Silver Bay YMCA of the Adirondacks Series #1  - Silver Bay History Letterbox Silver Bay YMCA of the Adirondacks is not your typical YMCA. This YMCA is located in the heart of the Adirondacks on beautiful Lake George and is way more than a fitness center. Find it on a map here. While many find the 700-acre campus the ideal place for an affordable family vacation or weekend getaway, Silver Bay is a great day trip too. When you arrive, go to the Inn where you pay the required daily membership fee ($18.00 per adult, $9.00 children 6 – 17, and children 5 and under free*). That’s a bargain when you consider that you will have 11 letterbox hunts. Not to mention the basketball, volleyball, archery, tennis, shuffleboard, horseshoes, badminton, softball, guided hikes, rowboats, canoes, kayaks, sailboats, beaches, swimming, gym and fitness center, a labyrinth and family program offered during the summer season. Meals are available there in the dining hall and in the quaint ice cream and pizza shop. Be sure to pick up a campus and trail map when you check in. (*If you are a member of any other YMCA and can bring proof with you that shows your effective and expiration membership dates, the membership fees are reduced by 25%.) Planted: November 18, 2006 Level of hiking required: Easy Level of clue difficulty: Easy to Moderate Clues:  The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), founded in London in 1844, is the oldest and largest social institution in the United States, where it has been active since 1851. Need and place came together in 1900, when Luther Wishard arrived at Lake George, looking for a conference location where the Young Men's Christian Association could conduct leadership training. A close friend had recommended his uncle's new hotel on Lake George. Silas Paine had recently purchased the Silver Bay Hotel where he offered guests a "sylvan fairy-land….invigorating as an elixir." Wishard's proposal to reserve the hotel for Christian conferences met with Paine's full approval, provided they paid their own way. The first summer's program proved so successful that the Silver Bay Association incorporated after the second season of conferences, in 1904. Find this letterbox and you will be rewarded with a stamp of the original logo of the Silver Bay YMCA. Start at the Inn, the original Silver Bay Hotel. Walk past Morse Hall, originally Silas Paine’s museum and library. Heading north along the road, enter the path to Paine Hall between two round stone pillars directly across from Brookside Community House. Make your way to Paine Hall, originally the summer home of Silas and Mary Paine, now used for lodging at Silver Bay. Go to the southeast corner of the porch and look toward what used to be the walled formal gardens. Enter this area and find the carriage road between two other stone walls and follow the road north/northwest towards Oneida Bay. As you come to the end of the wall on your right hand side, look at the base of the large deciduous tree for the letterbox hidden under a pile of rocks. After enjoying others’ stamps and stories, and stamping in, be sure to seal the box carefully and hide well for future letterboxers to find.