Wilderness Is Essential
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I am lucky to live with wild places right outside my front door. I have local trails on which I can hike, ski, or take my dog for a walk,…
Adirondack Explorer – It’s Debatable: No To Permits
The term “overuse” implies that we have too many people visiting the High Peaks. This term, while convenient and perhaps apt, greatly oversimplifies the problem and solution. Certainly, there is…
The Wilderness beyond Mohegan Lake
The snow before us was virginal, and it covered an entire road that extended for several miles into the backcountry. Beyond the mountainous snowbank that marked its beginning, the ribbon…
On Russell M.L. Carson and Peaks and People of the Adirondacks
The following are excerpts from the essay, “On Russell M.L. Carson and Peaks and People of the Adirondacks,” published in Wander-Thrush: Lyric Essays of the Adirondacks (Ra Press, 2018) and…
Entr’acte
Purdy was beginning to struggle in the March snow. We had been striding easily across it for most of the morning, and until the last hour or so it had…
A Journey to Boreas Ponds
I find it most exhilarating to hike in the fall. Perhaps it’s the crispness in the air or the fact that the forest has opened up, offering views hidden by…
The Sound of Silence
If you’re looking for a cross-country skiing destination this winter, might I suggest skiing Gulf Brook Road to Boreas Ponds?! While comparable in distance to traveling to Lake Colden in…
South Pond
I might have abandoned the idea of reaching South Pond had I not caught a glimpse of it through the trees, right at that critical moment of decision. There it…
Four Minutes
I hold the lighter to the rim of the stove, and a flame leaps to life. It is faintly blue at first, and then dingy yellow-orange as it bursts up…
Truth About Age, Ability, Access and Wilderness
One of the points made repeatedly by those who want to see motorized access to the Boreas Ponds Tract is that “elderly and disabled” people should have access to the…
A Perspective from the High Peaks
By all accounts, it takes effort to get to the summit of Mt. Marcy. Even the easiest route to the top of New York State demands an exhausting climb up…