It’s starting to look a lot like winter on Baker Mountain, the little peak on the outskirts of Saranac Lake. I took the photo above a few days ago while hiking on my lunch hour. I’m already dreaming of cross-country skiing. We don’t have enough snow yet, but we should soon. One trail I’m eager to check out is the Mr. Van Ski Trail, which connects Adirondak Loj and the cross-country-ski center on Mount Van Hoevenberg. The 4.7-mile trail has been around for years, but it had become overgrown and fell into disuse. This fall, the Adirondack Ski Touring Council >>More
Paddling-rights arguments this Friday
State Supreme Court Justice Richard T. Aulisi is scheduled to hear arguments in a navigation-rights lawsuit at 9:30 a.m. Friday in the Fulton County Courthouse. The suit was filed after I paddled through private property owned by the Friends of Thayer Lake and the Brandreth Park Association in 2009 while journeying from Little Tupper Lake to Lake Lila. I wrote about the trip for the Adirondack Explorer newsmagazine. It was one of a series of articles about navigation rights. The plaintiffs accuse me of trespass. Since I am the defendant, I don’t want to write about the case. However, the >>More
New trail a scenic treat for hikers
Hikers will delight in one vista after another while climbing Moxham Mountain. By Phil Brown I have driven past Moxham Mountain in Minerva many times and admired its cliffs from afar. Back in the seventies and eighties, rock climbers put up more than a dozen routes on these steep slabs, but because the approach crosses private land, Moxham was omitted from the most recent climbing guidebook. That must be frustrating for climbers, especially since most of Moxham Mountain lies within the public Forest Preserve. But even though you can’t scale the cliffs, you can enjoy the view from the summit, >>More
Paddling suit advances
Judge to hear arguments in November in dispute over public’s right to paddle on privately owned waterway. By Kenneth Aaron The landowners suing Adirondack Explorer Editor Phil Brown for trespass say he’s just the latest in a long line of people who have tried to pry open closed waters for public use, and if he succeeds, they argue, he will weaken traditional standards of property rights. In a legal memorandum filed in late September, Dennis Phillips, the attorney for the Friends of Thayer Lake and the Brandreth Park Association, asserts that Brown is carrying the flag for a small band >>More
Blazing their own trails
In pursuing their passion, a crew of mountain bikers creates a resource for all in the greater Lake Placid region. By Alan Wechsler I’m following Keith McKeever and his friends up a mountain-bike trail on a bright summer afternoon. The trail climbs smoothly but unrelentingly as it switchbacks up the side of Winch Mountain in Wilmington. I’m feeling good at first, legs spinning, tires grabbing the soil. But after a few minutes I start to feel an ache in my chest, my breathing gets more labored, and my speed falters. Soon I come to a stop. Sweat drips off my >>More
Climbing in solitude at the end of summer
When is summer over? When the calendar says? When the temperature drops to the low thirties overnight (as it has in Saranac Lake recently)? Or when you go to Barkeater Cliffs on a sunny weekend and find no one there? The Barkeaters are popular climbing cliffs in Keene. They’re reached by a half-hour hike from the Rock and River lodge, up the Jackrabbit Ski Trail and a herd path. The two previous times I visited, I saw plenty of climbers. When I returned this past Sunday, a week after Labor Day, I was alone. It was kind of eerie, as >>More
Wild side of Gothics
By Phil Brown A wall of rock 1,200 feet high and a quarter-mile wide tends to stand out. Indeed, the North Face of Gothics is one of the most conspicuous landmarks of the High Peaks, drawing the eye whether you’re in downtown Lake Placid or on top of Mount Marcy. Yes, the North Face is big, and if you want to climb it, plan on a big day. The same goes for the other two rock walls on Gothics: the South Face and the Rainbow Slide. All three offer rock climbers spectacular routes in a wilderness setting to one >>More
Paddling case advances
State attorney general asks judge to dismiss claims against Explorer editor in navigation-rights dispute. By Kenneth Aaron More than three years after Adirondack Explorer Editor Phil Brown paddled through private land on Shingle Shanty Brook and almost two years after he was slapped with a lawsuit accusing him of trespass, the parties in the dispute are preparing to ask a judge to decide on his own whether the waterway is open to the public. In early August, the state attorney general’s office filed a motion for summary judgment with State Supreme Court Justice Richard T. Aulisi, asking him >>More
4 Days On The Saranacs
Starting in the village of Saranac Lake, a family paddles up the island-studded Lower Saranac Lake and the Saranac River to Middle Saranac Lake and on to Weller Pond. They picked a trek that would be child-friendly and convenient—that is, no carries.
Ranger Report for June-July 2012
Following is the Forest Ranger report for June and July. DEC REGION 5 FOREST RANGER’S JUNE/JULY SEARCH AND RESCUE REPORT ESSEX COUNTY Town of North Elba, High Peaks Wilderness Area On Thursday, June 7, 2012, at about 9:11 am, DEC Dispatch in Ray Brook received a call reporting an injured hiker at Marcy Dam. Melis Bursin, 28, of New York City, NY, had injured her ankle. The DEC Marcy Dam Caretaker assisted the woman stabilizing the injury. Two DEC Forest Rangers responded and transported Ms. Bursin by UTV to the trailhead at 10:20 pm. Ms. Burstin sought medical attention on >>More
