Recent Explorer Stories
06 / 18 / 2010
A twenty year standstill
Big BrookThe Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said, "You cannot step into the same river twice." His idea was that everything is always in flux, nothing stays the same.

Heraclitus never set foot in Albany.

More than twenty years ago, Buffalo Assemblyman Bill Hoyt, a passionate wilderness paddler, introduced a bill to codify the public's common-law right of navigation. If enacted, it likely would have mitigated the confusion over the public's right to paddle on rivers that pass through private land in the Adirondacks and elsewhere in the state. READ MORE


06 / 18 / 2010
Let the good times flow

Deer River FlowEvery time I drive past the Deer River Flow on Red Tavern Road, I slow down to admire the stunning view southeast toward Debar Mountain. On a few occasions, I have stopped to take pictures. Finally, I decided to paddle the thing last summer.

My friend Phil Blanchard and his twelve-year-old son, Ben, planned to join me, but Phil fell ill on the morning of the trip. Phil didn't think his suffering should stop Ben and me from enjoying ourselves, and it didn't take much persuading for us to come around to his point of view. READ MORE


06 / 18 / 2010
Heeding the call of the birds

Joan CollinsIt is day two of the Hamilton County Birding Festival, and my husband, Jeff Scherer, and I are riding with Joan Collins and Judith Harper in the Moose River Plains. The plains are notable for the large diversity of habitats, which include bogs, open plains, boreal forests, hardwoods, and mountaintops of spruce.

A convoy of cars, toting twenty-six people in all, winds its way through the fifty-thousand-acre tract on roads that were once used for logging by the Gould Paper Company. The participants hail from all over the East, from as far away as Virginia and Ohio. READ MORE


04 / 23 / 2010
Tragedy of the Trout
How logging, fish stocking, acid rain, and other man-made calamities nearly wiped out an Adirondack icon: the wild brookie.

In early May, vernal patches of birch stood out among the darker evergreens lining the remote kettle-hole pond. As we put our canoe into the icy water, a welcome breeze dispersed the cloud of black flies that had tormented us during a long carry. I slowly paddled along the steepest bank while Sam and Dave took turns casting a floating line toward shore. READ MORE



04 / 23 / 2010
Surf's Up!
6 whitewater trips to whet your appetite

There is a time for all things, and the creak of winter will soon give way to the creeks of spring. Whitewater paddlers, rejoice!

The Adirondack Park abounds in whitewater. Oddly, many folks think of running whitewater as a sport strictly for the young, hardy, or foolish, involving blue-lip water temperatures and swollen rapids. Even many experienced paddlers will jump on the creeks only in early spring and then move on to other pursuits just as the real fun begins. READ MORE


04 / 23 / 2010
Showdown at Stillwater
Thompson family contends DEC is closing access to the isolated hamlet of Beaver River.

If you're looking for the most isolated community in New York State, you might find it in Beaver River. The itsy-bitsy hamlet lies deep in the woods in the western Adirondacks, about twenty miles from the nearest community of any size. To get there, you drive up a dirt road until it ends at the western edge of Stillwater Reservoir and then take a boat or barge across open water. READ MORE



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