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High Peaks

Adirondack Park Permits: Could Johns Brook Valley Be Next? Some History

April 1, 2021 by John Warren 2 Comments

Johns Brook LodgeThe institution of a permit system at the Ausable Club’s Adirondack Mountain Reserve surprised and confused some hikers and would-be hikers. Many didn’t realize that third most popular High Peaks Wilderness Area access point, through the Club’s lands in the Upper Ausable Valley, was privately owned.

A similar situation holds at the Johns Brook Valley, another popular access point just northwest. That area is owned by the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK), it faces similar parking challenges and is just as susceptible to a future permit system. [Read more…] about Adirondack Park Permits: Could Johns Brook Valley Be Next? Some History

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Guides, Adirondack Mountain Club, Adirondack Mountain Reserve, Adirondack Park, Ausable River, camping, High Peaks, hiking, Johns Brook, Keene, Keene Valley, Logging, Mount Marcy

DEC Issues Adirondack Mud Season Trails Advisory

April 1, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

mud season trail work courtesy DECThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is urging hikers to postpone hikes on trails above 2,500 feet until high elevation trails have dried and hardened. As snow and ice continue to melt at high elevations, steep trails can pose a danger to hikers due to thick ice and deep, rotten snow. Thin soils are susceptible to erosion and sensitive alpine vegetation can be easily damaged. [Read more…] about DEC Issues Adirondack Mud Season Trails Advisory

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: DEC, Giant Mountain Wilderness, High Peaks, hiking, Mckenzie Mountain Wilderness, Sentinel Range Wilderness Area

DEC, Private Club Piloting High Peaks Hiker Reservation System

March 30, 2021 by John Warren Leave a Comment

Crowded conditions along Rte. 73, High Peaks Wilderness region. Photo by Ken RimanyThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Ausable Club have announced a pilot reservation system to access the Club’s private lands, the Adirondack Mountain Reserve (AMR). Since 1978 the State has held a conservation easement on Club/Reserve lands which allows limited access to some of the more popular places in the Adirondack Park’s High Peaks Wilderness Area.

A press release from DEC cited “reliable access” and public safety along Route 73 among the reasons for the change. The pilot program is slated to run for three years according to DEC. [Read more…] about DEC, Private Club Piloting High Peaks Hiker Reservation System

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Mountain Reserve, Ausable Club, Ausable River, DEC, High Peaks, hiking, Keene, Overuse, Tourism

High Peaks Advisory Group Submits Final Report

March 11, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

High Peaks overuse courtesy High Peaks Advisory GroupThe High Peaks Strategic Planning Advisory Group (HPAG) has submitted its final report on promoting sustainable recreation in the Adirondack Park to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos.

Comprised of various stakeholders, including some with expertise in local government, recreation, natural resource protection, business, and tourism, in 2019 the HPAG was tasked with providing DEC with recommendations on how to address critical issues associated with increased public use of High Peaks resources in order to protect these areas in the short and long term, as well as for future generations. [Read more…] about High Peaks Advisory Group Submits Final Report

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: DEC, High Peaks, hiking, nature, Overuse

Adirondack Avalanche Warning, Adirondak Loj, Information Center Closed

February 16, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Avalanche anatomy illustration courtesy T3 AdventuresNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that backcountry downhill skiers, snowboarders, and others who may traverse slides or steep, open terrain in the High Peaks Region of the Adirondacks should be aware of and prepared for avalanche conditions.

The Adirondack Mountain Club has closed Adirondak Loj and the High Peaks Information Center, both at Heart Lake in the High Peaks, indefinitely over COVID concerns.

[Read more…] about Adirondack Avalanche Warning, Adirondak Loj, Information Center Closed

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Recreation Tagged With: backcountry skiing, DEC, High Peaks, skiing, snowboarding, winter, winter sports

Man Rescued After 30-Foot Fall At Giant Mountain, Adirondack High Peaks

January 7, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

forest ranger logoNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people.

What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers. [Read more…] about Man Rescued After 30-Foot Fall At Giant Mountain, Adirondack High Peaks

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Recreation Tagged With: DEC, Forest Ranger Reports, Forest Rangers, High Peaks, hiking, paddling, SAR, Search and Rescue

2,200 Acres Protected In Split Rock Wildway, Eastern Adirondacks

December 22, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Bar MH Timber property courtesy Open Space InstituteThe Open Space Institute (OSI) has announced the permanent protection of forested land in the Towns of Chesterfield and Lewis in Essex County. [Read more…] about 2,200 Acres Protected In Split Rock Wildway, Eastern Adirondacks

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Park, Champlain Valley, conservation, Eagle Mountain Wilderness Preserve, High Peaks, hiking, nature, Open Space Institute, Split Rock Wildway, Taylor Pond Wild Forest, Wildlife

Remembering The Big Blowdown of 1950

November 30, 2020 by John Warren 5 Comments

1995 Blowdown in the Adirondacks Courtesy Wildlife Conservation SocietyThe Adirondacks are prone to powerful windstorms, isolated tornadoes, and occasional hurricanes, derechos, and microbursts. Perhaps the second most destructive of these in modern Adirondack history (next to the 1998 Ice Storm) occurred in November, 1950. [Read more…] about Remembering The Big Blowdown of 1950

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Beaver River, Cold River, Environmental History, Fires, Forest Preserve, High Peaks, I-87, Logging, Political History, weather, wildfires

Adirondack Wild Presents 2020 Wilderness Award

November 19, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Kevin Chlad receives the 2020 Paul Schaefer Wilderness AwardAdirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve has presented its 2020 Paul Schaefer Wilderness Award, the organization’s highest honor, to Kevin Chlad, Director of Government Relations for the Adirondack Council with offices in Elizabethtown and in Albany. [Read more…] about Adirondack Wild Presents 2020 Wilderness Award

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Council, Adirondack Park, Adirondack Wild, Forest Preserve, High Peaks, Kelly Adirondack Center, wilderness

Dave Gibson: Establish A Wilderness Training Center in NYS

November 1, 2020 by David Gibson Leave a Comment

Alpine climber John Case speaks of the landscape below Whiteface Mountain to children from the area, c. 1978. The stress of our sheer numbers on wild lands, other hikers, summit stewards, forest and assistant rangers and local communities and volunteers bordering Routes 73 and 86 this hiking season – and many before this – easily disconnects and untethers us from the historical and philosophical roots of wilderness preservation and management. [Read more…] about Dave Gibson: Establish A Wilderness Training Center in NYS

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Environmental History, High Peaks, hiking, Overuse, Tourism, wilderness

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