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Department of Environmental Conservation

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Nippletop trails reopen

By Phil Brown

The Lake Road in the Adirondack Mountain Reserve has reopened to the public to give hikers access to trails to the summits of Nippletop and Dial Mountain, two of the High Peaks, in the Dix Mountain Wilderness. However, trails to the Colvin Range and most other AMR trails, including those leading to the Great Range,…

marcy dam after irene

DEC ponders options to replace Marcy Dam bridge

By Phil Brown

The state will either reconstruct the bridge at Marcy Dam or build a new one nearby, but the project likely won’t be done before winter, according to Tom Martin, regional forester for the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Martin said DEC plans to have an engineer look at the dam to determine if it makes…

DEC clears 130 miles of trails

By Phil Brown

The state Department of Environmental Conservation and its volunteers have cleared about 130 miles of trails since Irene blew through the High Peaks region two and a half weeks ago. DEC spokesman David Winchell said crews are still working on trails in the High Peaks Wilderness and Dix Mountain Wilderness that remain closed. The Adirondack…

Route 73, Dix Wilderness reopened

By Phil Brown

Route 73 south of Keene Valley and the Dix Mountain Areas were reopened today ahead of schedule. “Route 73 is a vital highway connecting residents and businesses in the North Country and today’s reopening is an important step in our recovery from Hurricane Irene,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said. Cuomo initially pledged that one lane of…

Report on Avalanche Pass Trail

By Phil Brown

Yesterday I hiked with Josh Wilson to Avalanche Pass to check out the condition of the trail in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene. The short story is that the trail sustained quite a bit more damage than the Van Hoevenberg Trail, which I hiked on Saturday. After we reached Avalanche Lake, I took the…

Mount Marcy trail in good condition

By Phil Brown

I hiked the Van Hoevenberg Trail to Mount Marcy today (Saturday) and found it fine shape, despite a few changes wrought by Hurricane Irene. It was just two days after the state Department of Environmental Conservation reopened the eastern High Peaks, and many hikers were out enjoying the sunshine. Starting at Adirondak Loj, the Van…

High Peaks trail conditions

By Phil Brown

It looks like it will be great hiking weather this weekend. If you’re planning on visiting the High Peaks region, bear in mind that conditions on the reopened trails may be dodgy in places. This might be a good time to visit another part of the Adirondack Park. Remember, we’ve got about 2.6 million acres…

High Peaks trails are open, but be careful

By Phil Brown

Most trails in the eastern High Peaks are now open, but state officials warn that hikers may encounter blowdown and erosion and find that footbridges are missing. “Hikers must pay close attention as there are reroutes and also a lot of new eroded drainages that people may assume are the trail,” said David Winchell, a…

DEC opens most trails in High Peaks

By Phil Brown

The state Department of Environmental Conservation reopened today a number of trails in the High Peaks Wilderness and Giant Mountain Wilderness that were closed after Hurricane Irene, including trails to Mount Marcy, the state’s highest peak. Trails in the Dix Mountain Wilderness will remain closed at least until Route 73 is reopened. The storm had…

DEC to reopen to some trails

By Phil Brown

The state Department of Environmental Conservation expects to reopen some trails in the eastern High Peaks Wilderness before this weekend. In fact, some trails may be reopened today, according to DEC spokesman David Winchell. “We’re working on what trails can be reopened and hope to make an announcement later today,” Winchell told me this morning.…

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