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Railroad? Trail? Why are people fighting each other? Converting the rail line into a multi-use corridor (hike, bike, snowmobile, train) will create unlimited possibilities for backcountry recreation, camping, and even lodging. Dick Beamish, in his Viewpoint [“Confronting history on 2 wheels,” January/February 2015], argues correctly that the rail corridor has great historic value, conveniently forgetting,…
I am writing to the Explorer again, as I have done a few times already, in support of the rail-trail corridor, only this time with another viewpoint that I’m surprised has not been mentioned previously. In the heart of New York City the existing unused elevated train rails, instead of being demolished, have been converted…
I read the article “A Passion for Peaks” [November/December 2014] and have to take issue with what was portrayed while Bethany Garretson was hiking Owls Head Mountain. Granted that Owls Head is not a major peak and it’s a short hiking distance, but to romanticize and glorify someone who begins hiking at 8 p.m. with…
A winter trifecta Owen, Copperas, and Winch ponds offer skiers and snowshoers an escape into wilderness just a short drive from Lake Placid. By Phil Brown It’s little wonder that Owen, Copperas, and Winch ponds are popular hiking destinations in summer: for little effort, you can walk through quiet woods to visit these pretty ponds, take…
Taking a new hike Purchase of MacIntyre West Tract opens up Lake Andrew as a destination, though the state has yet to mark the route. By Phil Brown After writing about the state’s acquisition of the MacIntyre West Tract for the last issue of the Explorer, I was eager to explore it, and Lake Andrew seemed like…
By Phil Brown
It’s late January, but we’re still waiting for midwinter ski conditions. That said, you can find good skiing if you pick the right spots. At lower elevations, you want to stick to smoother trails—such as truck trails and old woods roads—as there might not be enough snow to cover big rocks and roots. At higher…
By Phil Brown
Backcountry skiing has improved in the Adirondacks since the Great Thaw in late December, but we still don’t have as much snow as we’d like for mid-January. Shortly after Christmas, Carol Fox and I “skied” the hill above Whiteface Inn Lane on the Jackrabbit Trail. There were so many exposed rocks and so much open…
History meets tourism Adirondack historians, including me, have given short shrift to the story of Native Americans in our part of New York. We have all paid too much attention to the generally shared assumption that the Adirondack region was used only seasonally by Indians who thus had no permanently established towns or villages here.…
In managing public lands within the Adirondack Park, the state constitution controls: they must remain forever wild. But in applying this principle to decisions about how to classify and manage particular areas within the Park, the state relies on the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan. This forty-two-year-old document divides the Forest Preserve into different…
The writer of the letter “Trail etiquette for snowshoers” [November/December, 2014] seems to feel that cross-country skiing should be given preeminence in the use of a foot trail once ski tracks are laid down. I could certainly agree while using established and signed ski trails throughout the Adirondacks, but when on multi-use foot trails during…