Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Adirondack Tradition Opposes Wilderness Huts

On July 15, 1932, two giants of wilderness preservation met on top of Mount Marcy: Bob Marshall and Paul Schaefer. Marshall was partway through a marathon hike that would take him to the summits of thirteen High Peaks. Schaefer was taking photos for a campaign against a proposal to allow cabins in the Forest Preserve.

Schaefer’s account of the chance meeting appears in an appendix to my book Bob Marshall in the Adirondacks, a collection of Marshall’s writingsWhen told of the cabin proposal and various assaults on the Forest Preserve, Marshall became agitated and paced back and forth on the summit of the state’s highest mountain.

“We simply must band together — all of us who love the wilderness. We must fight together — wherever and whenever wilderness is attacked,” Marshall declared to Schaefer. A few years later, Marshall founded the Wilderness Society with some like-minded colleagues

Continue reading on Adirondack Explorer website.

Photo: Greenleaf Hut below Mount Lafayette, by Phil Brown.

 

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Phil Brown is the former Editor of Adirondack Explorer, the regional bimonthly with a focus on outdoor recreation and environmental issues, the same topics he writes about here at Adirondack Almanack. Phil is also an energetic outdoorsman whose job and personal interests often find him hiking, canoeing, rock climbing, trail running, and backcountry skiing. He is the author of Adirondack Paddling: 60 Great Flatwater Adventures, which he co-published with the Adirondack Mountain Club, and the editor of Bob Marshall in the Adirondacks, an anthology of Marshall’s writings.Visit Lost Pond Press for more information.




2 Responses

  1. Jim S says:

    There was an article recently calling the Franconia Ridge hike as the best hike in the eastern U.S.. Placing a house or hut near the summit of the mountain in the picture really spoils the hike for me. The hike is still on my bucket list , but it makes me happy that there are no such abhorrences in the Adirondacks. Call me “Adirondack Tradition”.

    • Paul says:

      I don’t think that anyone is suggesting any huts on peaks. That photo is very provocative but not too relevant for what is being proposed here. Is anyone suggesting huts on Adirondack peaks?

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