The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
Judge rules that ‘Explorer’ editor did not trespass when he paddled through private property, but the landowners plan to appeal. By Kenneth Aaron The owners of a scenic, remote Adirondack waterway plan to appeal a judge’s decision declaring that the route is open to paddlers under the common-law public right of navigation. In February, State…
By Phil Brown
On Saturday I skied Mount Marcy and was surprised at how good the snow conditions were. I began at the start of South Meadow Road and had to take my skis off only once, on a fifty-yard stretch of the Marcy Dam Truck Trail. To be sure, the trails were hard and sometimes icy on…
By Phil Brown
A sure sign of spring is when the state Department of Environmental Conservation closes rock-climbing routes in the Adirondacks to protect the nesting sites of peregrine falcons. Each spring, DEC bans climbing on routes on Poke-o-Moonshine Mountain, Upper and Lower Washbowl Cliffs, and Moss Cliff. Once biologists ascertain where falcons are nesting, some routes are…
By Phil Brown
I went backcountry skiing around Paul Smiths both days this past weekend and found the conditions outstanding, but who knows how long the snow will last. On Saturday afternoon, I skied to the summit of Jenkins Mountain, starting at Black Pond on Keese’s Mill Road. I skied across the pond, climbed over an esker, and…
By Phil Brown
Following is the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s weekly update on conditions in the High Peaks. Compiled on: March 21, 2013 See the High Peaks Trail Information web page (www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/9198.html) Weather: The following forecast, provided by the National Weather Service (NWS), is based on conditions at low elevations. Hikers & campers entering the High Peaks…
By Phil Brown
They were predicting we’d get more than six inches, perhaps a lot more. They were wrong. We got only two or three, which prettified the woods, but it wasn’t enough to turn the season around for backcountry skiers. There is still hope: the National Weather Services predicts Saranac Lake, where we’re located, could get three…
By Phil Brown
Fred Beckey, a living legend in the climbing world, gave an interesting and often humorous slide show at Northwood School in Lake Placid last night. At one point, he showed a photo of Fishhook Arete, a narrow, curving ridge on Mount Russell in California. At 14,086 feet, Russell is one of the highest mountains in…
By Phil Brown
After State Supreme Court Justice Richard Aulisi handed down his decision on navigation rights a few weeks ago, several media outlets wrote about the case. As the defendant in the lawsuit, I tracked the news coverage closely. Given the public interest in the case, I thought I’d share the articles that I found. The news…
Jay Harrison has transformed his backyard playground of Crane Mountain into a climbing mecca in the southern Adirondacks By Don Mellor Some people just see clouds. Others see all sorts of things—funny little poodles, wrinkly faces, continents. And once the shapes define themselves in the minds of the beholders, they become real and clear. “What…
On the Peavine Swamp trail system in the northwestern Adirondacks near Cranberry Lake I found a tranquil route through open forest, culminating on a knoll overlooking the Oswegatchie River.