When Susan Bibeau and I paddled the   Essex Chain Lakes on October 1, the  day it opened to the public, we ran into a crew on the shore of Third Lake who were recording a video for the Nature Conservancy, which had sold the Essex Chain Tract to the state, making it part of the forever-wild Forest Preserve.

I asked Connie Prickett, the conservancy’s spokeswoman, to send me a link to the video when it was done, and now she has.

The three-and-a-half-minute video is titled Day One of Forever: At the Essex Chain Lakes. It contains gorgeous images of the lake and woods and interviews with six of the outdoor enthusiasts who showed up on opening day (there were dozens, in all, most of them paddlers).

The conservancy hired West Field Media Services to document and celebrate the event. “We didn’t know what to expect on opening day—especially since it was on a Tuesday–but everyone we spoke with was in good spirits and excited about access to the Essex Chain Lakes,” Prickett said in an email to Adirondack Almanack.

The conservancy plans to share the video with donors, partners, outdoor guides, and others.

Click here to read my account of Day One of Forever.