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Paddlers in inflatable kayaks find thrills and spills in heavy whitewater on the Hudson River: by Phil Brown FROM TIME TO TIME I’ve played with the idea of putting together a list of quintessential Adirondack adventures. It would include, for example, climbing the Trap Dike on Mount Colden, skiing Mount Marcy on a bluebird day,…
Low snow, high hopes When most of the Adirondacks had nary a flake, the Cranberry Lake Wild Forest held out the promise of fresh tracks. By Phil Brown Early January, and we had hardly any snow in Saranac Lake. Meanwhile, Tug Hill west of the Adirondacks got clobbered yet again with a lake-effect storm. Upon hearing that the…
Exploring a frozen paradise Cross-country skiers take advantage of fresh powder to visit East Mill Flow and Round Pond. By Phil Brown
Brandreth Park Association says judge erred in dismissing trespass suit against ‘Explorer’ editor. By Kenneth Aaron THE BRANDRETH PARK Association has appealed a court ruling in a paddling-rights dispute, contending that it could strip landowners of their rights by potentially opening even the smallest of waterways to the public. Dennis Phillips, who represents the…
ARTA has no guarantees that the state would pay for or manage proposed recreational trail. By Brian Mann FOR MORE THAN TWO years, rail-trail activists have been pushing state officials to end decades of financial support for the Adirondack Scenic Railroad and convert a ninety-mile rail corridor between Old Forge and Lake Placid into a…
Cross-country skiers take advantage of fresh powder to visit East Mill Flow and Round Pond. By Phil Brown IT WAS A NEARLY perfect day for a ski tour. The sun was out, and fresh powder covered the trail and coated the branches of evergreens along the way. Kim Martineau was especially happy to be here.…
A veteran ice climber says ascending the frozen cataract is not difficult, but it is risky. By Don Mellor It was suggested to me recently that “if God wanted us to climb ice, He wouldn’t have made it so slippery.” Theology aside, there’s probably some inverse truth here: we want to climb ice precisely because…
By Phil Brown
We just finished our March/April issue of the Adirondack Explorer, so I took Tuesday off to go backcountry skiing and take advantage of the recent snowfalls (before a looming thaw sets in). My neighbor Tim Peartree and I skied through two mountain passes. The first, Avalanche Pass, is one of the most popular ski trips…
By Phil Brown
We got a few inches of fresh powder overnight and may get an additional four to nine inches before the day is done. Let’s hope the forecast is on target. Before work, I went for a short ski on the Jackrabbit Trail outside Saranac Lake. Starting on McKenzie Pond Road, I made first tracks to…
By Phil Brown
Well, I couldn’t wait any longer. After we got a few inches of snow Saturday night, I decided to ski Mount Marcy. From Adirondak Loj Road, I started by skiing up South Meadow Road. On Saturday afternoon, I had skied the road and the Marcy Dam Truck Trail as far as Marcy Dam. The road…