Austin Falls, JRWF, 21 Sep, 2022

I'm so happy the Forum is back on-line. Thanks to all the folks who rebuilt it and for the upcoming migration (hopefully the old threads make it).

I had a great opportunity this morning to take my youngest daughter for a short hike on the last day of summer. Austin Falls in the Jessup River Wild Forest was our destination. Pulling up to the old Rt. 8/30 bridge, we quickly got ready for the short walk on an "abandoned" highway.

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After walking around the barricade and dodging copious amounts of poison ivy, we took in the views of the mighty Sacandaga River.

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We were both surprised to see a very active logging operation going on right on the other side of the bridge (in the Speculator Tree Farm tract). We sat here for a while and watched them load huge hardwood logs on to the trailer for the journey to the mill.

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Eventually, we pulled ourselves away from watching other people work and headed up the old road. It was neat to see the old guardrails alongside the steep stretches of embankment.

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The road is an easy walk as it skirts the boundary of the tree farm (right) and the JRWF (left). The sound of the river was always in our ears.

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Soon, we arrived at the designated campsite along the route. It's actually a nice little spot right alongside the river. The old maps list it as a "picnic area".

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The neat thing about late summer hiking are the large amounts of wildflowers around. These New England Asters attracted a hungry bee.

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As if the roaring water wasn't an indication, a sign that let us know we arrived at our destination.

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A small herd path led down to the bottom of the falls and provided a great place to soak in the majesty of the falls.

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Pictures can't do justice to the power of the river and the sound and feeling of the crashing water.

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After a nice long break, we headed straight back down the way we came. The logging truck had passed while we were at the falls, so we took our time walking and daydreamed about the beauty of the forest. Any time I get to spend with my kids is special and I cherish these memories.

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adkforum

As you all know we are moving these forums to the latest vBulletin 5 version. This process has begun already, and beginning Friday morning the forums will be unavailable as we move to the next phase.

Please check in to the ADKHighPeaks forums for updates on the upgrade.

Thank you.

Thank you to the people who did all the work to get the site back up

I'm very grateful to the brave folks who do all the work to maintain this site and to rescue it when it gets stolen. Thank you very much for keeping this resource here, it's very helpful.

adkforums

We are working on the site, in the meantime, checkout adkhighpeak forums. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Benson Mines Solar Brownfields Project

https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/s...rEZWw-TqP3PUbQ

Bushwhacking in Pigeon Lake WA

I'm curious about the practicality of bushwhacking in the large northern reaches of the Pigeon Lake WA. There are few to no trails there, so any significant travel through that region would be mostly bushwhacking with perhaps a bit of paddling.

Has anyone successfully bushwhacked from Russian Lake to Inlet, between Andy's Creek and Big Moose Lake? Just looking at a map, the bushwhack from Constable Pond to Russian Lake over the saddle looks very doable, but the trip from Russian Lake to Inlet appears to be over very low-lying ground that could easily turn out to be swamp.

If some of these areas can be paddled with a packraft, that could work well. My concern is that they may be "too thin to plow, too thick to drink," as some described certain Western rivers. Too much water to walk through, not enough water to paddle through...

I'm intrigued at the idea of exploring the northern half of the WA with a backpack and a small packraft, north of Inlet (the inlet off Big Moose Lake, not the town), but it looks like it's difficult to access this area without a boat that is capable of handling Big Moose Lake (which would be too much for my little packraft, though paddling Inlet or any of the smaller lakes should be fine).

I've read with interest some of the trip reports to Gull Lakes, Andy's Creek, and even Terror Lake, but I haven't read any that didn't start out with a boat trip up Big Moose Lake, something that wouldn't fit into my current trips.

Just curious...

Pillsbury Mtn Trailhead/ Old Military Rd

I see on the dec backcountry notes that the road was repaired in June, I thought that I had read this summer that the road was still not drivable. I can?t find posts referencing that now though. Just thought I would check on here to see if anyone can confirm driving to the actual trailhead is possible again? Thank You.

Vanderwhacker reveals the true size of the Adirondacks!

Well the gravel road into the Vanderwhacker parking lot is closed. There are signs on the one bridge that the bridge is out. We walked over the bridge and it appears completely fine. Then again I am not an engineer. I just walked over the bridge.

I was glad that the road was closed for 2 reasons. I would have been nervous taking my 2008 Honda CR with over 200,000 miles 3 miles into the woods on a unknown road. This summer was a stressful one and I needed stress reduction. I wanted a long walk woods.

The stats from all trails: Length 12.55 mi Elevation gain 2,306 ft Time 6:51:23

2 hikes this summer there have been bird calls that are persistent and easily recognizable. The first bird the oven bird on Treadwell. This hike had the red breasted nuthatch! With the help of the Merlin app I was able to identify it. It sang constantly throughout the day and I think I have it down so If I hear it again in the future I will recognize it.

I feel that this hike is required for anyone who wants to get an understanding of the size Adirondacks. You really get a feeling for the vast scale of the park from this vantage point. While the views of peaks like Marcy and Colden are great and inspirational, Vanderwhacker shows the High Peaks as one corner of the park. There is a whole middle area.

After standing in the cab of the fire tower I am changed. It's not everyday that can happen. Anyone can look at a map and say 'Wow the Adirondacks are 6 million acres! What a huge park!' This hike takes you to the exact place where you can experience it.

In the cab I had another experience that was magical too. Hundreds of dragonflies were whirling around the cab. I have no idea if they were mating or was it just a "last days of summer" dance. I loved it.

Everyone is always talking about all the far away places they want to visit. There is only one place I really want to go and that is the Northville-Lake Placid Trail. This trip made that desire even stronger.

Good book

I just finished a really good book about mountains & hiking: The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd. She had spent much of her life hiking, camping, & exploring the Cairngorms in Scotland. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves mountains. I want to share the last 2 paragraphs:

"So my journey into an experience began. It was a journey always for fun, with no motive beyond that I wanted it. But at first I was seeking only sensuous gratification -- the sensation of height, the sensation of movement, the sensation of speed, the sensation of distance, the sensation of effort, the sensation of ease: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. I was not interested in the mountain for itself, but for its effect upon me, as puss caresses not the man but herself against the man's trouser leg. But as I grew older and less self-sufficient, I began to discover the mountain in itself. Everything became good to me, its contours, its colours, its waters and rock, flowers and birds. This process has taken many years, and is not yet complete. Knowing another is endless. And I have discovered that man's experience of them enlarges rock, flower and bird. The thing to be known grows with the knowing

"I believe that I now understand in some small measure why the Buddhist goes on pilgrimage to a mountain. The journey is itself part of the technique by which the god is sought. It is a journey into Being; for as I penetrate more deeply into the mountain's life, I penetrate also into my own. For an hour I am beyond desire. It is not ecstasy, that leap out of the self that makes man like a god. I am not out of myself, but in myself. I am. To know Being, this is the final grace accorded from the mountain."

Coastal Cutthroat Trout with A Japanese Style Tenkara Fly Rod.

I don't know anything about fly fishing but this looked like something you maybe interested it. I know people need light gear because they are carrying it into the back country. This Tenkara rod looked interesting. This guy has a youtube channel called mouse trap mondays. He posts a lot of videos about mouse traps. He also posts videos about his other adventures. He seems like a nice guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcnsI0oDbts

Lost on the Boreas River

On 9/8 on the Northwoods Club Road at the Boreas River. A Sage fly rod with a Hardy reel.
It has great sentimental value. I'm offering a substantial reward if found.

Hornbeck 10 Ft Classic

Used but in pretty good shape.

Replacement seat, huge improvement in comfort IMO. Bow and stern skid plates.

Some scratches but no structural issues whatsoever.

Asking $950.

Can meet in CNY or NW ADK, (Town of Fine).

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Lightweight canoe -- Hornbeck?

My husband and I have been paddling for many years. After learning to paddle a canoe as a kid, I bought a couple of Stearns self-bailing inflatable kayaks for whitewater, and we paddled a lot of Class 2 in North Carolina with them.

Eventually we moved to a place with more flatwater and less whitewater, and we quickly became tired of sitting in a couple of inches of water. We sold them and bought a Saranac 146 polyethylene canoe. It has been an excellent flatwater boat, but weighs 79 pounds. It's impossible to portage it any distance, and as we get older we are both reluctant to paddle it because of the amount of effort needed to get it on and off the high roof of the SUV. It absolutely requires both of us to cartop it, so it's useless for any type of solo trip. We use it about 4 times a year.

Last year I bought a Klymit LWD packraft, which weighs less than 3 lbs and fits easily in my backpack. I have only used it a couple of times, but it meets my expectations for such a minimalist boat, including being able to paddle it with a full backpack aboard. But it would be useless against any wind, and is so slow it isn't practical to paddle it any distance. I look forward to taking it on backpacking trips that are 90% hiking and 10% paddling, but that's about its limit. And it has no back support at all.

So we are interested in purchasing a couple of lightweight canoes that are easy for aging paddlers to get on and off an SUV, portage a reasonable distance, and carry enough payload for camping.

Priorities would be weight, easy of cartopping, and price. (Since we need two solo boats, price is a huge issue. $3,000 boats need not apply.) It's worthwhile for us to trade off on-water performance, within limits, for a boat that's easier to portage and get on and off the SUV.

While sitting on a high seat is more comfortable, we are fine with sitting low in the boat, as we have used kayaks a great deal. Double-ended paddles are fine.

We would want to be able to paddle moderate lakes like Pharaoh, Lows, or Big Moose, but would avoid large lakes like Raquette, Tupper, or the Saranacs.

Given the above, I am thinking that Hornbecks would be the best compromise. We can easily drive to Olmstedville to check them out, order, and purchase boats. The price is high, but we can probably manage it with careful budgeting.

We would want each boat to be able to carry about 250 lbs, including gear, so something in the 12-mid to 13-low range seems about right.

But we may be overlooking other options. Suggestions would be very welcome.

Fulton Chain Lakes -- and more (9/1 - 9/3)

My husband and I spent two nights camping at the Eighth Lake Campground on the Fulton Chain. We did quite a bit of hiking in the area, and visited some trailheads to prepare for future trips.

After setting up camp, we hiked west to Bug Lake. The crossing of the water connecting Seventh and Eighth Lakes was interesting, because the bridge was not quite long enough to span the water. There was a gap of about three feet wide on the east end, where a couple of inches of water depth lay between the bridge and the trail. No big deal, but given how dry weather has been this year, I was surprised.

As we approached Bug Lake, an unmarked spur trail on the right intrigued us. It looked like a trail to a designated camp, but with no signage or blazes. We followed the trail quite some distance across a couple of wet areas, eventually finding a very nice, large camp site under conifers with a fire pit and "camp here" disk. We didn't realize that Eagle Nest Lake was only a short distance onward, so we returned to the main trail, hiked north until reaching the western shore of Bug Lake, and then returning to camp.

Temperates dropped into the low forties that night. I had to layer up on jackets both the evening before and the morning after.

Mount Skylight bushwhack to Redfield?

Hi All,
Doing an October hike to Feldspar and doing skylight, gray, and Marcy. Just curious if it's possible to bushwhack from Skylight to redfield?!?

Thanks!

40 degrees this morning fall brook trout

Temperatures dropping, anyone else getting geared up to do some fall brook trout fishing ?