Tag Archive for "canoeing" - The Adirondack Almanack

Posts Tagged ‘canoeing’

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Finding Comfort In A Solo Canoe

The summer of 1988 I attended a Syracuse University computer software workshop at the Minnowbrook Conference Center at Blue Mountain Lake. During an afternoon break from the workshop, two colleagues and I went for a walk starting at a parking lot on Lake Durant, a small state-owned lake near the village of Blue Mountain Lake. A woman with a small canoe on top of her car pulled up to the lake near where we were walking. She parked, opened the door, unfastened the canoe straps, and lifted the canoe off her car, handling it with ease. She placed the canoe in the water and paddled across Lake Durant. She did this all within five minutes.

“I want that.” I shouted, feeling the freedom that comes from observing such independence. » Continue Reading.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Canoe-Camping Adventure: Four Ponds And A Peak

by Lisa Densmore Ballard

3 Comments

Sometimes my choice of canoe-camping adventure in the Adirondack Park is based on the lowest chance of family mutiny. My husband Jack and our three teens, Parker, Dom, and Zoe, still reeled from the memory of a 1.25-mile carry around Raquette Falls during a two-nighter down the Raquette River a year ago.

Loaded down with heavy boats and an overabundance of unorganized gear, we had grossly underestimated the portage distance and the ferocity of welt-inducing mosquitos. I was loath to ask my clan to ever portage again, but when the opportunity arose to paddle from Hoel Pond to Long Pond in the St. Regis Canoe Area, the desire to introduce my family to this eighteen-thousand-acre, motorboat-free canoeist’s Eden was too great. » Continue Reading.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Paddle Flotilla Seeks World Record On Fourth Lake

by Community News Reports

In August, 2013 a flotilla in Suttons Bay, Michigan set a new Guinness world record for the “Largest Raft of canoes and kayaks” at 2,099, breaking the record of 1,902 set in on Fourth Lake in Inlet two years before. Now, the Kiwanis Club of the Central Adirondacks and the One Square Mile of Hope 2014 committee have formed a strategic partnership with the goal of retaking the record on September 13th, while raising funds to aid breast cancer research and awareness.

$10,000 of the proceeds will benefit Breast Cancer research at the Upstate Cancer Center at University Hospital and another $10,000 will be directed toward pediatric cancer care thru the Clara Condie Fund at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital. The major beneficiary for this year’s event, which hopes to reach $100,000 in total donations, is The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. To participate visit the One Square Mile Of Hope website. » Continue Reading.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Flatwater Paddling On The Boreas River

by Marty Plante

10 Comments

Like the Roman god Janus, the Boreas River has two faces. The lower part, from Lester Dam to its confluence with the Hudson, has some of the most exciting and difficult whitewater in the Adirondacks. During the spring runoff, when water levels are high, it provides a wild ride through Class 3 and 4 rapids while it makes its way to the Hudson.

But that’s not my destination for today. Instead, I’m headed for the Boreas’s other face: Lester Flow, the tranquil quietwater section that flows downstream of Cheney Pond. » Continue Reading.

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.