Sam Gardner Starts All-In Trek on NCT

Sam Gardner at Crown Point, NY (photo from his journal)

based on Sam Gardner's All-In Trek Journal

On January 1, Sam Gardner left Crown Point, New York on what he hopes will be a 12,500-mile trek. He plans to hike the North Country, Pacific Crest, Continental Divide, and Appalachian National Scenic Trails in one huge walk.

The first day out, he discovered that the route of the NCT in the Adirondacks is poorly defined, and admitted that perhaps he should have done a little more advance planning. He doesn't post exactly where he walked, but from his location on January 10 suggests that he hiked through on Route 8- doing all road walk. This road is south of the proposed NCT trail.

Sam's stated purpose for his hike is "is to prove a simple but important point: Life is what we make it. We all have choices. We can choose to change or not. We can be content with who we are or we have the option to work towards the person we want to be."

Sam Gardner (photo from his journal)

He's already found a little more excitement than he bargained for, with party-ers shooting toward where he was camped (innocently, he hopes!). Of greater concern is that he is already having some trouble with an Achilles tendon, and a sore leg. With a planned average of 34 miles a day, this is troublesome.

Sam is a long-time lover of the North Country Trail. He's from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and a member of the Peter Wolfe Chapter of the NCTA. Peter Wolfe was the NCT's very first end-to-end hiker, completing his trek in 1980. If Sam completes the trail according to his timeline, he will be number 11 to hike it all!

You can follow his journey at The Initiative

The Future NCT Hudson River Crossing?

Delaware & Hudson RR Bridge (photo from CNY Hiker)

if you like this article, click the Blip chiclet!
excerpted from CNY Hiking with permission

Currently there are no North Country Trail signs, no blue blazes, no trail markings on this future section of the North Country National Scenic Trail in the Adirondacks. That won't keep this 1.6 mile section from being part of our "Best of the North Country Trail" series prior to officially becoming the North Country Trail. We believe this future section will likely become one of the favorite sections of many NCT hikers and will surely be part of many future hiking guide books. This may even become one of those must hikes in the Adirondacks. And, yes you can hike this wonderful section now!

This 3.2 mile round trip hike features the old Delaware & Hudson Railroad that the North Country Trail will use on part of it's journey through Adirondack Park. This section also features a waterfall, a walk along the scenic Boreas River and for a grand finale, the mighty Hudson River with the future trestle span that will carry the North Country Trail over the Hudson River (see panorama above). The DEC plans to add, in the future, hand rails along the bridge for added safety for hikers.

Follow the link for more pictures, explanation, and a map.

This segment is not yet mapped. The exact trail location in the Adirondacks is not fully determined.

See CNY Hiking

Adirondack Hikers Have Close Call

John Leahy and his mother Kay Frey at the top of Round Mountain before being separated during their frightening night on the mountain. (photo by John Leahy)

if you like this article, click the Blip chiclet!
based on a news article in the Eastwick Press

One of the alternate routes through the Adirondacks which North Country Trail hikers might currently choose, until we have an official route, includes crossing Round Mountain. It is a smaller peak in the Daks. Both Ed Talone and Joan Young used this route. People think that the eastern mountains are just silly little peaks. Those who know the area, know better. You can read the full story of this outing by following the link.

On October 12, 2009, John Leahy and his mother Kay Frey decided to go for a little outing. They are both experienced hikers, including in the fickle Adirondacks. They decided to climb Round Mountain, a 3100-foot peak with 1280 feet of vertical ascent from Keene Valley. They allowed 6 hours for the 4.5-mile round trip. Although Kay is 86, the two hike together routinely, and expected to easily return to the car by nightfall. "After so many hikes under our belts we were pretty nonchalant," noted Leahy.

The day was mild, 50 degrees under cloudy skies. The two had fleece jackets and gloves, sweat shirts, wool hats, wool socks, boots and a light sports training jacket. They carried food for one meal. John said that he carelessly listened to the weather forecast for the overnight hours, and failed to remember clearly that it said rain with a chance of snow.

They made slow progress and reached the top of Round Mountain after most other hikers had begun to descend, but there was still plenty of time. However, on the way down, Kay began to feel week and her legs became rubbery. Even with John supporting her, they realized that they would not make it to the car before dark. "The occasional joke[s] about doing things the hard way were being replaced by unspoken anxiety about getting down the last stretch of trail and reaching the car."

With about 1.5 miles yet to reach their vehicle they held a conference and it was decided that Kay would wait on a large rock and John would try to reach the car by dark and return with a flashlight. "In afterthought, the idea of my mother hobbling out a mile and a half in that condition, even with a flashlight, was completely absurd, but the reality that we were in serious trouble hadn’t penetrated into our consciousness yet," John recalled.

It became completely dark as John descended, and he tried to stay on the path by noting that the treadway was packed harder than the forest soil. Anyone who has hiked Adirondack trails knows that this might or might not work. After he accidentally stepped off a rock into nothing, resulting in a nasty fall, he realized that he was going to have to hunker down and wait for morning. And he knew that his mother was going to have to do the same thing, alone.

The unimaginable had occurred. I could not see enough to be able to move from my dark prison space, and I had left my mother alone in a state of physical exhaustion and could do nothing now to help her. I was shocked to find myself trapped in such a vulnerable position, not being able to help either myself or my mother. I was frustrated at being so close to safety and assistance but not being able to move even a step closer through the black forest shadows.

John tried to break off branches to fashion a crude shelter, or at least cover himself, but was unable to keep them from sliding off. He had no watch, and began counting the seconds, minutes and hours, to keep the panic at bay and wait for dawn. It began to rain, and he jogged in place whenever he needed to warm up. "The air temperature that night never got below the mid-30s and with a tent and a sleeping bag it would have been a comfortable routine night of camping." As it was he was miserable. The sky began to lighten, and John thought that the dawn had begun to break. Then he realized that the brightness was due to snow which was falling. He began to think that he wouldn't survive the night, and dared not think about his mother on her rock.

Finally the night ended and John determined that he was still actually on the trail. He decided that the best option was to hurry down and seek medical assistance for his mother, who was likely suffering from hypothermia at this point. He reached the AuSable Club at 7 am and their security Chief called the NY DEC Rangers.

The Rangers made John wait at the foot of the mountain. "It was time for the professionals to take over." The Rangers found Kay awake and in good spirits, moving about in the little clearing around the rock. She was shivering, but one Ranger noted, "she's tough."

Kay explained that she realized very soon after John left that nothing was going to happen until morning, so she hunkered down and tried to make the most of it. The biggest problem was that the rain created a stream around her rock and her feet were actually in the water all night, but the wool socks still kept them warm. She, too, had moved around as much as possible and stayed awake through the entire night. Her first question for the Rangers was whether her son had also survived.

After a few hours of observation, the pair were released from medical care, and returned home, with yet another story of how one needs to respect the mountains, and always be prepared.

See Desperate Hours for Two Grafton Hikers

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

Adirondack Birding Book

a news release of Adirondack Mountain Club First Comprehensive Guidebook to Adirondack Birding Hot Spots Published Adirondack Birding

Two of the Adirondack Park region’s most skilled birders have collaborated on the first comprehensive guidebook to birding hot spots in the region.

John M.C. Peterson of Elizabethtown and Gary N. Lee of Inlet drew on decades of experience in selecting the sites described in Adirondack Birding: 60 Great Places to Find Birds, recently released by Lost Pond Press ($20.95, softcover, 240 pages).

The book is being distributed by the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK), the Park’s largest environmental organization, with 30,000 members.

John Kettlewell, ADK’s publications and marketing director, said, “Like ADK’s line of hiking guidebooks and maps, Adirondack Birding provides all the information needed to find trails and locations that are great birding hot spots.”

Birders will be able to use the guidebook to search for the Park’s most-coveted species, including boreal birds not found in the state outside the Adirondacks as well as uncommon winter visitors and rare migrants.

“It’s the indispensable guide to birding in the Adirondacks by two of the best birders around,” said John Thaxton, the “Birdwatch” columnist for the Adirondack Explorer newsmagazine. “Beautifully designed and illustrated.”

Adirondack Birding contains 46 color photographs of wild birds taken by Jeff Nadler, one of the region’s premier bird photographers. They include the Park’s boreal species, such as the Bicknell’s thrush, gray jay, rusty blackbird and spruce grouse, and other birds of interest, such as the bald eagle and common loon. The book also has more than 90 black-and-white photos of birds and landscapes. Many of the landscape shots were taken by Carl Heilman II, one of the Park’s most celebrated photographers.

Other features include a history of Adirondack birding, tips on finding boreal birds, an Index of Birds, and hand-drawn maps by Matthew Paul, a Saranac Lake artist. The site chapters not only list resident birds, but they also include records of rare sightings (such as the yellow-nosed albatross that flew over Crown Point in 1994).

Peterson, the longtime regional editor of The Kingbird, an ornithological journal, and Lee, a retired forest ranger, have been birding in the Adirondacks since the 1960s. Both contributed to the Atlas of Breeding Birds in New York State, published by Cornell University Press in 1988, as well as its successor, which was scheduled to be released in December.

In 2004, the authors collaborated on Birds of Hamilton County, N.Y., a brochure that lists all the species observed in the county, with dates and locations. Peterson also has authored or edited similar compilations for Franklin and Essex counties.

But both saw a need for a guidebook that covered the whole 6-million-acre Adirondack Park and that offered detailed descriptions of sites and their birding potential

“Hardly a day passes without someone posting a query on birding chat lines asking for directions or suggestions,” Peterson said. “Where’s this Noblewood place? Any good birding spots near Lake Placid? How do I find a gray jay? Adirondack Birding has the answers.”

“The book will show people many of the great places in the Adirondacks to see birds, including some sites few know about,” Lee said. “It should take pressure off some of the more popular areas."

Most of the 60-plus sites described in the book are in the Champlain Valley (such as Crown Point and Noblewood Park), the Tri-Lakes Region (including the High Peaks) or the boreal lowlands in the northwestern Adirondacks (such as Massawepie Mire), since these are the places that attract the species of most interest to birders. However, there are some sites in the southern Adirondacks as well.

Adirondack Birding may be purchased in stores or on the Lost Pond and ADK Web sites.

Missing Hiker in ADK High Peaks Found

photo from channel 7, Arlington VA

from Channel 7 news, Arlington, VA

A Virginia man who went missing in the Adirondack High Peaks this weekend was found Monday afternoon by DEC forest rangers.

DEC spokesman David Winchell said an emergency dispatcher took a phone call around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday reporting 25 year-old David Robertson of Fairfax, Va. was lost. Robertson was part of a group of five hikers who set out Saturday to climb Mt. Marcy, the state's highest peak.

The five reportedly started hiking up the Van Hoevenburg trail from Adirondack Loj, outside Lake Placid, on Saturday morning... more

Although the North Country Trail will not go through the High Peaks, the lesson here is pertinent. Many people do not realize how wild and dangerous the Adirondacks can be. The NCT will probably be routed through several wilderness areas, and hikers will be assured of genuine backcountry adventures, with all of the associated risks.

Adirondack Wilderness Route Questions Remain

from the Albany Times Union, "Where will new trail go?" by Alan Wechsler, Nov 20, 2008

Last Thursday at Mercatos Restaurant in Delmar, nearly two dozen upstate New York members of the Adirondack Mountain Club, Appalachian Mountain Club and Sierra Club met with Bruce Matthews, executive director of the North Country Trail Association of Lowell, Mich. Their mission: to make sure the route through New York's largest wilderness area stays in the wilderness.

There are several routes proposed. The trail is expected to traverse the center of the park, through such wilderness and wild forest areas as Moose River Plains, Siamese Ponds, Vanderwacker Mountain and Hoffman Notch.

But some controversy has developed over where, exactly... more

Triple Play in the ADKs

by Joan H. Young

This is a longer trip report with more of the daily experiences. If you'd rather just get the flavor of the hike try The Essential Adirondacks

My recent Adirondack hike naturally divides itself into three sections, each with its own distinctive character. First, Marie (long-time hiking buddy) and I hiked from Upper Works trailhead, just west of the High Peaks, to the Northville-Placid Trail and down the NPT to Cedar Lake. At Cedar Lake we left the NPT and began to follow one of the proposed routes for the North Country National Scenic Trail. After reaching North Lake the third phase of the hike began with more "civilized" walking on a combination of roads and canal towpath trails till we reached Fort Stanwix at Rome, New York.

My quest is to hike the entire North Country National Scenic Trail which goes from Crown Point, New York, to Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota, a 4400-mile route.

On this hike I carried a new toy, although it's not mine. The North Country Trail Association owns two Garmin 76CSx GPS units, and they said that I could take one on this hike. I got it in my hands just 6 days before we started hiking, so I had a steep learning curve. But it's a really nice tool, containing maps as well as... more

The Essential Adirondacks

overlooking a beaver pond photo by Mary Coffin

by Joan H. Young

This is a short "painting" of the Adirondack experience in essay form. If you want more of a trail journal, see Triple Play in the ADKs.

I'm sitting in a restaurant waiting for my dinner sandwich, a "Squawking Clucker," to arrive. We (my hiking pal Marie and I) have just one more day to walk on this hike, our third day along the Black River Canal from Forestport to Rome, New York. The canal walk has been interesting and civilized, but this trip is defined by our time in the forest.

What comes to your mind when you hear the word, "Adirondacks?" Mountains, clear blue lakes ringed by pointed spruce, and the wild call of a loon? We camped night after night... more