The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
Phil Brown edited the Adirondack Explorer from 1999 until his retirement in 2018. He continues to explore the park and to write for the publication and website.
By Phil Brown
Shipton’s Arete is one of my favorite places to take a novice rock climber. The three routes on the arête are all pretty easy. There’s a good anchor for a top rope. And the arête overlooks scenic Chapel Pond. The easiest route, Shipton’s Voyage, is rated only 5.4 on the Yosemite Decimal System scale of…
By Phil Brown
If you follow land conservation in the Adirondacks, you probably have heard of the Open Space Institute. It has helped preserve a lot of acres in the Adirondacks and elsewhere in New York State. Less well known is its program to help preserve farms in the Champlain Valley. Through the Klipper Family Fund the OSI…
By Phil Brown
The Barkeater Trails Alliance has done a great job building mountain-bike trails in Wilmington, Lake Placid, and Saranac Lake. A proposed management plan for the Saranac Lakes Wild Forest calls for the construction of 35 more miles of bike trails in the region. You can read about the plan in the forthcoming issue of the…
By Phil Brown
An ad on Craigslist led to the arrest of a woman for allegedly selling an Arctic fox as a pet, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The woman, from Kenmore, a Buffalo suburb, told authorities she bought the young fox in Michigan. She offered it for sale for $600. She faces a fine…
By Phil Brown
If you’ve been planning to climb the Trap Dike on Mount Colden, you might think about doing it this weekend. That’s because the state Department of Environmental Conservation plans to close the trail along Avalanche Lake from Tuesday, August 15, through Friday, August 25. Most climbers reach the Trap Dike by hiking to the lake…
By Phil Brown
In its latest forest ranger report, the state Department of Environmental Conservation gives its account of the search for a hiker who drowned in the East Branch of the Ausable River. Click here to read the full report.
By Phil Brown
The state Department of Conservation is conducting a search in the Catskills for a sixty-year-old man who has been missing since Tuesday. Following is a news release from the department: DEC Statement More than a dozen DEC Forest Rangers, a DEC K-9 Unit, a New York State Police aviation unit helicopter with infrared camera, four…
By Phil Brown
If you’ve seen a bear or sign of a bear, such as tracks, scat, or fur, Cornell University wants to know about it. Cornell has developed a free app for citizen scientists to input data on bear sightings. The information will enable scientists to monitor the growing bear population in New York State. Cornell issued…
By Phil Brown
Ten forest rangers and ten other DEC employees and volunteers are helping to fight a wildfire in Lolo National Forest in western Montana. As of July 27, the fire had spread to 3,700 acres. In all, more than 400 firefighters and other personnel have been assigned to the fire. You can read more details in…
By Phil Brown
It seems that photos of moose are becoming more common with the return of these magnificent creatures to the Adirondacks. Last week, Jeff Nadler, a professional photographer, sent us a shot of a young moose he took near Great Sacandaga Lake in the southern Adirondacks. Today I’m sharing a photo of another young moose taken…