Adirondack photos

Zachary Hoyt

Well-known Member
This August I took my 4th trip to the Adirondacks on my bicycle. I did about 95 miles the first day and the total for the week was about 330. I use the bike to get to the trailheads and then hike and camp on state land in various spots up there. It's my favorite part of the year.
Zach
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Zach,
Those are absolutely beautiful pics! I couldn't even imagine seeing this scenery in person. That is just amazing! By the looks of your pics you seen some awesome places. Thanks for sharing.
Kow Farmer (Kurt)
 
In the 70's and 80's it was pretty bad, they 'nuetralized' the water since then, and the factory scrubbers- (of what's left of midwestern or eastern Canadian industry huh?) used nowdays cleaned it good latley. The state restocks nearly all the lakes and streams, fish are as nice now as ever before. You can still see browns in the evergreen trees damaged years ago, but the trees that die from the months of rocksalt on the roads is worse. There are 3 great things about the Adirondacks....... June July and August.
 
Zack, that little rock island, was that one of the Saranac lakes? I remember something like that from a previous life....
 
The Adirondacks are 40 +- miles north from my house and thats what I love about New York State. Beautiful pics Thank You for sharing
 
Thanks for sharing the great pictures. Sounds like something I'd like to do. I like to "minimal camp." take just one of those sandwich makers to use over the fire. French toast, eggs, etc. are all possible.

Larry
 
Zach, I grew up in the adirondacks and now live slightly outside (half hour drive), there is nothing like the Adirondack Mountains and 4 trips is not enough! Ive been hiking there a couple dozen times and it still is not enough! Great pictures, next time you go shoot me an email, Ill hike a mountain with ya!
 
There are lots of spots like that in lakes up there, this one is in Seventh Lake outside Inlet. I have never been to the Saranac area but have heard that it is very nice.
Zach
 
You know, it's really great that everyone thinks it's pretty. Try living there. The Adirondack Park Agency and NYS combine together to make pretty much everything illegal, expensive, impossible or incredibly difficult. The State, which is broke and won't even discuss worker compensation issues, school aide, mandate reform, etc, just announced they are in contract to buy 70,000 more acres of land! This land will likely be put in "Wilderness" classification, all the roads will be closed (it's a timber co tract), no travel other than by foot will be authorized. 70K more acres taken out of production forever. And the really neat part is the NYS tax payers will not only foot the bill for that and the new welfare recipients closing this land will create, but they will pay increased taxes to cover the tax bill on the land. That's right, NYS taxes the taxpayers to pay the land taxes on State owned lands to towns within the Park!!!

I grew up in the Park and lived there till 1995. At that time the current govs daddy Mario Cuomo had something called the "21st Century Bond Act" up for vote. It was a very far reaching effort to turn the Park into what essentially would be nothing more than a shanty town of worker bees, kept out of sight and limited in every way, to support the extremely wealthy in their vacation homes. The State would have even more control over your private lands. It was voted down, barely, but now I see the UNs Agenda 21 coming out with most of the same ideas. Scary.

It's pretty alright. I miss it. I note Zach didn't include and pictures of the towns and villages along the way. That's probably because most of them resemble something out of a 1950's Appalachia photo essay. Most of them are dying or have already died. And with no disrespect towards Zach or the others that like it and use it, consider this- The gore-tex and granola crowd gets to use all those state maintained trails, campsites, etc. at no charge. Meanwhile I have to buy a $29.00 Fishing license to fish on my own farm. IMO anyone using state lands in any way should have to have a land use license or a hunting/fishing/trapping license. The sportsmen of NY have been paying their way for 100 years. It's time the hiking/camping/canoeing/rafting/mountain biking/cross country skiing crowd started paying their fair share.

Rant off.
 
I agree with much you stated - to a degree. But I'd rather see my NY tax-dollars go to preserving what is left of Adirondacks that giving raises and extra benefits to union state workers, friends of politicians, school teachers, welfare recipients, etc. I've lived off-and-on in Hamilton County (Indian Lake) for 30 years. That is in the original part of the park (unlike Lake George region that was added later). My grandmother at age 18 in 1924 came from France, went through Ellis Island and traveled by train, coach, and steam-boat to Old Forge where she lived for many years - taking care of some rich NYC family's kids. All mail and groceries came by steam-boat and all heat was from coal or wood. No electricity. Kids went to school in a one-room school-house. By those standards -the life style is certainly easier now. My neighbor in Indian Lake lives where she was born. 78 years old, widow -and still heats with wood. She works all summer at Blue Mountain Lake at the "rich peoples" museum run by non-native people. She gets winters off and collects unemployment. She tells me that things are much easier for her now then when she was a kid. No electricity until after WWII.

Much (but not all) of the Adirondacks is worth preserving in my opinion. In regard to the corrupt APA (Adirondack Park Agency) - I don't think they do enough to actually preserve habitat. They waste too much time on other trivial issues and constantly break their own rules.

No doubt that park has a low population of native full-timers. But it always did and most I know want more tourists to visit (along with their money) and not less. Many of the natives would be fine with clear-cutting much of the place and getting a few bucks for the logs. Same way it was before the Park was created.

Up to a few years ago - Racquette Lake had the smallest school in the USA -but now it's closed. The entire elementary and high school was down to two students. We were going to enroll our kid there. Now the kids get bussed to Indian Lake. Oddly the residents of Racquette Lake voted to keep the school and taxes going even though it's empty.
 
I didn't take photos of towns because I don't spend much time in them, I have a limited time to spend up there and want to spend it in the woods as much as possible. I have passed through several towns in the western and central ADKs and overall they look in much better shape than the towns here in northern Oswego county where I live. Lots of tourist traps and vacation homes, but that is where the money comes from as I know from growing up in Maine.
Zach
 
Kind of the same as comparing the Adirondack villages (that I frequent) as to where I live in Central NY. I go to the central Adirondacks a lot and own some land and cabin there. Villages like Speculator, north Creek, Indian Lake, Blue Mountain Lake, Wells, Lake Pleasant, Racquette Lake, etc. all in nicer condition then where I live. But yeah - a lot of that is because of tourist dollars and/or city people with vacation homes. Where I live in central New York things were booming back when dairy farming was the main "industry." Our town was much more upscale in the 1800s then it is now. That is fine with me, by the way. I don't need nor want "upscale." Just wish my taxes would reflect that. If I wanted "upscale" I could live 20 miles away in the tourist trap of Cooperstown where the Farmers Museum and Baseball Hall of Fame is. NO thanks.
 
John,
Couldn't agree with you more about Cooperstown. They seam to think they own all the surounding area, and can dictate what happens even on my little corner of the woods and Our 1200A family farm north of the lake.
The wifes side of the family ownes a small off-grid camp on the Gillmantown Rd. between Wells and Speculator. I hope to have more time in the future to spend up there
Loren, the Acg.
 


Brett, since when has NYS required a land owner to hold a fishing license to fish waters on his own land? This is news to me.
 
Last time I checked you need a license to fish on your own land. If you can find a regulation allowing it, it's news to me. You can hunt small game on your own farm, but it must be a farm and you primary occupation must be in farming. Deer, bear,turkey, ducks and geese, trapping all require a license to be legal as far as I can find.

I grew up in North Creek. I lived in Tupper and Long Lake. I likely know your widow woman neighbor since I worked in Indian Lake for many years. If she's been there that long she's likely a Virgil, Hutchins, Parker, Stanton, Farrell or Lanphear. I'm related to half of them. My mother lived in Raquette Lake till she passed and my step father still lives there. Owning a vacation home and judging what you see isn't the same as growing up there and seeing the change. You didn't grow up seeing the sawmills and mines close one by one and the state buy more and more land, cutting off any chance for the locals to buy it. You didn't see the APA encroach more and more into our daily lives. You didn't see North Creek when you could hardly move through town for the log trucks, trucks hauling garnet, when the trains ran twice a day hauling from Tahawus. 3 barbershops, a jewlery store, a variety store, 2 appliance stores, 3 groceries, 7 restaurants and bars, 2 hotels, a motel, auto parts store, 2 car dealerships, a Mcculloch dealer, a dry goods, a tailor, a movie theater, hardware, liquor store, funeral home, gun shop, newspaper, a sawmill and handle mill, bowling alley....the list is long. North River had 2 general stores and a tavern to serve the mines. Go to Newcomb and see a ghost town filled with retirees and the unemployed. Go to Bakers Mills or Johnsburg and look at the empty stores and gas stations. Sure, Saranac and Placid are doing fine, but go to Blue Mtn or Long Lake in the winter on a weekday and what do you see? A closed up grocery store and a bar, not even the bar in Blue.

Anywhere you go you will find life is easier to live with power and modern roads, I'm not sure what the point of that was LJD.

Get off Main St in North Creek and outside of the skiers condos, what do you find? Not the well kept homes of my youth, those are mostly gone along with the beach at the swimming hole the state shut down (IIRC). I used to be a life guard there. Gone now.

The skiers used to come by train and stay in what would be called bed and breakfasts and a few hotels and cabins. Now, most of them stay in Lake George or Glens Falls or don't come at all. They go to Vermont where they have a choice of areas within an hours drive, just like it used to be before the State built Gore. As I remember it there were 7 ski areas within 1/2 hour of North Creek back then, maybe more. Now there's Gore- period. You'll need to be a registered nnalert and have a friend that's a Committeeman at least to get a job there.

As far as "...I'd rather see my NY tax-dollars go to preserving what is left of Adirondacks that giving raises and extra benefits to union state workers, friends of politicians, school teachers, welfare recipients, etc.", well, I'd rather see the money returned to the taxpayers! Get a map of the Park and see how much land the State already owns. 6 million acres and the state own 45% of it so far. Do we really need all of it? Once the State gets a piece of land it's never, ever going to be able to be used again- ever. No logging, no mining, no snowmobiles, no horses, no ATVs, no nuthin'. They bought the Whitney Tract which was crisscrossed with roads and what did they do? Closed off all the roads so Gram and Gramps can't drive in to a lake or pond. And who do they listen to when deciding land use? The locals? Heck no, they listen to the environmental groups with lobbyists and huge bankrolls. So instead of conservation they practice preservation.

Like I said, nice to look at, just don't try and live there.
 
I go through Gilmantown Road every time I drive up there. It's a soft of "long cut" around the Wells area. I'd almost bought land there a few years ago that just touched a small lake. Gilmantown Lake (I think).

Some years ago I met a farmer who runs a farm on the very end of Otsego Lake. I bought a Case tractor from him. A DC with a dropped valve as I recall. Maybe the farm was in Sringfield Center or Richfield? I think he told me it was one of the last farms there. I think I recall the name Tim Richards on Public Landing Road - but my memory could be off. Fasset Farm maybe?
 
Tim R is my cousin. we're the same age, started school together and graduated HS together. He and his son are still Leasing that farm, which belongs to the Cunningham Family.
One of the lakes at the top of the hill is Charlie Lake and there was a trail that led from the road to Dunning? Pond. The Family Camp is just above the road into the resivoir, as you climb up from Wells.
Loren, the Acg.
 
Lanphear. She grew up on Cedar Creek Flow but later moved to Chamberlain Road (where my place is adjoining state land). In regard to other old names? When I had to call the building inspector - he was a Hutchins. When I spoke to the town supervisor - he was a Hutchins. When I had to pay for a water-engineering study - it was a Hutchins from North Creek (cousin to those in Indian Lake). I also met a young building contractor in town - and yes - another Hutchins.

In regard to no logging on State land in the Park? Before the state started the preserve - the Adirondacks was getting horribly depleted and eroded from over-cutting. Now it's gone the other way. A middle-road approach would be nice but I doubt it's possible with private or state ownership.

The reality is - most of the original blue line area was a place not well suited for industry, farming, or "good comfortable" living. It's a rugged area. It was never "upscale." What little modern convention that came in was due to outsiders with money. It's bad enough with all the tourist traps and paved roads all over it along with big non-resident vacation homes and boat houses. Although I regard the APA and the NYS government as over-abundant and very corrupt - I see the park as one of the few good things done with my tax dollars. Would I rather have no taxes and no land being bought by the state? Yes but it's not going to happen.

I guess we don't agree. I'd like to see it more wild and many of the RV and snowmobile trails removed from the wildest areas. Let them play in the less wild areas or go to Tug Hill.

I live at times at another place in northern Michigan. There the state forests are logged often. Clear cut right to ground and every twig removed and chipped up to go to the OSB mills. It makes a lousy mess and makes the already poor soil even poorer. So yeah, I'd hate to see that happen to the Adirondacks. The Catskills were ruined years ago. Same with much of Tug Hill area and the Thousand Lakes area (with help from Napolean Boneparte).

I'll be moving to Indian Lake sometime in the next few years - so I guess I'm not heeding your warning. I love the wild part of it. I don't care for the people part of it and don't want it converted into a remote suburb to Albany.
 
There's absolutely no reason the State couldn't enter into a sustainable logging system on all but the fragile lands. It would be better for the forest, for the people and for the State. There's no reason the state couldn't do a lot of things they don't do and make a little money and lower taxes while they are at it. There is no logical reason the state should even consider buying another single acre, especially since we're broke.

I always found it funny that the state won't let a horse walk on state lands not designated as a horse trail, but they'll let 100K hikers trample the High Peaks. And they'll let rafters turn the Blue Ledges into a trash heap. All for free! They should all be paying for the "privilege" of using State lands, just like hunters, fishermen, etc. The hypocrisy gets me steamed.

I don't expect to change your opinion, I'm just giving you a different view point.
 

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