Summit of Ampersand Mountain

Summit of Ampersand Mountain

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Know Before You Go: Preparation and Packing for White Pine Camp

This post is more specifically focused on the nuts-and-bolts planning of our trip. It is a general checklist of what you might want to bring to White Pine Camp, what is already there, and a few ideas to help plan a trip to the camp. For this reason, it might not be as interesting as many of the other posts to the general interest reader. If you fall into this category, you may be interested in some of the previous entries, which are divided into the categories:
- Organizational Information (related to our trip)
- Fun Things to Do (in the Adirondacks)
- General Adirondacks Information
You can also view a topically sorted index of all of my blog entries.

A member of our group recently asked me what he needs to bring to White Pine Camp. Cooking Gear? A week's supply of food? Any other general supplies? Fortunately, the camp and its cabins are quite well equipped. Considering that the camp even has a washer and dryer, including laundry detergent, you could literally show up at camp with a sack of dirty laundry and still be adequately prepared for a week stay. Nonetheless, to make the most of a week at camp, here is a more precise list of what you will find at camp and things in general that you might want to consider bringing.

Cooking Facilities

Unless you anticipate doing cooking or baking with some highly specialized utensils, the kitchens have everything you will need. First the basics: the kitchens each have a full sized refrigerator-freezer, stove and oven, microwave oven, toaster and drip coffee maker, as well as a basic but comprehensive collection of cooking and eating utensils. Outside there is a barbecue grill and a stock of charcoal. The consumables provided include:
  • salt and pepper
  • a few packets of sugar
  • a starter supply of coffee and tea
  • filters for the coffee maker
  • kitchen paper towels, plus cloth dish and hand towels
  • dishwashing detergent
Groceries 

Even though White Pine Camp gives you the feeling of being deep in the woods, there are stores and a supermarket relatively nearby in the village of Saranac Lake.

Here is a list of supermarkets that we tend to use in Saranac Lake and on the outskirts of Lake Placid:
  • Tops Market on 156 Church Street, Saranac Lake (7:00 AM - 9:00 PM, 7 days) is slightly less than a 25 minute drive. The selection and the produce are, well average.
  • Hannaford Supermarket on 45 Hadjis Way, Lake Placid (open 6:00 - midnight, 7 days) is just over a 35 minute drive and has a more substantial selection and produce.
  • Price Chopper on 1930 Saranac Ave, Lake Placid (24 hours, 7 days), is just slightly closer than the Hannaford Supermarket and falls somewhere in between Hannaford and Tops with regard to selection and produce. Coming from camp, you will pass Price Chopper on your right just before you get to Hannaford, which is on the left.
In Gabriels, Brighton Mini Mart (Facebook Page), 846 State Route 86 (M-F until 9:00 PM, Sun until 8:00 PM) is the closest place to camp to get food, clocking in at an 11 minute drive. They describe themselves as "Your one stop convenience store & deli for all of your last minute grocery needs." They also have pizza and lay claim to a large beer selection.

All of the above mentioned stores are more-or-less close to camp, but as we are all coming from the north, we would have to drive past camp to get to them. If you want to pick up some groceries on your inbound journey, then a logical stop would be in Malone NY, which is about 45 minutes north of camp. 

Grocery Stores in Malone
Coming from Ottawa, you will pass through Malone if you cross at Cornwall. However, if you cross at
Ogdensburg, your best bet will be to do your shopping there. Ogdensburg has an Aldi, Price Chopper, Save-A-Lot and Walmart. Ogdensburg would be on your most direct route to camp, but it is still 1:45 from there to camp. So, if you are picking up perishables, you may want to consider the crossing over to the States at Cornwall, which only extends your journey about 5 minutes, compared to Ogdensburg.

Sanitary Facilities

The bathrooms are fully stocked, including soap, small bottles of shower gel, bubble bath, shampoo and conditioner. The towels are generally refreshed once a week and are not intended for use on the beachfront. There is a separate stock of towels at the old boathouse for use when swimming in the pond. You may consider bringing a towel if you want a large beach towel to lay out on or if you are considering going swimming somewhere beyond the reaches of camp. Gardner's cottage has a full bath including a claw foot bathtub and separate shower stall, plus a half bath with toilet and sink. Gate cottage has one bath with a claw foot tub with shower head and a second bath with a shower stall.

Recreational Equipment

At camp, you will find a large supply of gear for free-time activities, including canoes, kayaks and a rowboat free to use on a first come, first served basis. Sporting equipment includes a pool table, a two lane, set-your-own-pins bowling alley, ping-pong table, croquet set and an assortment of sports balls and frisbees. The cabins and the great room have a collection of books available. The cabins, great room, tennis house and bowling alley have wood-burning stoves or fireplaces and a stock of firewood. There are also designated fire pits in a few locations around camp that can be used. For those who can't spend a week offline, WIFI is available in the great room. We haven't had much success with cellphone connections at camp or in large sections of the Adirondacks, but our innkeeper says he doesn't have trouble getting a signal. Perhaps it is our European pre-smart phone era equipment or our provider. At any rate, you can make a collect call from the great room if you need to use a phone and can't connect via cellphone. See also the White Pine Camp website description of their amenities and services. The camp's website also has a list of suggested activities, as well.

What you should bring
  • sunscreen
  • bug repellent
  • towels (if you want to have a large one to lay down on or if you plan on going swimming away from camp)
  • rain gear: We have been known to hike in the rain and have recently added rain pants to our collection of gear. However, no one should feel compelled to do a rainy day hike with us.
  • clothes for hiking: It is an open question as to whether my knee will be in sufficient shape to do hiking in the higher elevations this summer, but others should feel free to hike as much or little as they wish. Particularly in the alpine zone, you need to be prepared for rapid changes in weather. Button down or zip open clothes are good options to adapt to changing elements. Also, a light pair of pants and moisture wicking materials are good tools to keep comfortable. We also suggest a light long sleeve shirt as well as long pants as an additional defense against biting insects.
  • sturdy shoes: Some of the more gentle trails can be navigated with a sturdy pair of sneakers, but you should have hiking boots if you plan on doing more serious climbing.
  • flashlight: Each cabin has at least one flashlight and/or electric lantern, some have two. It gets dark at night in the woods, and a significant portions on the camp's grounds are without outdoor lighting. The darkness is a benefit as it makes for terrific stargazing - and I have had the pleasure of watching shooting stars numerous times. Ideally, each person should have some kind of flashlight.
  • binoculars: There is lots of wildlife to investigate and much of it is too shy to be catch a glimpse of up close.
We have a relatively good collection of topographic maps and trail guides, and quite a number of hiking ideas for just about any level of difficulty. The staff at White Pine Camp has even more ideas still.

Camp Policies

Check-In is 4:00 PM.
That is everything that I can think of at the moment. Please feel free to let me know if you have any additional questions about what to expect or what you might want to bring to make your week great!

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Our itinerary is complete!

If you were to suggest to me that it wouldn't be until June 2015 that we would be finished booking all of the accommodations for our big trip - nearly the anniversary of the creation of this blog - I wouldn't have believed you. But, it is so. We finally booked the final accommodation for our journey. So, now we have plane tickets, the rental car and a place to stay for the duration of our trip.

Touchdown in Montréal

This will be the first time that we will begin a North American journey in Montréal. Since our flight gets in relatively late (8:30 PM), we will spend the night in the Best Western directly adjacent to the Airport and begin our journey the next morning. Here, we are not looking for anything fancy, romantic or memorable, just a convenient, reliable place to recharge our batteries. We are excited to explore Montréal, but will save that for the end of our journey.

We selected Montréal because it and Ottawa have the two closest international airports to White Pine Camp. In 2011, we made an open-jaws journey, starting in Toronto and departing via Ottawa - and can warmly recommend both cities. This time, we decided on a circle tour, which economizes a little bit on the flight costs (perhaps around €100 less for round trip compared to open jaws), but significantly on the one-way car rental costs: we paid $300 for a one-way fee in 2011. We selected Montréal this time for the novelty, and it appears to be a fascinating city.

Next stop, the Main Event: White Pine Camp

Google maps tells us that the 161 km journey from our hotel to White Pine Camp should take us just under 2:15 to get there - not including any delays at the border.

We will spend seven nights at White Pine Camp, and I have previously written about how we might spend our week, activities at White Pine Camp as well as some of our favorite mountain climbing and non-mountain climbing destinations in the park, plus some ideas about places to eat.

Continuing South in the Adirondacks

The most direct route from White Pine Camp to my parents' home is about a five hour journey. We decided to break up this journey with a stop in the Blue Mountain Lake region. This area is the home of one of my all time favorite museums, The Adirondack Museum, which I describe in more detail here. We will stay at LaPrairie's Lakefront Cottages, which is pretty basic, classic Adirondack style lodging. We have a small "Lakeside Suite"

Our room at LaPrarie - photo from laprairiecottages.com
To be completely honest, I was hoping to get a room at Hemlock Hall. It is located on a much quieter dead end road and is nestled in the woods. I had a lovely chat with the proprietor who gives the immediate impression that they are first class hosts. Oh, and they have Sunfish Sailboats available to hotel guests. Maybe we will be able to get a room at Hemlock Hall next time.

The Sunfish - photo from wikipedia
Maybe next time: Hemlock Hall - photo from hemlockhall.com
Home Again

Our next stop is the place of my birth and upbringing: Rochester, NY. For the sake of privacy, I have only placed the pin on the map in the general area (see below), not our exact address. We will spend time visiting friends and family.

The Foothills of the Adirondacks

Our return journey leading ultimately back to Montréal is via the south central Adirondacks. We will be staying at the Irondequoit Inn.

The Irondequiot Inn - photo from irondequoitinn.com
The Irondequoit Inn is located on Piseco Lake, which is just up the road from Lake Pleasant, where I spent many a childhood summer with my family and their friends, sometimes with some of our relatives as well. Our summer destination back then was "Baker's Lakeside Cabins," which has long since changed owners, and has been reconfigured to the point of being nearly unrecognizable to what I remember from way back when. Now, the property operates under the name of Waters Edge Cottages. I was considering staying there for sentimental reasons, but they only rent by the week, and we were only interested in staying for four nights. When we considered our alternatives on Lake Pleasant, we stumbled upon The Irondequoit Inn on Piseco Lake, which appeared to us to be the most cosy and inviting offering in the area.

The Northward Journey

We have a full day's worth of potential activities along the route from Piseco Lake back to Montréal. The most direct route would take us just under 3 3/4 hours, but we are considering stops in Fort Ticonderoga, the historic town of Essex on Lake Champlain and Ausable Chasm. While that will extend our driving time by a little more than another 3/4 hour, the sights are nicely spread out along the route at decreasing intervals and takes us on a route more directly along the shores of Lake Champlain.

Our final stop in Montréal

We will wrap up our journey with a three night stay in Montréal. We will stay in the Bed and Breakfast du Village, where we will have a small cottage house to ourselves. This reservation was the last piece of the puzzle, and we are excited to have found a place that comes with such enthusiastic recommendations where we can park our rental car and have easy access to the subway system.

Our Journey's Route



Saturday, May 9, 2015

Winter Wonderland at White Pine Camp

Wow. We had an amazing time.

Originally, we had anticipated that our next visit to White Pine Camp would be this summer with a group of friends and family members. While that trip is definitely on, we also ended up making an early spring trip to the US, and took that opportunity to spend four nights at White Pine Camp. Our desire was to spend the four nights in President's Cabin, but someone beat us to it for the first night, so we started out in White Pine Camp's most basic accommodation: Osgood. The innkeeper was kind enough to let us move into President's the second night. For the duration of our stay, we were the only paying guests except for the ones in President's the first evening. It was an honor, privilege and thrill for us - to have the feeling that for three nights, White Pine Camp was basically ours alone. With all of the challenges we have faced in the beginning of this year, that was the perfect treat.

Our Accommodations

Osgood is the only cabin that has a common sleeping/living/dining area and the only one that neither has a fireplace nor a gas fireplace nor a wood burning stove. Considering the time of year of our visit, the latter was of particular interest. Since we were confirmed for what is arguably the most fancy accommodation at Camp for the last three nights (at least among those available in the Winter / early Spring months), we decided to spend our first night in the simplest space available. We are already familiar with "the lodge building" where Osgood is located, because we have previously stayed in Guides and  Mrs. Otis. So, we felt at home immediately upon arrival. We would have been happy to have settled into Osgood but for the missing Fireplace. That and the extra room is nice for letting the wife get a few more winks of sleep when the husband is on his feet at some inhuman time of day.

President's is a point of pride and historical relevance for White Pine Camp because this is where then sitting president Calvin Coolidge spent his summer vacation in 1926, thus giving White Pine Camp bragging rights to name itself a "Summer White House." While it is indeed interesting to have such a brush with history, the real draw of President's for us was the large and luscious fireplace. We enjoyed lighting a fire each evening, but we were pretty much tuckered out from so much physical exertion each day that we dozed off pretty quickly in front of it. For the two of us, the cabin really offered the luxury of space: a bedroom probably as large as our own bedroom and study combined, bathroom with a claw foot bathtub, a well appointed galley kitchen, and a large living and dining room that spanned the depth of the house, overlooking Osgood Pond on the one side (as did our bedroom) and the central courtyard of the camp on the other.


So, in total, we have stayed in four different cabins at White Pine Camp: Guides, Mrs. Otis, Osgood and President's. During our summer visit, our group will occupy Gate Cottage, Gardner's Cottage and Kirkwood. So by then, we or members of our group will have stayed in half of the cabins at camp. And, I have been inside the majority of the cabins at one time or another by now. My feeling is that there is no bad cabin at camp, each has it's own unique features and they are lovingly furnished in Adirondack Style furniture and are all well equipped with thoughtful details. They are all rustic. I have read a few online comments about cabins showing signs of wear and tear. For me, that is very much a feature, and not a defect. It is such a pleasure to stay in a cabin that is over 100 years old, lovingly maintained with a sense of preservation. The worst thing imaginable would be to modernize the place into the form of a major chain hotel. When it is 0° Fahrenheit outside, I expect there to be a draft. The heating works fine, thank you very much, and what is better than a little draft to really appreciate that roaring fire in the fireplace. White Pine Camp does a great job everywhere that it counts: bed, bedding, fluffy towels, a well equipped kitchen and all the basic consumables you will need in the kitchen and bath. As this was the first time we were in a cabin with a bathtub, we took note of the fact that they even thought about supplying bubble bath. Oh, and the pine scented hand soap and shower gel was a nice touch as well.

The Timing: On The Heels of the Arctic Spell

We stayed from 22-26 March, which I think is pretty much the in-between season in the Adirondacks. Winter is technically over, so typical visitors to camp probably don't have their minds on making a jaunt out for winter activities, and it is a time of year where you can be greeted by just about any kind of weather. The Innkeeper proudly informed us that they had "broken out of [their] arctic spell," meaning 48 consecutive days where the mercury hit 0° some time during the day or night. For those who don't speak Fahrenheit, we are talking about just a tad above -18° Celsius. That sounded promising enough. Still, I had this strange fascination about spending time outdoors at this temperature, as I hadn't experienced such a temperature in a very long time, much less make a point of spending an extended period of time out and around in it. As it turned out, mother nature obliged my fantasy.


The first morning, we did indeed wake up to 0° temperatures. Thankfully, we came well prepared; we had stocked up on lots of high-tech thermal, moisture-wicking, multi-layered, windproof, water-resistant warmth. Still, I had a few moments of wondering if this outing was really going to be such a good idea. Actually, it was.
Image from adirondack.net. Note, the actual temperatures
we experienced were cooler than what is indicated on this table!

Our First Outing: The VIC

Our first full day was the coldest, but sunny throughout ... and windy. We packed two pairs of snowshoes into the car and headed to nearby Paul Smith's Visitor Information center (VIC). The VIC charges a nominal fee to access trails and has snowshoes available to rent, but as guests of White Pine Camp, we got free passes in addition to being setup with snowshoes. Snowshoes are the latest addition to the White Pine Camp inventory, and they plan on expanding on this with cross country skis and ice skates.

Once at the VIC, we were greeted by really pleasant volunteers. And, when asked where we came from, the guy at the counter directly switched over to German. As it turns out, this guy just happens to be Ed Kanze's next door neighbor. He introduced us to another volunteer who gave us some recommendations for snowshoeing at the VIC. And, this other guy and I also have someone in common. He purchased a canoe trailer from Joe Reiners Jr., the director of Adirondack Swim and Trip Camp, where I spent a quite a number of summers as a kid. So, by the time we hit the trail, I started to have a feeling that I was a part of the neighborhood myself.

Image from Paul Smith's VIC website
We took the Heron Marsh Trail to where it met up with the Jenkins Mountain Trail and then stopped for a quick bite of lunch at the gazebo. It was amazing to experience how much heat our bodies generated while snowshoeing. We cooled down really quickly during lunch, so we were quite motivated to continue on without delay. We then took the Boreal Life Trail loop to the outlook tower and returned to the VIC. The trails were snow-covered and crispy-cold. The surface was hard as it wasn't powder snow, but a dusting over an icy crust. It was so cold that each step made a sort of crunchy-squeeky sound, vaguely akin to walking on styrofoam. Oh, and did I mention it was cold out? The air was quite dry, so it was actually a comfortable cold, if that makes any sense. We were careful to expose as little skin as possible. The vapor in my breath froze my scarf in the form of my chin and formed ice crystals on my eyelashes. When we stopped on the trail, it was s i l e n t. The only thing we heard was the wind whistling through the trees. There was no one on the trail. We neither saw nor heard another living soul before lunch, and we crossed one or perhaps two people in the afternoon. As much as I enjoy interacting with the people we meet in the Adirondacks, it is such a treasure to be in a place of such pristine beauty and not see another living soul for miles and hours on end. I am guessing, but I think that we snowshoed a little bit over four miles.

Heron Marsh

Back at Camp: Exploring Osgood Pond on Snowshoes

Even after trekking around the VIC, we were still in for more. So, upon returning to White Pine Camp, we spent the afternoon snowshoeing across Osgood Pond. My wife was a tad nervous about this, at first, imagining the possibility of us breaking through the ice. Apparently however, the ice was about three feet (1m) thick and stable enough to safely carry the weight of a truck. We must have spent more than an hour crisscrossing the pond, taking in the sights. It was a strange and enjoyable feeling to walk instead of paddle across Osgood Pond. After the twin outings, we returned for dinner in our cabin and an evening in front of that luscious fireplace.

View of Mt. St. Regis, taken from the frozen surface of Osgood Pond

This picture of the iconic Tea House conceals the fact that it is located on a small island.
After our first day on snowshoes, we were hooked.

From Relaxation to the Next Challenge

Following a longstanding formula, we planned our next day's activities to be a bit less physically demanding. We started out taking advantage of another special White Pine Camp offer: a free Whiteface Mountain "Winter Passport." We took the ride up to the summit of Little Whiteface on the Cloudsplitter Gondola and got breathtaking views of the high peaks from our vantage point. It was another picture-postcard-perfect day.

"Cloudsplitter Gondola" ascent to Little Whiteface
Panoramic view from Little Whiteface
From there, we decided to continue on to the Olympic Jumping Complex, which would include an elevator ride up the 120m jump tower. As it turns out however, at least at this time of year, it is only open from Thursday to Sunday. We decided to forego some of the other attractions covered by the "Winter Passport," including the Lake Placid Olympic Museum, the Olympic Speed Skating Oval and the bobsled/luge/skeleton track.

Now early afternoon, we started to think some more about how to spend the rest of the day. Once again, we had a beautiful sunshine filled day, and it became increasingly mild as the day progressed. By the time we got to the village of Saranc Lake, I couldn't resist embarking on another snowshoe adventure. This time, our destination was something a bit more challenging, our first snow covered mountain trek to the peak of Baker Mountain.

On the Baker Mountain Trail
According to the Saranac Lake 6er trail description, the round trip distance to the peak is 1.8 miles. Just after clearing the trailhead register we ran into a familiar face: the innkeeper, who was just returning from the summit, out with his dog. The Adirondacks certainly is a village.

Baker mountain has what is called a "lollipop trail" meaning that there is a single path leading to the mountain which continues in a loop to the summit then returns via a different route to main path. One part of the loop trail is steeper and shorter and the other is longer but more gentle. We made our ascent via the steeper trail and soon came to realize that what was manageable for the ascent could quite possibly be too steep for our snowshoeing skill level for the decent. That meant the only way down was via the summit … and we had a heightened sense of anticipation as to how long it would take us and what kind of terrain was waiting for us on the other side of the mountain. Meanwhile, the shadows became longer. On top of that, we pretty much doubled our hiking distance by not starting at the trailhead, but from the Saranac Lake visitor's center parking lot, a well intended recommendation made to us there. On the last leg of our journey - returning via the trail extension - I was feeling the trail in my legs and feet and began to develop a mild sense of aggression toward that nice lady at the visitor center.

We made it
The increasingly mild temperatures gave us a softer, very slightly slushy snow on the trail, and early on in the hike I had shed all of my outer layers and was left in a T-Shirt and an open button-down.

Once we returned to the village, I had to take a closer look at the remains of the fabled Saranac Lake ice palace. The village has a winter carnival that goes back over 100 years, and its focal point is an elaborate ice palace. While the weather remained sufficiently cold to maintain the palace until our visit, due to insurance limitations, it was already reduced to a pile of ice blocks by the time we got to town.
What is left of the Ice Palace - the centerpiece of their Winter Carnival
As it turned out, we ended up exerting a lot more physical effort on our second day out than we had originally planned - but it was well rewarded. I was looking forward to wrapping up another splendid day with one more reward, a trip to my favorite local restaurant, the Red Fox. This lead us to the first of two minor disappointments during our stay …


As it was, the Red Fox was a consideration on the evening of our arrival. Our inbound route took us right past their doorstep. I am guessing it was round about 6:00 at the time. I checked in to see if we would be able to get a table - "yes" but they were only open until 8:00. I was undeterred at first, but quickly came to realize that it wasn't going to happen, as we still needed to check in, unload and do some grocery shopping. At the time I thought: we are here for four nights, we'll have our dinner there yet. So I thought.

Undaunted, I was determined to find an alternate destination for my Prime Rib dinner, and my wife had her sights set on Lobster Tails. Our extra effort was rewarded when we found the Great Adirondack Steak and Seafood Restaurant, with its own onsite microbrewery. While I had my choice of three different sized portions of Prime Rib, Lobster Tails were not on the menu, so my wife had to graduate to eating an entire lobster. We were not disappointed.

Photo Credit: adksteakandseafood.com
And the sun went on hiatus …

The day of our arrival and the first two days of our trip were marked by nonstop sunshine and starlit nights. I didn't get to see much of the stars though, as we pretty much consumed all of our available energy during the daylight hours. I can tell you from previous experiences that this corner of the Adirondacks is terrific for stargazing as it is very dark, since there is a notable lack of light pollution.

Our third and final full day started out with some sunshine, but we were starting to get some rain as well, and pools of water collected on the surface of the ice-covered Osgood Pond. We made a leisurely start of it, with a pancake and sausage breakfast (the wheat free pancake mix was a success), and puttered around the house a bit.


Later, we explored a few villages by car and stopped by at the VIC to sign up for an evening activity, their "owl prowl." Well, that lead us to the second of our mild disappointments. The evening event was subject to weather conditions, which became increasingly rainy as the day wore on, and the event was cancelled. The dark skies did have a silver lining though as they provided us with possibly one of the most dramatic skies that I have ever seen. If someone was going to orchestrate the scene for the end of the world, they quite possibly could use the sky we saw as their guide.





It was jaw dropping fascinating, and we were magnetically drawn back out over Osgood Pond to get a good look at it. We made a looping path from the "new" boathouse to the bowling alley where we played pool and watched the storm roll in. In retrospect, the weather played a symphony for us, showing such depth of character and breadth of mood. It was wonderful to experience the Adirondacks in such varying cinematography and it underlined to me what a gift each day had been.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Excited!

To the casual reader, it would appear that I have gone into hibernation mode with regard to this corner of cyberspace. While I have in fact been dormant here, life has been keeping us busy on other fronts over the past several weeks. One thing is true however, I have never been to the Adirondacks in winter. The latest time of the year that I have been to date was during the glorious fall foliage season. I have yet to see a single snowflake in the Adirondacks. And, several sources confirm that the Paul Smiths corner of the Adirondacks occasionally manages to record the coldest temperatures anywhere in the contiguous United States. As I write this, the temperature at Paul Smiths is reading -13°F/-25°C (at 6AM Eastern Standard Time).

Our lack of experience in the Adirondacks during this time of year is about to change. Our long planned trip to White Pine Camp - the subject of this blog - is scheduled for this summer, but our updated travel plans also bring us to New York State earlier this year, and we couldn't resist taking a peek at the north country during our travels this time as well. We are not quite sure what to expect.

Ed Kanze tells me that we could either see plenty of snow or spring like conditions. His book describes four to five feet of packed snow on ground just before the date of our arrival, and the first signs of spring while we will be at camp, including wet weather. The Innkeeper at White Pine Camp says that it is not uncommon to be greeted with three feet of snow. Both say that it is a very beautiful time of year to spend at camp.

Everything that we have been considering doing up until now is based on the premise that we will have mild summer weather to do it in. Many of the attractions that I have mentioned before are closed for the season. The Wild Center is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10AM to 5PM, so we will just miss that opportunity. Ausable Chasm is indeed open all year, but I am not sure if that will make it onto our agenda. There are also all kinds of activities on Whiteface Mountain and the Olympic Complex but it appears that the Whiteface Memorial Highway is closed for the season. I am curious if our favorite area restaurant will be open while we are there.

At any rate, most of the activities that we have in mind for this early trip are closer to camp. These include cross country skiing or snowshoeing at the Paul Smiths VIC.

Image from Paul Smiths VIC website
I am skeptical as to whether we will be in sufficiently good physical condition, have the proper gear / clothing or if the weather conditions will permit our exploring to take us into higher elevations. If they do, then Baker Mountain, Mt. St. Regis, and Mt. Jo are among the candidates that we might consider. If we get a really mild streak, we might consider Porter Mountain (wiki) as well. In all likelihood however, I fully expect that we will stay in the lower elevations.

Summit of Mt. St. Regis on 22 Feb 2015, Photo posted by Brian Gordon to the Saranac Lake 6er Facebook Page
Mysteries abound as to what will be waiting for us at White Pine Camp this time of year. Will the pond still be covered by a solid sheet of ice that will let us walk across? What wildlife will we encounter? Will we experience the tail end of a long, cold, crisp white winter landscape, or will it be damp and dreary (similar to our entire winter here in Nürnberg this year)?

Regardless, we are looking forward to several nights in front of a fire in a romantic open fireplace. We will do a little research for our upcoming summer gathering, but mostly we will enjoy some time alone together and well away from cellphones, the interwebs and daily agendas.

We are excited!

Friday, January 30, 2015

Quirky and Commercial Adirondacks

It would be stating the obvious to mention that this blog focuses on some of my favorite aspects of the Adirondacks. In doing so, I like to stress that the park has something for a broad variety of interests and tastes. And, I like to believe that my representation of the Adirondacks in these musings is vaguely representative of the place itself. One of the main purposes of this blog is to give those who will be joining us next summer an advanced sense of inspiration about the place and a handy selection of ideas about things they might be interested in doing once they arrive. For all my efforts at being a good virtual guide and distant ambassador to the park, they are going to be skewed to my own preferences, leaving out or glossing over some other aspects of the park.

A park the size of a small country is bound to have a few contrasts and aspects beyond the scope of what I like to focus on most. (By the way, Belize, Israel and Slovenia are just three of the 99 countries on this planet smaller than the Adirondacks.) The Adirondacks I like to write about is a mountainous adventureland, a place of lakes, ponds and streams, trees, wildlife and fascinating geological formations. It is a place where we can spend days alone communing with nature, or have a relaxed conversation in a slower paced environment than we experience most of the time. In addition to "my" Adirondacks, there are other aspects to the park.

One other aspect of that I would like to focus on is what I will call the "Quirky and Commercial" Adirondacks. Quirky is in the eye of the beholder, and certainly some of the destinations that I will elaborate on will be more quirky than others, but I believe that even the most commercial enterprises in the Adirondacks have a typically Adirondack flair. Originally, I was planning a single post on this topic, but have come to realize that I am looking at a miniseries of entries, lest I get too long winded again.

The places that I think of which fall into the category of Quirky and Commercial in the Adirondacks include North Pole, NY - Home of Santa's Workshop, Enchanted Forest Water Safari, Ausable Chasm, the Lake Placid Winter Olympic Facility, including the Whiteface Mountain Ski Center and the one I will elaborate on today, the Whiteface Mountain Veteran's Memorial Highway. I am sure I am leaving something out here, but these are some of the most famous, most historical and most commercial corners of the Adirondacks. I don't like to dwell on these parts of the park because I don't want to give the idea that the park is dominated by these places, it is not. But these places are part of the Adirondacks, have longstanding followings and they create much needed jobs in the park. There are also some interesting stories to tell about them.


The Whiteface Mountain Veteran's Memorial Highway is the only one of the above mentioned attractions that I have actually been to. Also known as New York State Route 431, it is the only road in the Adirondacks which leads to the peak of one of the 46er mountains. Actually, the road doesn't go all the way up to the summit, but within 276 feet of it. From there, the summit can be reached either via a staircase or an elevator which is built into the mountain: a horizontal tunnel takes you 426 feet into the mountain where the base of the elevator shaft is located.


Construction of the road was completed in 1935, it is roughly 8 miles (13 km) in length and ascends 3500 feet (1100 m). The road is at once an abomination and somehow a blessing.  Traveling by car at 25 mph beyond the timberline to the 5th highest peak in the Adirondacks is a stark contrast to the remaining 45 peaks which take you directly into the most primitive corners of New York State.


Once at the top, you are surrounded by scores of people who would otherwise never make it to such an elevation, it seems sacrilege. I heard one older gentleman chirping into his cellphone "You'll never guess where I am right now, I'm on the top of the highest mountain in New York State!" When he finished his conversation, I couldn't keep myself from informing him about the factual error in his statement. To this he replied with a shrug, "aw, my buddy is in Florida, he won't know the difference!"


I also encountered a large family that appeared to be Amish, based on their clothing. I must have been mistaken, as I can't imagine members of a religious group who shun modern conveniences like automobiles would be on the peak of this mountain.




It is a grand sight at the top, but it just seems different to be exposed to such a majestic panoramic view without any work. You just don't enjoy it as intensely if you don't have to fight your way to the peak. Still, I think that there is some value to having one 46er that people of limited mobility can fully experience from its rocky summit.


As easy as it sounds to get there via car then elevator, it is the only major peak in the Adirondacks that my wife and needed three attempts to get up. The first two times, the access road was closed due to poor weather.


Here is a nice blogger's description of the access road to Whiteface Mountain, complete with a nice series of pictures - you will have to be patient with the fly-in banner advertisements.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Adirondacks News #2

Here are some tidbits of Adirondacks News that I have stumbled across in the past few days...

Appellate Court Upholds Paddling Rights
from adirondackalmanack.com

Photo Credit: adirondackalmanack.com
This article in The Adirondack Almanac is interesting as it deals with a fairly tender issue in the Adirondacks: the rights of private property owners versus the right to public access. In the case in point, Adirondack Explorer editor Phil Brown canoed along a waterway which passes through private lands for an article he wrote in 2009. The owners charged him with trespass. The state appeals court confirmed a 2013 ruling which dismissed the charges against him. However, since it was a 2-3 ruling, the landowners have an automatic right to appeal their decision.

The subject touches on an aspect of the Adirondack park that I raised in my blog entry last week. As I mentioned then, just a little more than 50% of the Adirondack Park is in in private hands. Those who do own land here are subject to the most restrictive development regulations anywhere in New York State.

The subject of the article, Phil Brown, first caught my attention when I read one of his articles in a magazine at White Pine Camp titled "Osgood as it gets." It traces a canoe journey from Jones Pond (where my childhood summer camp Adirondack Swim and Trip Camp "ASTC" is located) to Osgood pond and finally up the Osgood river. Not only is "Osgood as it gets" a nice piece of writing, but it also bridges two special places to me, ASTC and White Pine Camp. I have mentioned Phil Brown (or used the map from his article) in previous blog entries, here, here and here.

(Please note: the link to the article "Osgood as it gets" can only be accessed if you create an account on Adirondack Explorer, but this can done quickly and without divulging any sensitive information.)

APA Approves Controversial Subdivision
from adirondackalmanack.com

Photo Credit: adirondackalmanack.com

Phil Brown is the author of this article instead of it's subject. You see, the Adirondacks is essentially a village.

In my most recent blog entry, I discussed about how development in the Adirondacks is regulated by the Adirondack Park Agency (APA), and there is a constant struggle between maintaining this place as a wildlife refuge and developing parts of the park for private residence, commerce or for recreation. The battle often pits economic viability against environmental conservation. I would add, this debate also pits rich people against poor people. If you look at the development plan I inserted above, it is significant to note that the subdivided parcels range in size between 3 and 145 acres - and the majority of these are on the larger end of that scale. The article mentioned that this development will generate $60,000 in new tax revenue per year. That means the largest parcel will be paying over $2400 in taxes each year. Or, to put it on another scale, the largest property is more than four times the size of White Pine Camp. By any account, the housing going in here is well out of line with the typical income of the park's year round residents. I am reminded of the era of the "great camp" where Vanderbilts, the Rockefellers, the Carnegies, et. al. staked their claim to this precious space.

Hiking Mount Jo near Lake Placid during winter’s coldest week
from ottawaroadtrips.com

Photo Credit ottawaroadtrips.com
OK, this one is not serious reporting, nor is it an insider's perspective on the Adirondacks. But, it is a cute story about an outing in the park, and it combines two of our personal experiences with an element that we have not experienced in the Adirondacks: winter.

As I have mentioned before, Mt. Jo, was the first mountain that I climbed in the Adirondacks. On our most recent jaunt up little Mt. Jo, our journey actually continued from there to Ottawa, the starting point perspective of this article. There are two significant differences between our experience an the one mentioned in the article: we made it to the top, and we weren't subjected to -26°C temperatures. In fact, I have never experienced the park in these conditions. One aspect of the article did make me cringe though: "due to my schedule, we only had about an hour," the author writes. Accordingly, the story only takes us part way up this mini-mountain! The lakeplacid.com website describes Mt. Jo as taking two hours round trip for the experienced hiker and 2 1/4 for the "out of shape hiker." Seriously, who travels 250 km from Ottawa to write an outdoor adventure piece about the Adirondacks and doesn't allow for more than an hour on the trail?

An old favorite in winter
from adirondackexplorer.org

Photo Credit: adirondackexplorer.org
Now, here is how locals write about outings in the Adirondacks. Once again, we hear from Phil Brown. As he mentions, the fire tower still remains closed to the public. He alludes to the fact that it is slated for restoration, which I have read from other sources is scheduled to be done in the summer of 2015. I am still scouting around for more details about this restoration project. As I mentioned in a recent blog post, the trailhead to Mt. St. Regis is only a few minutes away from White Pine Camp, and it is one of the potential activities during our week there next summer.

Who Rules the World?
Podcast by Ed Kanze on mountainlake.org

Well, the connection to the Adirondacks in this podcast is perhaps tenuous, but it is from Ed Kanze, so I decided to include it here. In this podcast, Ed ponders whether girls rule the world. At the end of it, he mentions his new book "Adirondack Life and Wildlife in the Wild Wild East," which I just finished reading and warmly recommend. He also mentions a series of videos about the Adirondacks which have since been completed, you can find links to these at this previous blog entry. As Ed typically gives a weekly nature walk at White Pine Camp during the months of July and August, we look forward to meeting him then!


Sunday, January 11, 2015

Forever Wild: A Unique Park

People throughout New York State are proud of their parks in general and the Adirondack Park in particular. The fact that the Adirondacks is a state park as opposed to a national park is significant for a number of reasons, and makes this place unique among parks. However, before I get into further discussion about why I believe this is so, lets review some basic data and fun facts about the Adirondacks.

Largest Park in the Contiguous Untied States

With the exception of Wrangell - St. Elias and Gates of the Arctic national parks, both in Alaska, at 6.1 million acres, the Adirondack Park is the largest park anywhere in the United States. The seven most frequently visited National Parks in the United States (Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Olympic, Rocky Mountain, Zion) have a smaller combined size than the Adirondack Park. Here are a few other interesting size comparisons:
To put the size into perspective, I plotted a few German cities onto a map of the Adirondacks.

Three German cities superimposed on map to approximate similar distances
If the estimation of 10 million visitors per year is correct, then the Adirondacks has more visitors per year than any of the national parks in the United States. Interestingly however, it does not have the name recognition - at least not among Europeans - of any of the most famous National Parks, such as Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, Yosemite, Death Vally and the like. Depending on your point of view, that is either a pity or a blessing, but those who don't know are missing out on the beauty and recreation that this park has to offer.

Lots to Do, lots to see

Let's get this out of the way, Mt. Marcy, the highest point in the Adirondacks at 5,343 ft (1,629 m), is not on the same league, vertically speaking, as many other famous mountain ranges, such as the Himalayas (29,029 ft), the Alps (15,780 ft) or the Rocky Mountains (14,440 ft). Regardless, unless you are singularly interested in testing your breaking point doing extreme climbing, you will find an outdoor adventure or hiking challenge in this park suitable to any skill level. Here is a brief overview of what you will find here:

Fun Facts

Wait, residents? People live in the park?

The fact that the Adirondacks is home to a significant number of private citizens brings me back to my point about why the Adirondacks are unique and the fact that it is a state park plays a defining role in this. Together with the Catskill Forrest Preserve, also in New York, the Adirondacks are the only constitutionally protected forest lands in the United States. This is also part of the mythology of the Adirondacks, making it a special place for visitors and residents alike.
The lands of the state, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the forest preserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept as wild forest lands. They shall not be leased, sold or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public or private, nor shall the timber thereon be sold, removed or destroyed. (Article 14 of the NY State Constitution) 
Source: Wikipedia
However, the fact that the Adirondack Forest Preserve exists and is protected by the New York State Constitution does not in and of itself explain how it is that people can live here. The Adirondack Park is an area delineated by an outer boarder called the "blue line" which is made up of areas with different classifications, and slightly more than half of the 6.1 million acres is actually private land. The entire park is divided up like this:
Source: Adirondack Park Agency
Represented on a map, the utilization of the park looks like this:
Source: Adirondack Council
The Adirondack Park is thus a patchwork quilt of private and public land. While it is true that the Adirondacks and the Catskills enjoy the highest degree of protection of wild lands in any state, the cause is not as singularly noble as it may sound. The origin of this protection was in fact very pragmatic and served to protect commercial interests. The forests in the park were heavily logged during the time after the Civil War, and the state's business community began to fear that this could cause erosion and make the Erie Canal unnavigable through silting. In retrospect and particularly considering the United States, nowadays it is a very quaint idea to think that such a monumental act of environmental protection came about as the result of a political initiative serving to protect business interests.

Also, the protection of the park is the subject of much controversy. On the one hand, it is probably safe to say that the private lands in the Adirondacks and the Catskills are subject to the most stringent development restrictions anywhere in New York State, further challenging prosperity in an area prone to economic depression even without such restrictions. On the other hand, the Department of Environmental Conservation which manages both the Adirondacks and the Catskills, as well as the Adirondack Park Agency, charged with performing long range planning for the future of the Adirondack Park, have both fulfilled their functions - how shall I say - inconsistently over the years. As with any public service agency, operations are very much dependent on the funding and staffing they receive, and both of these variables have been manipulated to varying effects in relation to the political persuasion of the state's government over time. For an in-depth discussion of this issue, I recommend Paul Schneider's book "The Adirondacks: a history of America's first wilderness" Also, anyone interested in learning more about life in the Adirondack Park, including how this legal framework has an impact both on humans and nature, should definitely visit the Adirondack Museum.

In his book "Adirondack Life and Wildlife in the Wild, Wild East," Ed Kanze also discusses the uniqueness of the Adirondacks and puts it into the context of the competing philosophies of the naturalists John Muir and John Burroughs. Kanze explains that Muir believes nature is best protected when humans are kept away, but himself feels aligned with Burroughs' hypothesis. Burroughs argues that humans are of nature as opposed to being apart from it. Accordingly, the ideal state would be to live in harmony with nature as opposed to separate from it.

Kanze continues, explaining that Muir's thinking is what gives rise to the cathedral like setting which can be found in any of the national parks in the United States. These are places where entry is regulated - usually with an admission fee and often limited in numbers - activity is limited and supervised by the priests, ...err... that is rangers, of the parks. The Adirondacks, on the other hand, is very much of the Burroughs school. It is a place where people live and earn their livelihoods. The "blue line," which delineates the park's outer perimeter, is entirely permeable. You can cross it at cruising speed on the road, casually noting a signpost. Or, if you enter by ferry over lake Champlain, you have already entered the park prior to the boat docking on the New York side. The theme of living as part of nature is returned to several times in Kanze's book. Indeed it is the very foundation of many of the premisses in it and also of his own livelihood in the Adirondacks as well as that of his family.

Source: panoramio.com


White Pine Camp on Google Maps


View White Pine Camp in a larger map