Adirondacks
And this is where the post will set up camp.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
Chez Tramper
Welcome to the Chez Tramper! Here, all of your hiking-day hunger will be assuaged by a multitude of gourmet grains, gorps, granolas, and chocolates. Our resident menu crafter has spent many hours meticulously counting calories and proportioning carbs, proteins, fats, fruits, and all-too-rare veggies into weeks of satisfying meals to tame your tastebuds. In fact, she has donated 85% of her apartment floor space to our establishment as a preparation and staging area. (She also hopes she did not frighten the maintenance guy during his recent unannounced visit, although she’s pretty sure she left a path between the door and the fuse box.)
Our menu crafter takes her job seriously. She begins by modifying the familiar food pyramid to meet hikers’ special caloric needs as well as weight and bulk restrictions. As a veteran of many a raisin overdose, she balances fiber with particular care. She supplies carbs liberally. She believes that pretzels are a fine addition to gorp, assuming they are passed through a mortar and pestle, and that ramen noodle dust is just as nutritious, easier to eat with a spoon, and certainly more convenient to pack, than ramen in its pristinely wavy form. For special occasions, she might suggest splurging on a liquid sauce to add to the night’s rice or pasta. A packet of palak paneer from the Indian foods aisle might be worth its unfortunate heft for its spinach-infested greenness on day 10 of your journey. Homemade granola is her specialty.
Protein is easier to bring to the woods than many imagine. Peanut butter and mixed nuts are longtime standbys, as are beef sticks and jerky. A trip to the natural foods co-op reveals multiple flavors of dried bean mix, and even everyday grocery stores offer vacuum-sealed packets of precooked chicken hidden among the tuna cans. Some protein also comes from the cheese in your macaroni and parmesan and from your crackers and Swiss or sharp cheddar.
You may soon come across the Chez Tramper brand off the trails. During the course of experimenting for ever-better tramping food products, our intrepid team of food scientists has discovered many substances new to epicurology. Entrepreneurial specialists are currently working to find alternate markets for these innovative substances. For example, our head research chef, deviating from a recipe for hardtack (bland but rugged crackers), discovered a process by which hockey pucks may be manufactured. Our peanut butter granola bars will be marketed to dentists as saliva sponges: pop a crumb in the patient’s cheek, and the good doctor won’t have to bother with his spit vacuum.
We offer a sampling of our fine menu below. Recipes are available upon request. Shipping and handling fees apply in addition to the basic per-meal cost and all applicable taxes.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Ticks and the Post Office
I called several Adirondack post offices recently in order to check up on the procedure of food dropping. These calls required almost as much planning as the rest of the trip. It’s possible that out of everything that makes me anxious about this trip (chiefly ticks, bears, and starvation), what I’ll have to worry about most is coordinating my arrival at post offices to fall within their business hours. Trickiest of all is the hour, or two, in which each closes for lunch, staggered apparently to avoid some Adirondack-wide stampede to the best lunch counter this side of Lake Champlain. I offer a sampling by way of example:
Piseco (pop. 200)
Mon-Fri: 9:45-12, 1:45-3:45 (Perhaps suggested by a random number generator?)
Sat: 11:30-1 (Note to self: avoid obtaining a pen pal from Piseco.)
Blue Mountain Lake (pop. 146)
Mon-Fri: 8-11, 12-4:30 (3/4 the size of Piseco, with double the PO hours... perhaps a town of dedicated catalog shoppers?)
Sat: 8-12
Long Lake (pop. 852)
Mon-Fri: 8:30-12:30, 1:30-4:45 (I assume they close early to avoid the excruciating Long Lake 5:00 rush hour?)
Sat: 9-12
Lake Placid (pop. 2638)
Mon-Fri: 8:30-5 (This bustling metropolis is far to cosmopolitan to shut its doors for lunch.)
Sat: 8:30-12:30
Keene (pop. 1063)
Mon-Fri: 8-12, 1-4:30
Sat: 8-11
Keene Valley (pop. ?)
Mon-Fri: 8-1, 2-4:45
Sat: 8-11:45
However inconvenient their eccentricities, the postmistresses make up for it in helpful friendliness. At Blue Mountain Lake, she answers the phone in that typically dull voice indicative of business phone veterans with a mouthful of spiel to get out while the caller patiently waits their turn. But as soon as I mentioned that I was a hiker and not, say, some local adolescent calling to ask how much a one-cent stamp cost, inflection breathed life back into her words and she became chatty like only a bored, small-town PO worker can be. She explained in detail how to address my care package: “General Delivery--Hungry NPT Hiker,” with an approximate date of arrival and a phone number to call three days later, because she won’t have hikers lost in her woods. We discussed weather reports, blackfly densities, and trail conditions. She asked politely about my plans and became inordinately cheerful when I told her I’d be alone. She explained that she was a determinedly pro-girl-power Girl Scout leader. How strikingly different from the last time I told a post office worker my hiking plans. The lady behind the window in Wellington responded with, “You know that hikers die in the mountains when they’re alone, don’t you?”
As an afterthought, I asked about this year’s tick forecast. “Oh, we don’t have much trouble with ticks,” she replied. The only people she’s known to have picked up ticks caught them down near Albany. Could this be so? I laughed out loud when I hung up the phone. You mean I won’t have to watch the silhouettes of ticks patiently and methodically scaling the tent walls as I lay down to sleep? I won’t have to pry tick mouthparts out of my flesh every hundred feet? (Part of the tick oogey factor must have to do with the use of the term “mouthparts” and descriptions of how they break off and remain embedded in your skin if you’re not careful. I intend to be very careful, thanks.)
The trip suddenly felt almost too easy. In the last few weeks, I’ve been coming to terms a succession of anxieties. First was bears. Once I convinced myself that bears don’t regularly munch on tent poles at 3 a.m. unless the tent’s inhabitants have been frying up salmon steaks by their bedside, I was free to worry about food. Once I planned out filling meals and ample snacks delivered via several mail drops, I wondered whether my feet would be able to keep up with my tramping schedule. After a few ambitious local hikes, I decided I could make myself walk forever if need be, unless the trail was infested with ticks. And now I’ve run out of gripping concerns.
Now all I have to worry about is breaking an ankle in the next two weeks. Or unknowingly dropping the car keys into a beaver pond at mile marker 54. Or spending my end-of-trip bus money on salad and chocolate in Long Lake, because the bust stop at the Noon Mark Diner doesn’t accept credit cards. Or arriving at the wrong post office at 4:50.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The Plan: Rough Draft
For the last week, maps of various regions in the Northeast and Midwest have covered the floor of my apartment like intricate Girl Scout sit-upons after a particularly rambunctious meeting. Now there is a plan, and it follows the Northville-Placid Trail (NPT).
View Larger Map
This track won the bid for several reasons. The region garners rave reviews for its scenery and size. It’s also the right length for my time frame. The current draft of the plan calls for leaving on Tuesday, June 10 and returning to Ithaca sometime around June 30 so that I can spend July 4th on Pewaukee Lake. That gives me three amazing weeks, making me feel rich with good fortune, even if I am an unemployed bum.
Plus, the trailhead is close, 170 miles or just over 3 hours away, assuming I don’t miss a turn in Ephratah or Herkimer or Fink Basin. Google’s directions might as well be a journey through the villages of Dr. Seuss, written in the format of an epic free-verse poem.
By the last stanza, I should be on the south end of Adirondack Park, a conglomeration of wilderness areas interspersed with squares of private land and tiny hamlets that takes up most of northeastern New York State. If you open Google Maps in just-plain-map mode, it’s that big green splotch upstate. In terrain mode, it looks like a rough-textured green scab. These mountains were made differently than the ancient, eroded Appalachians, which take the shape of narrow, curving ridges snaking up and down the Eastern Seaboard and were created by tectonic collisions. The Adirondacks are more of a fat, warty toad than a snake. They are still growing by a couple millimeters a year, being pushed skyward by an ambitious bubble somewhere below the Earth’s surface.
Officially, the NPT begins in the little town of Northville just inside the southern border of the park, but the trail follows the road several miles to Upper Benson before disappearing into the woods, and that’s where I’ll begin. (I feel no need to be an end-to-end purist if it means a day of roadwalking.) The trail wanders 133 miles north, skirting or passing through the villages of Piseco, Blue Mountain Lake, and Long Lake, before finally petering out on the southern outskirts of Lake Placid Village. Along the way are lean-tos or huts like the ones I saw in Shenandoah: three sides, a roof, double-decker sleeping platforms for 6-8 people. Usual amenities include a privy hidden away nearby, a spring or stream for water, a fire ring, and tent sites. Trail maintenance should be noticeable, although the beaver population sounds eager, as they are, to fill the trail with water.
The official NPT guidebook, put out by the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK), offers sample 10-day and 15-day itineraries, but it’s frustratingly impossible to determine how much ground I’ll be comfortable with covering on each day. I can compare mileages from previous trips, make sensitive measurements from 1:60,000 topo maps, and even walk the entire length of the trail virtually courtesy of Google Earth’s three-dimensional fly-thorughs. Even high technology can’t tell me how often I’ll loose an hour by mistaking an old logging road for the trail, or whether an impending thunderstorm will persuade me to set up camp early, or whether I’ll have a series of high-energy, keep-going days. I do have a few rest days built in that I can convert to mileage make-up days if need be. What I mean to say is that all proposed schedules come with emphatic disclaimers.
If I spend the first two weeks on the NPT, I can spend the remaining week wandering thought the High Peaks, the crowing glory of Adirondack Park. The High Peaks are a particularly topographically intense area just southeast of Lake Placid containing New York State’s highest mountain, Mt. Marcy (1,629 m/5,344 ft), a member of 46 summits in the area over about 4,000 feet. The spectacular scenery has made it the most popular area of the Adirondacks. A visit is required of every upstate resident, preferably at least once a year. Because of the popularity, the local bears have become wise to the ways of hungry humans and their flimsy bear bags. Bear cans are required here by park regulation.
Food is the limiting factor. If people didn’t have to eat, our packs would weigh nothing and we could roam the wilderness endlessly, besides instantly and conveniently solving world hunger. Unfortunately, this is currently not the case, and so I’m stuck with the logistical challenge of resupplying about every six days and crunching my Ramen into noodle dust in order to fit enough non-perishables in the bear can. One popular resupply method is to mail yourself packages care of local post offices and then making sure you end up in, say, Blue Mountain Lake (pop.: 146) on a non-holiday weekday morning or afternoon, but not when the PO closes for lunch.
The last major roadblock, or rather trailblock, remains transportation. There is no set shuttle service from Lake Placid to Northville. I could take an all-day bus ride to the town of Gloversville on the south edge of Adirondack Park, but I’d still be 20 miles away from my car at 9 p.m. in an unfamiliar town. Walking a giant loop back to Northville would require more time than I have, extensive roadwalks if I want to avoid retracing my steps, and scratching the High Peaks from the schedule.
Assuming transportation works out, here’s the rough draft plan:
View Larger Map
This track won the bid for several reasons. The region garners rave reviews for its scenery and size. It’s also the right length for my time frame. The current draft of the plan calls for leaving on Tuesday, June 10 and returning to Ithaca sometime around June 30 so that I can spend July 4th on Pewaukee Lake. That gives me three amazing weeks, making me feel rich with good fortune, even if I am an unemployed bum.
Plus, the trailhead is close, 170 miles or just over 3 hours away, assuming I don’t miss a turn in Ephratah or Herkimer or Fink Basin. Google’s directions might as well be a journey through the villages of Dr. Seuss, written in the format of an epic free-verse poem.
By the last stanza, I should be on the south end of Adirondack Park, a conglomeration of wilderness areas interspersed with squares of private land and tiny hamlets that takes up most of northeastern New York State. If you open Google Maps in just-plain-map mode, it’s that big green splotch upstate. In terrain mode, it looks like a rough-textured green scab. These mountains were made differently than the ancient, eroded Appalachians, which take the shape of narrow, curving ridges snaking up and down the Eastern Seaboard and were created by tectonic collisions. The Adirondacks are more of a fat, warty toad than a snake. They are still growing by a couple millimeters a year, being pushed skyward by an ambitious bubble somewhere below the Earth’s surface.
Officially, the NPT begins in the little town of Northville just inside the southern border of the park, but the trail follows the road several miles to Upper Benson before disappearing into the woods, and that’s where I’ll begin. (I feel no need to be an end-to-end purist if it means a day of roadwalking.) The trail wanders 133 miles north, skirting or passing through the villages of Piseco, Blue Mountain Lake, and Long Lake, before finally petering out on the southern outskirts of Lake Placid Village. Along the way are lean-tos or huts like the ones I saw in Shenandoah: three sides, a roof, double-decker sleeping platforms for 6-8 people. Usual amenities include a privy hidden away nearby, a spring or stream for water, a fire ring, and tent sites. Trail maintenance should be noticeable, although the beaver population sounds eager, as they are, to fill the trail with water.
The official NPT guidebook, put out by the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK), offers sample 10-day and 15-day itineraries, but it’s frustratingly impossible to determine how much ground I’ll be comfortable with covering on each day. I can compare mileages from previous trips, make sensitive measurements from 1:60,000 topo maps, and even walk the entire length of the trail virtually courtesy of Google Earth’s three-dimensional fly-thorughs. Even high technology can’t tell me how often I’ll loose an hour by mistaking an old logging road for the trail, or whether an impending thunderstorm will persuade me to set up camp early, or whether I’ll have a series of high-energy, keep-going days. I do have a few rest days built in that I can convert to mileage make-up days if need be. What I mean to say is that all proposed schedules come with emphatic disclaimers.
If I spend the first two weeks on the NPT, I can spend the remaining week wandering thought the High Peaks, the crowing glory of Adirondack Park. The High Peaks are a particularly topographically intense area just southeast of Lake Placid containing New York State’s highest mountain, Mt. Marcy (1,629 m/5,344 ft), a member of 46 summits in the area over about 4,000 feet. The spectacular scenery has made it the most popular area of the Adirondacks. A visit is required of every upstate resident, preferably at least once a year. Because of the popularity, the local bears have become wise to the ways of hungry humans and their flimsy bear bags. Bear cans are required here by park regulation.
Food is the limiting factor. If people didn’t have to eat, our packs would weigh nothing and we could roam the wilderness endlessly, besides instantly and conveniently solving world hunger. Unfortunately, this is currently not the case, and so I’m stuck with the logistical challenge of resupplying about every six days and crunching my Ramen into noodle dust in order to fit enough non-perishables in the bear can. One popular resupply method is to mail yourself packages care of local post offices and then making sure you end up in, say, Blue Mountain Lake (pop.: 146) on a non-holiday weekday morning or afternoon, but not when the PO closes for lunch.
The last major roadblock, or rather trailblock, remains transportation. There is no set shuttle service from Lake Placid to Northville. I could take an all-day bus ride to the town of Gloversville on the south edge of Adirondack Park, but I’d still be 20 miles away from my car at 9 p.m. in an unfamiliar town. Walking a giant loop back to Northville would require more time than I have, extensive roadwalks if I want to avoid retracing my steps, and scratching the High Peaks from the schedule.
Assuming transportation works out, here’s the rough draft plan:
| Date | Day | Miles | Where to |
| Tue 10 | 1 | 7.1 | Ithaca to Upper Benson to Silver Lake Hut |
| Wed 11 | 2 | 10.4 | Hamilton Lake Stream Hut |
| Thu 12 | 3 | 10.7 | Through Piseco to Fall Stream Camp |
| Fri 13 | 4 | 9.6 | West Canada Lakes Huts |
| Sat 14 | 5 | 0.0 | Rest Day |
| Sun 15 | 6 | 4.1 | Cedar Lakes Huts |
| Mon 16 | 7 | 11.8 | Wakely Dam Campsites |
| Tue 17 | 8 | 8.5 | Stephens Pond Hut |
| Wed 18 | 9 | 7.9 | Past Blue Mountain Lake to Tirrell Pond Hut |
| Thu 19 | 10 | 10.6 | Through Long Lake to Catlin Bay Huts |
| Fri 20 | 11 | 5.9 | Plumleys Huts |
| Sat 21 | 12 | 7.3 | Seward Hut |
| Sun 22 | 13 | 7.0 | Duck Hole Huts |
| Mon 23 | 14 | 8.9 | Leave NPT for the High Peaks and Scott Clearing Hut |
| Tue 24 | 15 | 0.0 | Floating Rest Day |
| Wed 25 | 16 | 9.5 | Whispering Pines Campground near Lake Placid |
| Thu 26 | 17 | ??? | High Peaks |
| Fri 27 | 18 | ??? | High Peaks |
| Sat 28 | 19 | ??? | High Peaks |
| Sun 29 | 20 | ??? | High Peaks |
| Mon 30 | 21 | ??? | Back to civilization, or at least as far as Ithaca |
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