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Some years ski season is in full swing by late November. That isn’t the case this year, but that hasn’t kept me from considering where I’ll be headed during the upcoming ski season. And I’m wondering where everyone else will be headed.
Almanack Contributor Mike Lynch
Mike Lynch is a staff writer and photographer for the nonprofit Adirondack Explorer, the regional bimonthly news magazine with a focus on outdoor recreation and environmental issues.
Mike’s favorite outdoor activities include paddling, hiking, fishing and backcountry skiing. In 2011, he paddled the 740-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail from Old Forge to Fort Kent, Maine.
From 2007 until 2014, Mike worked as an outdoors writer and photographer for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise in Saranac Lake.
Mike welcomes story ideas and can be reached at [email protected] From 2007 until 2014, Mike worked as an outdoors writer and photographer for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise in Saranac Lake.
Ski centers gear up for a different kind of season
Behind the lens: Trail signs
When out on assignment in the Forest Preserve, I seem to take photos of every trail sign I come across. However, after I download them, they disappear into my archives and are never seen again.
This image isn’t necessarily one of my favorite trail sign shots, but the photo assignment when I took the image was interesting.
That day, in late June, I was tasked with meeting writer Betsy Kepes at 10:30 a.m. at the Cold River near Shattuck Clearing. Kepes was writing a story about backpacking through lowlands in the western High Peak Wilderness.
So that day I got up early, paddled roughly 8 miles to the lean-to at the north end of Long Lake, where I could connect with the Northville-Placid Trail. From there, I hiked in the rain for another 5 miles to meet Betsy and her two friends at a bridge over the Cold River.
Documenting historic High Peaks hikes
In September, Katie Rhodes and Bethany Garretson added their names to Adirondack hiking lore by doing an unsupported trip through the High Peaks in just over seven days.
According to fastestknowntime.com, a website that tracks and verified hiking challenges around the world, the pair are the first women to do this style of trip through the High Peaks, at this pace. Unsupported means they carried their supplies from the start to the finish and didn’t get any help along the way from anyone else. Supported speed hikers receive assistance from others on their trip.
They were at least the second pair of women to thru-hike the Adirondack High Peaks this fall. Sarah Keyes and Alyssa Godesky did a supported version of the Adirondack 46, with Godesky setting the women’s record in 3 days, 16 hours and 16 minutes.
Share your favorite winter gear essentials
I was talking to digital editor Melissa Hart earlier this week about future projects, and one of the ideas we settled on was bolstering our web and social media content aimed at people who are new to outdoor activities and the Adirondack Park. I’m talking about topics such as essential gear and info that can aid with trip planning.
At the Explorer, we’ve always focused on this type of content, but now the demand seems even greater because of the continuing rise in new visitors to the Adirondack Park.
The timing to start rolling out this material is also good because this type of info is extremely important in the winter months, when the environment is less forgiving for outdoor users. If you have problems in the woods when it’s 85 degrees, things can get uncomfortable. However, if you get lost when it’s 15 degrees, things can get very serious quickly. So you better be prepared before heading out.
Salmon runs and deadlines
Right now, we’re getting down to crunch time at the Adirondack Explorer, wrapping up many of our writing and photo assignments for the November issue.
We’ve got a lot of interesting news and recreational features lined up for this issue, including ones about Boquet and the Saranac rivers and how they’ve been impacted by dams. Atlantic salmon, in particular, have historically seen their spawning grounds cut off by the dams. Not only in the Adirondack region, but on the west, too.
Fighting a hemlock invasion
Scientists have found a large swath of trees with hemlock woolly adelgid in the Lake George watershed, including a 1.5-mile stretch along the eastern shoreline. This is in addition to some that was found in August on Glen Island.
This is considered especially troubling for the Lake George region because hemlocks are so prevalent there, and they play a key role in the ecosystem, providing habitat for trout and other wildlife.
On the search for the elusive moose
Wednesday morning I rolled out of bed a little before 5 a.m. to meet up with Explorer intern Francesca Krempa to see if we could catch a glimpse of a moose in the early dawn hours.
Francesca is working on a story about the health and size of the moose population, and in these pandemic times, she had been unable to find a biologist or guide to go out into the field on a moose survey.
When the secret’s out
People who spend a lot of time in the woods often develop favorite spots. I’ve had plenty of these over the years, and one of my chosen ones was a swimming hole in the Catskill Park.
I developed an affinity for this spot while living and working as a landscaper and dry-stone mason just outside of Woodstock after college. I loved doing this work because it was physically demanding and job sites were in scenic locations. Many days after work, my co-worker and I would be completely exhausted and overheated, so we’d take a drive to a place called the Blue Hole, a little-known swimming hole he’d discovered by word of mouth that was an easy walk from the road.
Exploring forgotten lands: The Sable Highlands
While crowds of people continue to show up at High Peak trailheads between St. Huberts and Lake Placid, there are still plenty of wild places in the Adirondacks where you can spend time and possibly not even see another person.
Just the other day, I took a quick paddle on Grass Pond in the Sable Highlands, located near Loon Lake in the northern Adirondacks, and didn’t see another soul.
Earlier in the year, I took a bike ride and hike with former Explorer editor Phil Brown on the same easement property and also didn’t see anyone else recreating. That day, Phil and I left from a parking area at Fishhole Pond. We were exploring the property because Phil was working on a story about a bike route and trail that had been planned by the state but had never been implemented.
Phil spent a good amount his time exploring the Sable Highlands easement lands this spring and summer. What he found is that many of the recreation routes that the state had been planning to develop were never completed.
In recent weeks we’ve started publishing Phil’s explorations of the Sable Highlands easement lands on our website.
You can read the pieces he’s published already by following the links here. One is about a planned bike route near Fishhole Pond and the other is about a trail up Norton Peak near Standish that was never built.
Backpacking during a pandemic
The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted just about every aspect of life in recent months, including backpacking.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to stay home. Ask writer Betsy Kepes. She spent a few days with a small group this spring on a trip on the Cranberry 50, a hiking route in the northwestern Adirondacks.
Kepes found the trip enjoyable, but it wasn’t without challenges. For instance, what do you do about sharing a lean-to or camping site with others during a pandemic? What happens when you make hot water? Should you share it?
If you’re curious about her experience on her hiking journey, you can read about it on our website. Here is a link to her story: https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/hiking-the-cranberry-50-during-the-covid-19-crisis
Hiking the Cranberry Lake 50 during the Covid-19 pandemic are writer Betsy Kepes (greenish/blue shirt, off-white mask), husband Tom Vandewater (black shirt,off-white mask), and friends Amanda Oldacre (white shirt, black patterned mask) and Jim Burdick (gray/blue shirt black patterned mask). Social distancing and wearing face masks were suggested. Photo by Nancie Battaglia.
Editor’s note: This originally appeared in Mike’s weekly “Backcountry Journal” newsletter. Click here to subscribe.
Backcountry magic
There are experiences that can add a wild and magical element to a backcountry trip.
I recall as a child coming across the first impressively large beaver dam I had ever seen in the backwoods. It was on a brook trout fishing trip in a canoe in the northern Adirondacks. The structure must have been 6 feet tall and 100 feet wide. After I climbed up the dam and stood on top, it felt like I had entered a new world. As I looked out over the calm pond full of fish and vegetation, I remember being in awe that beavers could have such a drastic impact.
The cycle of killing habituated bears continues
Several campsites and lean-tos were temporarily closed in the High Peaks Wilderness on July 5 due to an aggressive black bear that had been roaming the area looking for human food.
A day later the state Department of Environmental Conservation captured and later killed the animal.
As DEC officials have often said to me in these situations, “A fed bear is a dead bear.”
What does that mean? It means if a bear gets food from humans too many times, it will get habituated to the food. The bear will then continue to seek out food from campers, especially when natural food sources aren’t available such as during dry years. In some cases, the bear will then get too close to people and be considered dangerous. In these situations, bears don’t win. Instead, they are killed.
Getting started with bird watching
During this pandemic one of the safest forms of recreation is birding. It’s an activity you can do away from crowds in the woods, or if you have space, in your backyard.
If it’s not an activity you’re familiar with, we have you covered.
Recently, Explorer contributor Molly Ormsbee produced a video on the topic that you can find on our website. In the video, birder and photographer Larry Master provides tips about bird houses, feed, and other information to get you started.
“Hearing the sounds of the birds and seeing them is a great, great therapy. It’s just endless entertainment if you’re interested in nature,” says Master.
» Continue Reading.
In celebration of camping
About a year ago, I was paddling from Middle Saranac Lake to Lower Saranac Lake with three friends to finish up a week of camping that had taken me to several destinations throughout the Adirondacks.
The final night’s destination was an island at the end of Lower Saranac Lake, which is part of a state campground run by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Flattening the curve…of backcountry rescues
During the pandemic this spring and early summer, hiking has continued to be an activity that people have engaged in to stay healthy and find respite.
One indication that people are out and about is the weekly search-and-rescue bulletin issued by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The most recent one contains nine incidents in the Adirondack region, indicating that forest rangers have been keeping busy.
Latest Adirondack News
- WATCH: DEC treats hemlock trees
- Proponents celebrate signing of road salt bill
- Climate panels to determine how NY can meet ambitious emissions targets
- Hiking with goats? It can be done
- Trudeau Institute, Adirondack Health discuss vaccines
- Cuomo backs salt study
- SUNY ESF sells Masten House for $1M
- Lake George Winter Carnival canceled
- The salmon's struggle
- State experts warn about algal blooms
Latest Adirondack News
- WATCH: DEC treats hemlock trees
- Proponents celebrate signing of road salt bill
- Climate panels to determine how NY can meet ambitious emissions targets
- Hiking with goats? It can be done
- Trudeau Institute, Adirondack Health discuss vaccines
- Cuomo backs salt study
- SUNY ESF sells Masten House for $1M
- Lake George Winter Carnival canceled
- The salmon's struggle
- State experts warn about algal blooms
The Adirondack Almanack
The Adirondack Almanack is a public forum dedicated to promoting and discussing current events, history, arts, nature and outdoor recreation and other topics of interest to the Adirondacks and its communities
We publish commentary and opinion pieces from voluntary contributors, as well as news updates and event notices from area organizations. Contributors include veteran local writers, historians, naturalists, and outdoor enthusiasts from around the Adirondack region. The information, views and opinions expressed by these various authors are not necessarily those of the Adirondack Almanack or its publisher, the Adirondack Explorer.
General inquiries about the Adirondack Almanack should be directed to editor Melissa Hart.
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