Out of Hiding

It's been since the last days of September that I spent a night in the woods--a rather long time for me to go without camping/backpacking.  It seems to have rained (or at least threatened to) on my every day off for a while now.  But not last Wednesday-Thursday!  It's wasn't extensive or overly adventurous, but I spent that night in the lean-to at Hidden Cove on Long Lake (a lovely spot I've visited before).  I wasn't too into taking pictures, but it sure was great to be out in the Adirondacks again...

Happy Camper

So, you might be wondering why there was no homily posted last Sunday.  We'll, I started last weekend with one of my "usual" camp-outs (Thursday-Friday), enjoying a good hike through the woods and a night spent on the shore of Little Green Pond (near Lake Clear) with Fr. Stitt.

It's when I left Little Green Pond that things got a LOT more interesting.

I headed next to Newcomb, where I had registered to take part in Philosophers' Camp.  Back in 1858, 10 prominent New England intellectuals (including Ralph Waldo Emerson) gathered on the shores of Follensby Pond in the Adirondacks (incidentally, not too terribly far from Little Green Pond) where they spent several days "roughing it" in the wild, discussing the important matters of the day.

Beginning in the fall of 2015, SUNY ESF's Northern Forest Institute (Newcomb) and St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) revived the tradition, opening the invitation to a small group of interested folks to come together for a weekend at ESF's beautiful Masten House on remote Henderson Lake to discuss carefully selected works around a particular theme.

I picked up a brochure about Philosophers' Camp when I was visiting friends in Newcomb back in August, and my curiosity was immediately piqued.  I took the plunge and signed up!

So I found myself around the table Friday through Sunday engaged in lively and engaging seminars with 15 others who'd come from the North Country/Adirondacks and rural Kentucky, from New York City, Baltimore, and Santa Fe.  In the mix we had college professors and high school teachers, a psychiatrist and some philanthropists, an artist and a poet, an organic farmer and a genetic engineer.  And did I mention a Catholic priest was thrown in, too, for variety's sake?

Not only was the conversation fascinating and far-ranging (and often, rather fun, too), but we also enjoyed some good food and drink, as well as time exploring our wild surroundings.  Some took a hike through the woods; I joined the crew that canoed on Henderson Lake to take in the stunning view of Wallace Mountain which flanks Indian Pass.

It was not the usual company I keep, nor my usual wilderness outing...but Philosophers' Camp was sure a delightful way to spend a weekend in the Adirondacks!
   

Another Long View

In a providential turn of events, Wednesday-Thursday of this week allowed Fr. Scott and I to head out into the woods together for an overnight.  Hot on the heels of the 4th of July, and therefore expecting a few extra folks to also be out enjoying the Adirondacks, we wanted to go somewhere we could be reasonably assured of study shelter--so we headed back to the shore of Long Lake, which has a rather high concentration of lean-tos.  We found what we were looking for on Rodney Point: an empty lean-to, in the midst of a great open campsite, previously unseen by either one of us.  Further evidence that God was smiling on this venture: the bugs weren't nearly as bad as they'd been back in June (notwithstanding that my ankles do look like twin pincushions), and the predicted rain showers never came.

Buzzing A-Long

I made it out camping last Wednesday-Thursday at Kelly Point on Long Lake along with one of our seminarians, Doug Schirmer.  We were not alone at the water's edge that night: there was a friendly couple camped out in front of the second lean to (the one I really hoped to get)...and more mosquitos than I've ever seen anywhere in my life.  The lean to was just about vibrating with the hum of their tiny, infernal wings (for some reason, they actually seemed thicker in the shelter than outside of it).  The racket did die down quite a bit (though never completely) during the cooler nighttime hours, which allowed them to buzz one-by-one in our ears.  In spite of the many itchy welts, it was still a good time in the woods...

   

A Fishy Spot

Between weather conditions and my schedule, I didn't get out in the woods much this past winter--in fact, I haven't been out for an overnight since October (the longest I've gone since my whole backpacking craze started back in the fall of 2013).

I'd hoped to get out camping two weeks ago (remember that day when it reached 80 degrees?), but I didn't get out for the office early enough in the afternoon to safely embark, so I settled for a nice hike the next day to the lean-to on St. Regis Pond--one of my favorite spots:

It's about 3.5 miles in (the last half mile is a bushwhack, since it's really a canoe access lean-to...although I've never been there by boat myself).  It was a great place to sit for a spell with a good book and my lunch.

This past week, I was a bit more guarded with my scheduling, and did make it out overnight Wednesday-Thursday.  When I left the rectory, I had plans to get a good bit farther afield, but as I drove from Malone and watched the clock, I decided it would be best to get into the woods, and to some overnight accommodation, a little sooner.  So I headed right back to the St. Regis Canoe Area ("behind" the NYS fish hatchery in Lake Clear) with my sights set on the lean-to I'd revisited just one week before.  Four things we different on my return: the trail was a bit wetter (but not too muddy), the woods were a bit greener (with some flowers now coming up, too), the temperature was a bit lower (the forecast was down in the 20's overnight), and most crucially...the lean-to was already occupied.

This left me, at 5:30pm, with another half-mile/half-hour of bushwhacking to get back to the trail, and a serious decision to make about my campout: should I return to the car and head home, or push on to the lean-tos on Fish Pond (another 2+ miles) and hope that at least one was still empty?  If they were full (and I'd never before found them empty, mind you), that would me a long hike back out, which would certainly end in the dark.

Up for adventure (and making a firm Act of Faith), I continued on.  And I found Fish Pond #2 empty!  I arrived in time to take in a great sunset view with my late dinner...

...and enjoyed a great (if chilly) night in the woods at a new-to-me lean-to.

As far as a good portion of my prep and packing went, it was pretty much winter camping in May (albeit without the ice and snow)...so I guess I didn't miss out on the entire season, after all.
  

Making Tracks

You know you've had a good great time when you end up looking like this:

There's nothing quite like icicles hanging off your own face!

That was me yesterday afternoon after a 7+ mile roundtrip cross-country ski (3+ of those miles breaking trail) to the "Sheep Meadow" lean-tos off the Hays Brook Truck Trail (near Paul Smiths).  I hadn't been on my skis in a couple of years (we didn't get enough snow last winter), so it was a bit ambitious...but worth every ache and pain I'm enduring today to have enjoyed all that good snow we got this week...before it melts this weekend.

Upward, Ho!

I haven't been out in the woods much for quite a while (both the weather and my schedule have been wild), but yesterday I did manage to get out with three other guys for a little snowshoe up Mount Van Hoevenberg (2940 ft), about 9 miles outside of Lake Placid.  There was just enough snow for snowshoeing (and there was plenty of ice underneath it) as we trekked the 2.4 miles and gained 770 feet in elevation up to the summit, which gave us views toward the High Peaks.  From the pictures, you can see there was some snow in the air, too, giving hope for more winter adventures to come...

Mountain Men

On Monday, we took advantage of the holiday and led a "guys only" hike up Catamount Mountain with some men from the parish.  It was a beautiful day with gorgeous views (after a challenging climb: almost 2,400 feet of elevation gained over just 1.8 miles on the trail) spent with a great group of men...

To the Point

Wednesday-Thursday took me and couple of others out on the trail to catch some glimpses of peak fall foliage.  We spent the night on Kelly Point, along the southeastern shore of Long Lake (on a section of the Northville-Placid Trail).  A hike of just over 4 miles took us to a pair on lean-tos on the site of a long gone hotel (the relics of which included a mighty impressive set of stone steps down leading toward the water).

Two Lovely Lasses

In posts over the years, you've met my friend Lawrence Bartel: for the last 12 years, the pastor of Niccolls Memorial Presbyterian Church in Old Forge.  It was with Lawrence that I hiked the Northville-Placid Trail three years ago, and paddled the "90 Miler" twice.  (Truth be known: all three adventures were at his instigation.)

Lawrence has accepted a new call, and is moving with his family to Oxford, Ohio, next week.  We arranged a little time in our schedules for one last jaunt in the Adirondacks...but, alas, the realities of packing and tying up loose ends forced Lawrence to miss out at the last minute.

I decided to go ahead with the trip nonetheless, and even stick with the destination he'd suggested--one which was entirely new to me.

Wednesday afternoon, I drove to Lake Lila.  It was about 85 miles southwest from Malone: 13 miles off the main road (Route 30 between Tupper Lake and Long Lake), the last 8 of them unpaved (and a few before that just barely so).  I brought my kayak, packed it full of my gear (rather more full than I think one ought), and paddled out into this new-to-me body of water.

I'd heard Lawrence and others speak of the beauty of Lake Lila in almost mythic terms.  Spending 24 hours there myself, I now understand why.

The water was rather rough as I made my way to Spruce Island...

...the lone campsite on which would be my home for the night.  I got my camp set up...

...in plenty of time to enjoy a stunning sunset.

Being a clear night, and in the middle of a lake in the middle of nowhere, I had an unobstructed angle on the Milky Way.  And being on an island means you get both sunset and sunrise views.

Rising up from Lake Lila's western shore is Mount Frederica (2170 feet)...

...whose summit cliffs provide a stunning perspective on the lake (and pretty nice place to eat lunch).

At its base are the remnants of the Nehasane train station, which once welcomed the well-heeled to this neck of the woods.

I'm so glad Lawrence arranged for me to meet Lila and Frederica, even if he couldn't be there in person for the introductions.  He certainly came along in my thoughts and prayers.  Though they'll take a bit more arranging, I fully suspect there are more shared Adirondack adventures in our future.  In the meantime, I bid my dear friend and his family a safe trip and a warm welcome in their new home.