Hadley Mountain firetower
Gusts of wind rattled the Hadley Mountain fire tower, plastering the American flag against a tower window. By Edward Fitzpatrick
Adventure Planner
High Falls Loop
Hikers looking for adventure outside the crowded High Peaks should consider exploring the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The best way to acquaint yourself with the beauty of this remote tract is to walk the 16-mile High Falls Loop on a sunny summer’s day when the wildflowers are in bloom. By Phil Brown
Castle Rock
Walking through a shady forest dominated by beech trees, John Collins encounters an old friend at a fork in the trail: a 15-foot yellow birch with long roots gripping a boulder like a pitcher preparing to throw a curveball. By Will Nixon
Mountain biking in the Moose River Plains
Are you wondering if there’s a place where you can go with your mountain bike, your tandem touring kayak, your trout rod and hiking boots, and use them all on the same day without moving your camp? By Peter Kick
Little Tupper to Lake Lila
Sitting around the campfire, Dave Cilley tells of a strange encounter he had on an earlier journey from Little Tupper Lake to Lake Lila, a route only a few hardy paddlers have explored—it goes through backcountry ponds, down narrow streams and along logging roads. By Will Nixon
Follensby Pond
Someday, paddlers travelling the Raquette River between Long Lake and Tupper Lake may be able to de-tour to visit Follensby Pond, one of the gems of the Adirondacks.
Massawepie Mire
To introduce me to bogs, Mike Brennan drops his day pack on a grassy hummock and pulls off his tan fleece jacket. Dressed in green shorts, unlike the rest of us on this cool day, he drops to his knees and plunges his arm into the slender gap of dark water between the bright green lips of sphagnum moss. By Will Nixon
Lapland Lake Cross-Country Ski Center
Olavi Hirvonen, a native of Finland and former U. S. Olympic skier, knew what he wanted — and in 1978 his search drew him to the beauty and deep snow of the southern Adiron-dack forest.
Champlain Valley mountain hopping
Walking through tall goldenrods on Trembleau Mountain, I follow Gary Randorf’s head bobbing above the plants in a baseball cap the color of a yellow highlighter that I couldn’t possibly miss. An inveterate bushwhacker, Randorf climbed three small mountains the previous day without a map and compass, simply following the angle of the sun for his directions. By Will Nixon
Big Slide via the Brothers
When you’re hiking by yourself in late December and you know you’re pushing daylight, you tend to look at your watch a lot. By Alan Wechsler