The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
By Phil Brown
The state Department of Environmental Conservation’s closure of the Wakely Mountain trail once again raises questions about the future of the fire tower on the summit. DEC closed the tower in December because of structural defects and this week closed the hiking trail too, lest the tower collapse and injure someone. “The condition of the…
By Phil Brown
Interested in a really long hike? The Adirondack Park has the Northville-Placid Trail (133 miles) and Vermont has the Long Trail (272 miles), but these are mere steppingstones to the granddaddy of long-distance routes, the Appalachian Trail. The AT, as it’s known, stretches 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine, traversing 14 states. That might be…
By Phil Brown
The Adirondack Explorer has published a multisport guidebook to the former Finch, Pruyn lands to let people know of the many recreational opportunities on tracts that had been off limits to the public for more than a century. 12 Adventures on New State Lands: Exploring the Finch, Pruyn Tracts has something for everyone: the hiker, the paddler, the…
By Phil Brown
The Adirondack Explorer‘s November/December issue is in the mail, but Mike Lynch’s story on deteriorating trails in the High Peaks is already gaining attention on the Adirondack Almanack, the Explorer‘s online journal. The article, headlined “Trails showing their age,” notes that a combination of poor design and heavy use has led to severe erosion on trails.…
By Mike Lynch
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…
By Mike Lynch
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.
Following a disappointing winter for skiing, I came into May looking forward to the next season of outdoor enjoyment. But spring turned out as contrary as winter, with the first days of warming sun followed by spells of bone-chilling cold.
By TOM WOODMAN Spend a half-day with Brian DeGroat and you’ll notice he uses the word connection a lot. Not in the texting-tweeting-digital-everything sense of the word. As executive director of Camp Pok-O-MacCready and its Outdoor Education Center, he’s the leader of an ever-changing community where mobile depends on muscles, not bandwidth. What he and…
Carol and Phil enjoy a wild ride and hike and swim on trip to Lows Ridge. We almost forgot about the rock climb. By PHIL BROWN Carol says I come up with my best trip ideas at the breakfast table. Since this was the last day of her Adirondack vacation, I felt the pressure to suggest something special. She likes to swim,…
While hiking Split Rock Mountain, guidebook author revels in views of the Champlain Valley, signs of wildlife, and reflections on the past. By DAVID THOMAS-TRAIN Split Rock Mountain, the locale of an ancient boundary between nations, is the exotic and mysterious Far East of the Adirondacks. It’s home to rattlesnakes, bobcats, eagles, and peregrine falcons and the scene of a marital murder, a…