clear" for driving on the tour road. I didn't see any snow worth talking about (a few scattered spots here and there) but apparently there had been issues with ice on the road so they needed to make sure it was ok to drive on. The tour road is about 9 miles long. After I left the visitor's center and started my tour I saw one other car while I was there. That was it. I pretty much had the entire park to myself. I did see a few people walking whom I assumed were locals out for some exercise, but didn't see any other visitors.
It's a beautiful place set just off of the Hudson. The following shot was taken at the "American River Fortifications" stop. You can see the Hudson in the background.
There are 10 stops on the auto tour and I hit them all. At Stop 7 is my second favorite monument from the ones I've seen while touring national parks, the "Boot" monument dedicated to Benedict Arnold.
Now of course Benedict Arnold is infamous for betraying the country later in the Revolution, but prior to that he was a very successful general for the Americans and he played a key role in the victory at Saratoga. So there was a dilemma. On the one hand it was felt he should be honored for his role here, on the other he WAS a traitor. So the compromise was this monument. The boot symbolizes the serious leg wound he received while leading an attack during the battle, but there are absolutely no inscriptions on the monument. Not his name, not an explanation, nothing at all. Just this boot, paying honor to a man who later betrayed his country.
Here's another view of the Hudson and the surrounding countryside from the "Great Redoubt" stop.
After leaving Saratoga I took US Route 4 north for a while. This road generally follows the route General Burgoyne took when he invaded the colonies in 1777 (only to surrender at Saratoga). Along the way i saw a marker for Jane McRae, the young fiance of a British soldier who was murdered by Indians allied with Burgoyne and the British. Legend has it that her murder galvanized the colonists in New England and resulted in a large increase in the militia attached to General Gates, which helped bring about the defeat of Burgoyne.
