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By Phil Brown
If proposals for new state lands win approval, people could be driving most of the way to Boreas Ponds later this year. The state Department of Environmental Conservation wants to build a six-car parking area a tenth of a mile from the ponds and a ten-car parking area about a mile away. Rob Davies, director…
By Phil Brown
State forest rangers helped two Adirondack hikers lost in the McKenzie Mountain Wilderness last week. Three other rangers were recognized as heroes for saving lives in separate incidents. These are among the items in this week’s Ranger Report from the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The report follows: Town of North Elba Essex County Wilderness…
By Phil Brown
The Adirondack Park Agency board voted Thursday to fast-track a number of proposals for the High Peaks Wilderness and Vanderhacker Wild Forest, including tens of thousands of acres of newly acquired state lands. Some environmental groups contend the agency is moving too fast. Among other things, the proposals call for parking lots that would allow…
By Phil Brown
Several years ago we skied two High Peaks in spring with Ron Konowitz. We did a few laps in the bowl on Algonquin Peak, climbed over Wright Peak, and descended the Wright Peak Ski Trail. The Wright Peak trail is one of the few trails designed for down-mountain skiing in the Adirondacks. It was built…
By Phil Brown
Soon after the state purchased the MacIntyre East Tract, Brian Mann and I explored it by paddling the Hudson and the Opalescent rivers. We launched our canoes beneath a bridge over the Hudson and took out at a spot where the river abuts the Tahawus Road. From the bridge we paddled down the Hudson through…
By Phil Brown
Hikers will be able to drive to within a tenth of a mile of Boreas Ponds, but most probably will have to park farther away, under a draft management plan written by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The Boreas Ponds parking area is just one of numerous proposals for other parking areas, trails, canoe…
By Phil Brown
The latest Forest Rangers Report from the state Department of Environmental Conservation contains, among other items, accounts of three snowmobile accidents, a lost skier, and an injured hiker in the Adirondacks. Following is the report for March 12-18. Town of Indian Lake Hamilton County Rescue: On March 16 at 2:48 p.m., Central Dispatch received a…
By Phil Brown
In a controversial move, the state has recommended that former hunting camps in the Essex Chain region be added to the state and national Registers of Historic Places. The buildings in question are known as the Outer Gooley Club and the Inner Gooley Club. The Outer Gooley Club is an old farmhouse that overlooks the…
By Phil Brown
The Adirondack Park Agency’s board gave preliminary approval Thursday to an amendment to the State Land Master Plan that will enable the state to create a thirty-four-mile rail trail between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake. The board voted unanimously to send the proposed amendment to public hearings. It will vote again on the amendment after…
By Phil Brown
The Adirondack Park Agency will consider amending the State Land Master Plan next week to allow the state to create a thirty-four-mile rail trail between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake. The APA approved the rail trail in 2016, but a state judge ruled last fall that the trail would violate the State Land Master Plan.…