Lake Placid Paddle & Whiteface Hike

I'm thinking about combining a paddling and hiking trip with my son, paddling from the Lake Placid boat launch to Whiteface Landing, then hiking to the top of Whiteface, and returning in the same day.

Has anyone done this combination?

We don't have much paddling experience, and I've never really paid much attention to how far we've paddled and in what amount of time. Any estimates for the time to paddle from the boat launch to Whiteface Landing? That's my biggest concern. I know the distance is about 4 miles, but I have no idea how long that might take (for novice paddlers like us).

The hike is about 3.5 miles from Whiteface Landing to the summit, so I'm using a conservative estimate of about 2 - 3 hours each way (probably faster on the return). We're both in good shape and have done a lot of hiking so far this Spring/Summer in preparation for a long backpacking trip we'll be taking in August, so I'm not worried about the hike at all.

Also, when leaving the kayaks at Whiteface Landing, any thoughts or suggestions regarding that.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

If I remember correctly, the people that are trying to organize a paddling trail around Lake Champlain are trying to locate their campsites and launching spots 8 miles apart, which they consider to be a day's paddle. So if you combine that with potentially six hours of hiking, you're looking at a pretty long day. I guess you'd need to leave early. Regarding leaving your boats unattended, I wouldn't advise it. I haven't had any bad experiences myself but, while shopping for kayaks on Craigslist, I've seen many adds from guys asking for help finding a stolen boat.

on a windy day that be quite the paddle....  

ScottyJack wrote

on a windy day that be quite the paddle....

Then I better hope for a calm day!!!

Did a little over 3 miles in Lake Sebago in Harriman State Park yesterday morning in about 55 minutes. Hoping that 90 minutes for the paddle each way, plus about 5 - 6 hours for the hike should cover it ...

Will definitely pay close attention to the weather conditions, and will adjust accordingly.

I was hoping that someone might have had some prior experience with this trip and could provide some info, but I guess I'll just have to wing it!

Hey Face...5 or 6 years ago I paddled from the WF club over to WF landing in a 2 person Kayak. We didn't hike we just turned around and came back. I'm not sure how much time it took, but it didn't seem too long...maybe 1.5 - 2 hours? We didn't rush either.