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The Explorer tests the navigability of a posted stretch of the Beaver River. By PHIL BROWN The Beaver River starts at Lake Lila and flows for eight miles through largely wild country to Stillwater Reservoir, and in so doing it connects two of the Adirondack Park’s most popular destinations for canoe camping. But you don’t…
By Phil Brown
You’re invited to help celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail this weekend. Although the party will take place in Rangley, Maine, you can take part in the celebration right here in the Adirondacks. The NFCT is asking canoeists and kayakers to paddle any portion of the water trail on Saturday, July…
Deer River’s scenic stillwater By Phil Brown Every time I drive past the Deer River Flow on Red Tavern Road, I slow down to admire the stunning view southeast toward Debar Mountain. On a few occasions, I have stopped to take pictures. Finally, I decided to paddle the thing last summer. My friend Phil Blanchard…
By Phil Brown
I went missing for five days recently. I was out canoeing on various waterways in the western Adirondacks. One day I took two trips on the West Branch of the Oswegatchie. On the second of those trips, I paddled through several ponds owned, largely or entirely, by the Oswegatchie Educational Center, a nonprofit institution in…
By Phil Brown
In the March/April issue of the Explorer, Mal Provost wrote about a long whitewater trip on the Middle Branch of the Moose River. Not being much of a whitewater paddler, I opted for a long flatwater trip on the same river earlier this week. From Thendara, outside Old Forge, you can paddle down the Middle…
By Phil Brown
The Middle Branch of the Moose River is not the wildest river in the Park, but try telling that to the American bittern, the osprey, the various ducks, and the kingfishers I saw when I explored the Middle Moose on Monday. Starting in Old Forge, the Middle Branch more or less parallels Route 28 and…
By Phil Brown
Last week’s snowstorm notwithstanding, this is paddling season. In fact, the additional snowmelt from the storm will improve paddling on Adirondack rivers. This is a good time of year to explore the West Branch of the Ausable River on the outskirts of Lake Placid—a river that attracts schools of trout fishermen but is often overlooked…
By Phil Brown
Those of you who have been following the saga of Shingle Shanty Brook may be interested in an article that appears in the latest newsletter of the Sierra Club’s Atlantic chapter, written by Charles Morrison, the former director of natural resources at the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Morrison and two other Sierra Club members…
By Phil Brown The Brandreth Park Association is digging in its heels against those who contend that the public has the right to paddle through private land to avoid a mile-long portage between Lilypad Pond and Shingle Shanty Brook in the William C. Whitney Wilderness. Judson Potter, the association’s president, says in a letter to…
By Tom Woodman As we head to Indian Lake for our exploration of the Jessup River, weather is on our minds. The forecast calls for storms by midafternoon, but as we arrive before 8 a.m. the sun is breaking through the overcast and the thermometer reads 54 degrees. Moisture from overnight rain adds a rich…