Posts Tagged ‘90-miler’

Monday, March 13, 2023

The 90-Miler at 40: Call for Stories, Deadline March 31

90-Miler participants in Inlet, NY

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the Adirondack Canoe Classic (the 90-Miler), the Northern Forest Canoe Trail is seeking submissions for the creation of a commemorative coffee table book.

Stories must be short — 300 to 400 words — and ideally be accompanied by photos, though the NFCT will be working with photographers as well. NFCT aims to share stories from each decade dating back to the 1980s and intends to cover a wide array of topics, including family stories, first-timer stories, fierce competition, weather mishaps, etc.

Please Note: A submission is not a guarantee that a story will be published in the book; the NFCT will, however, aim to share stories that don’t get published in the coffee table book, on their website and social media accounts.

The deadline to submit stories is Friday, March 31.

Those who wish to submit a story, or those who have additional questions are asked to email chris@northernforestcanoetrail.org.

Photo at top: A group of spectators watch as 90-Miler participants make their way through Inlet, NY. Photo provided by the Inlet Information Office.


Saturday, September 17, 2022

Witnessing 90-Miler start, crossing paths with a toad after Woodhull Fire Tower lighting

No hummer seen today [Monday, September 12] but there may be some stragglers coming through, so we leave the feeders up for several days and if we don’t see them for about five days, we call them gone. They sure have been a treat this summer, as they have buzzed around the front porch doing touch and go practice out on our five feeders. Going back to last weekend, my grandson Jake and I went up to the Woodhull Fire Tower on Saturday night to light up the tower. I was glad to have the company, and the sunset was beautiful. As the night sky crept in, we could see that looking east was going to be a problem as haze moved in with the darkness.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, September 3, 2022

Enjoying the Adirondack air with Baby Milly, and watching loons fight like penguins

The rain last week sure helped with the forest fire situation. However, the lightning storms could have hit a dry stub or two which could burn for a long time before being detected, and may even go undetected. Many times, I’ve gone through the woods hunting and found where a fire had burned for some time and had either died out by itself or was put out by rain. It may happen this time, as we will be getting more rain this week when a cold front comes through bringing thunderstorms. There’s no one up in fire towers watching anymore, but they may be seen by an airplane flying around the area.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, September 3, 2022

Paddlers to converge Sept. 9-11 for 39th annual 90-Miler

The 39th annual Adirondack Canoe Classic — the 90–Miler — will take place Sept. 9-11, with nearly 600 paddlers competing in 250 boats.

The race is hosted by the Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) with support from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, dozens of businesses, nonprofits and communities, as well as countless volunteers. It takes paddlers on a three-day journey from Old Forge to Saranac Lake — the first 90 miles of the 740-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail.

This event includes a full contingent of solo, tandem, four-person, and eight-person canoes as well as solo and tandem kayaks, one- and two-person guideboats, and stand-up paddle boards.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, February 3, 2020

Plans Afloat For New Ownership of 90-Miler, Other Races

90 miler Adirondack Canoe ClassicThe Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) and the Adirondack Watershed Alliance (AWA) are working towards a transfer of AWA events and activities, including the Adirondack Canoe Classic, to NFCT’s care before the launch of the 2021 paddling season.

AWA, managed by Brian and Grace McDonnell for over two decades, currently coordinates the ‘Round the Mountain Canoe and Kayak Race and the Celebrate Paddling Invitational in Saranac Lake, the Long Lake Long Boat Regatta, and the Adirondack Canoe Classic, known more commonly as the 90-Miler. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, September 11, 2019

90-Miler Adirondack Canoe Classic Results for 2019

90 miler Adirondack Canoe Classic

The three-day 90-Miler Adirondack Canoe Classic starts in Old Forge and ends in Blue Mountain Lake on day one; starts in Long Lake and ends near Tupper Lake day two; and starts at the NYSDEC Fish Creek Campground Day 3 and finishes on Lake Flower in Saranac Lake.

This year, of the 250 boats that started the event on Friday, 235 finished on Sunday. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, August 22, 2019

A 90-Miler Adirondack Canoe Classic Watcher’s Guide

90 miler Adirondack Canoe ClassicThe 37th Annual Adirondack Canoe Classic, the 3-day, 90-mile paddling event from Old Forge to Saranac Lake, will take place September 6 – 8, 2019. Here is what you need to know:

The 90-Miler attracts a full contingent of solo, tandem, 4 person and 8 person canoes, solo and tandem kayaks and one and two person guide boats. More than 600 people, from 22 different states, are expected to take part during the fall foliage season. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, September 8, 2016

Adirondack Canoe Classic: The 90-Miler Begins Friday

90-MilerAbout 600 paddlers will hit the waters between Old Forge and Saranac Lake this weekend in the 34th annual Adirondack Canoe Classic. The event starts Friday morning at 8 a.m. on Old Forge Pond and finishes up Sunday afternoon on Lake Flower. This year’s event has attracted about 250 teams, which will be paddling canoes, kayaks, and SUPs and rowing guideboats.

The 90-Miler is organized by Brian and Grace McDonnell, who run Mac’s Canoe Livery and Adirondack Watershed Alliance in Lake Clear. The couple has run the race for 18 years.

A large portion of this year’s participants will be in the non-competitive open touring class, which consists of people looking simply to finish the course and not compete with the racers. However, the class is often full of people with interesting stories. For instance, Tom and Theresa Standing, who are from the Old Forge area and paddling a tandem canoe, will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this weekend. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, September 11, 2014

The Fulton Chain and Raquette Lake Steamboat Company

photo 4During the summer of 2014, on the lawn at the Goodsell Museum in Old Forge, Kyle Kristiansen, using a metal detector, discovered a metal object. Digging it up, he uncovered a buried metal luggage tag containing the intials “F.C & R.L.S.B.CO.”

These letters stand for the Fulton Chain and Raquette Lake Steamboat Company, a short-lived and relatively unknown concern established for carrying passengers and cargo from Fourth Lake to Raquette Lake in the days before automobiles connected the region.

This is a history of that company and its successors to that trade.  We will probably never discover how that item arrived on the lawn in the Town of Webb. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Inlet History:
The Contributions of William D. Moshier

Moshier Fam cir1902Any discussion of Inlet’s early history brings to mind the names of those who sold land, who built the hotels, and who lived in the first dwellings that later became Inlet.  We often read about Tiffany, O’Hara, Kirch, Harwood, Kenwell, Delmarsh, Hess, Boshart, and others when speaking of the pioneers who were the building blocks of the village at the “head of Fourth Lake”.

An unheralded individual often encountered when examining the history of the Fifth Lake sawmill, the Arrowhead Hotel, the death of Burt Murdock when the “Marjorie” sank and even Inlet’s Chapel of the Lakes is William D. Moshier.  Your response may be – “Who”?

» Continue Reading.


Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The History of the ’90-Miler’ in Rochester

A special program, “The History of the 90-Miler” will be held on May 5, 2011 in Rochester. Adirondack Museum Curator Hallie Bond will share the history of the “90-Miler” at the Midtown Athletic Club from 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. The fee for the program is $10 per person, and includes a cocktail reception.

The “90-Miler” or Adirondack Canoe Classic is a canoe and guideboat race that celebrates the era of human-powered boats in the Adirondacks. The race begins in Old Forge, N.Y. and proceeds up the Fulton Chain of Lakes into Raquette Lake and on to the Saranac Lakes, finishing in the Village of Saranac Lake. In its 28th year, the event is so popular that registration is capped at 250 boats.

Special guest Nancie Battaglia will share photographs of the race, including her award winning aerial photo of the 90-miler chosen as one of Sports Illustrated‘s 2009 Pictures of the Year. A renowned Lake Placid, N.Y. based photographer, Nancie Battaglia is a regular contributor to the New York Times and Adirondack Life magazine and shot the 2010 Winter Olympics in
Vancouver.

The ninety-mile water route from Old Forge to Saranac Lake forms what was known a century and a half ago as the “Great Central Valley” of the Adirondacks. It was the best route through the wilderness at the time – easier travel than roads, which were distinguished by quagmires, corduroy, steep inclines, and rocks. The key to traveling via waterway was the Adirondack guideboat. The Great Central Valley is no longer the most efficient way to get through the Adirondacks, but still has tremendous appeal to people who follow it to experience the woods and waters as the original travelers did.

The Adirondack Museum invites all those who have taken part in the 90-Miler, to come and share your own stories of adventure.

Reservations must be made directly with the Midtown Athletic Club by calling (585) 461-2300.

Hallie E. Bond has been Curator at the Adirondack Museum since 1987. She has written extensively on regional history and material culture including Boats and Boating in the Adirondacks, published by Syracuse University Press in 1995 and ‘A Paradise for Boys and Girls’: Children’s Camps in the Adirondacks, Syracuse University Press, 2005.

Photo: Paddlers in the 90-Miler by Nancie Battaglia.


Wednesday, September 9, 2009

90-Miler Canoe Race Begins Friday

The second weekend in September is quiet. Mornings are cool, still and misty. Soft maples put out the red flag, making a fall statement as other trees pretend summer isn’t over. But a swim is not yet out of the question, and the biting bugs have given way to the singing bugs. Good canoeing weather.

On a northeasterly diagonal across the Adirondack Park, this weekend belongs to the Adirondack Canoe Classic, better known as the 90-Miler. From the day the ice goes out, every other race is practice for this one, a three-day tour of lakes and rivers, and a test of endurance as well as marriages.

The 27-year-old event attracts serious athletes and boatsmen, but it has remained fun for duffers and people who don’t have the latest gear, though I learned from experience—one year of paddling and several more-arduous years of pit-crewing and volunteering—not to skimp on the boat: buy or rent one designed to move fast over flatwater.

The 90-miler is a traveling carnival, and the 500 or so racers are only part of the troupe. Support teams and volunteers double the ranks. If you’re driving through you can track the race’s progress by where cars are parked along the roads between Old Forge and Saranac Lake as family and friends stop to cheer boats on or to hand paddlers food and drink on the carries.

My favorite place both to paddle and to watch is at the bridge where Browns Tract meets Raquette Lake, just off Route 28 at the hamlet of Raquette Lake. Racers have to go single file on the winding little stream and under the bridge in the midst of Day 1, Friday, the longest day. Most of Saturday they will be out of sight on Long Lake and the Raquette River, though the early morning view from the Long Lake Route 30 bridge of 250 colorful guideboats, canoes and kayaks moving north in bunches is a once-a-year spectacle. On Sunday they do the Saranacs and finish at Lake Flower in Saranac Lake village.

This is the 27th year of the Canoe Classic and the 25th that the Department of Environmental Conservation has helped stage it. Terry Healy, a DEC employee who died in 1993, had an “enthusiasm, sense of fun and commitment to the 90-Miler” that’s remembered every year through presentation of a Terry Healy Award to a participant, support team, volunteer or staff member who exemplifies the spirit of the event.

The 90-Miler on Long Lake, 2008, by photographer Mark Kurtz of Saranac Lake



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