By Michael Virtanen It took Bob Keller a few tries to start the single engine of his Cessna that was still warm from his flight to the Lake Placid Airport from his home in Boonville. It has fuel injection, the pilot explained, making it tricky to start warm. A flier for decades, Keller did his instrument and safety checks out loud, making sure the photographer and the writer he was taking over the High Peaks were shoulder-strapped in their seats and had headsets on with the switches set to cancel out the engine’s roar. Carl Heilman II and I were >>More
Autopsy Shows Missing Great Range Hiker Drowned
An autopsy performed August 2 determined that missing hiker Ralph “Skip” Baker drowned in the East Branch of the Ausable River. The death was ruled accidental.
Hiker Missing In High Peaks Wilderness
A large-scale search is underway for a hiker who didn’t return from a daytrip up Gothics Mountain on Sunday.
Controlling Crowds In The High Peaks
DEC is relying on education and the efforts of partner groups to deal with the increasing number of hikers who have been coming to the High Peaks region.
Rangers locate missing hiker near Elk Lake
Forest rangers found a 49-year-old Saratoga County man alive but exhausted Wednesday, July 5, after he spent two unplanned nights in the woods after getting lost near the summit of Nippletop Mountain.
Trails showing their age
Observers say more money is needed to repair and maintain an antiquated network of hiking routes. By MIKE LYNCH When many of the High Peaks’ trails were cut more than a century ago, the work was done by guides and hired hands. Keene Valley’s Orson “Old Mountain” Phelps created the first trail up Mount Marcy in 1861; Verplanck Colvin’s survey workers cut routes up Algonquin and Dix in the late 1800s; and Henry Van Hoevenberg developed a trail system for the Adirondack Lodge (as it was then spelled). The early trails opened up the High Peaks to more people and laid the groundwork for today’s trail system, but some of the original trails continue to >>More
Beyond Peak Capacity
A sharp rise in hikers climbing some of the region’s highest mountains has lead to the degradation of natural resources and raises a variety of other issues.