Glimpses from the Adirondacks

Cold River on the Northville-Placid Trail (photo by J Young)

by Joan Young

Most of the people who visit this blog because they have an interest in the North Country Trail are aware that last summer Marie and I had the chance to connect a couple of previous hikes in the Adirondacks of New York. In so doing, we saw some of the proposed route for the NCT. We began our hike at the western end of the High Peaks, and connected to the proposed NCT route via the Northville-Placid Trail (NPT). The picture above is the Cold River. This will not be along the NCT, but is a pretty typical looking Adirondack scene.

The NPT is a valley trail. It is not rugged, and hardly hilly. It does not lend itself to great vista views. The NPT crosses the proposed North Country route somewhere near Cedar Lakes. When we reached this point we left the NPT and began to follow the NCT. Just beyond that turn we caught this one glimpse of the Adirondack peaks through the trees. That is the kind of view future NCT hikers will need to content themselves with. Of course, one can always take a side trip.

A glimpse of a peak through the trees, possibly Mt. Marcy judging from its symmetry (photo by J Young)

One real treat along the proposed NCT route is Horn Lake. There is already abandoned trail which leads past the lake (one must take an extra five minute hike at a turnoff to actually reach the lake). It will not take a great deal of work to re-open this trail to hikers, and there is a campsite near the lakeshore.

Horn Lake (photo by J Young)

Once we left the Adirondacks, we continued on to Rome, New York. At Forestport we joined what is, at this time, the easternmost segment of official North Country Trail. The spillway below the dam at Forestport on the Black River is extraordinarily beautiful.

a New England aster beside the Black River in Forestport (photo by J Young)

The trail then follows the Black River Feeder Canal on its way to Boonville and the Black River Canal. Along these miles of towpath trail one can view any number of locks and other historic structures. Pictured here is one viaduct which allows a creek to flow beneath the canal. The trail moves from left to right through the picture on the flat green space above the stone arch.

a creek passing beneath the Black River Feeder Canal near Boonville (photo by J Young)

As you all know I keep saying, the thing that marks the North Country Trail is the diversity of landscapes and experiences to be found along its length. These are just a few of those moments from the summer of 2008.

See The Essential Adirondacks for a short article about this hike
See Triple Play in the ADKs for a longer story of this hike