I subsequently followed my brother as a camper for 3 years and then when I was 15 I worked at the camp assembling meals for the various troops in the commissary. When I was 16 and 17 , I worked as the archery director. That gave me a lot more freedom to hike around and explore as well as drive around since I had a car. The Adirondacks was a much more backwoods place back then. And there were several roads in and out of the camp if you just knew how to find them and knew how to drive well enough to get through them. That is through the mud, swamps, and bushes. As the archery director I was also allowed to assist guiding 50 mile canoe and backpacking trips throughout the Western Adirondacks. You could see a lot of the Adirondacks hiking 50 miles in a week.
And then when I went to college we would run up into the Adirondacks during fall and spring weekends to de-stress from exams and classes. My 4th year of college (in my 5 year career) I was required to spend a summer at a scientific field station in the backwoods of Cranberry Lake. This was the Barber Point field station and where we did a lot of hands on field learning about all the fauna and flora and habitats of the Adirondacks. The Barber Point field station was located on the shore of Cranberry Lake accessible only by boat. So hiking great distances and backpacking into the wilderness areas become a academic requirement. And in addition to the 8 weeks of outdoor class and lab work marooned at the Barber Point field station, we also went over for one week to the New York State Ranger school in Wanakena and learned proper forest management techniques and forestry tool usage. (Power tools, chain saws, oh yeah !)
And so, although I have lived in the Eastern Adirondacks after I got married, and used to take excursions to the high peaks and have climbed many of the mountains in the high peaks region, I find the Western Adirondacks much more serene and relaxing. It’s not that I don’t like climbing mountains, I find the challenge and the effort very invigorating. However, I prefer to do it without having to share the trail with 1000 other people. On any holiday weekend in the high peaks there is over 60,000 people on the trails. And on a normal summer day there is still around 10,000 people. In the Western Adirondacks you are lucky if you see 5 or 10 people crossing paths with you. So most of my high peaks adventures you will notice are in the late fall. Those who aren’t familiar with the woods and outdoor crafts usually don’t come out because they are afraid of hunters. And while there are some common sense rules about hiking during the hunting season, very few hunters wander farther than a half-mile from a road. So even with the boys, we still hike and camp during hunting season. Its just the very best time !!
But let’s talk about the videos I recently uploaded about Tupper Lake, Axton Landing, and Horseshoe Lake. Tupper Lake is a typical Adirondack village/city. It has some state facilities that keep the town fairly alive and some big attractions that also help keep it hopping during the tourist season. But for me and most Adirondack tourists, it is a place to reprovision and buy supplies. Tupper Lake has all the necessary places to get hardware, food groceries, camping equipment, gas, ice cream, and a number of bars to “re-hydrate” on a hot evening. It is also home to the “Tupper Lake Tinman” Triathlon race, a half Ironman distance race. There is the Adirondack Wild Center, which is an amazing science center and museum all about the Adirondack Mountains and wildlife. Check out my video about the wild center here. And then there is “The Woodsman’s Field Days”. The Woodsman’s Field Days is kind of a typical county fair or fireman’s field days with vendors and food. But it also has competitions between logging groups to see who can be best at various logging skills. In the last few years they’ve had chainsaw carvers competing which really adds a touch of art and talent beyond climbing trees and using a chainsaw and log skidder.
Axton Landing probably gets its name from a spot where they would land logs coming down the river. Or maybe it’s a spot where they put logs in the river during the days of heavy logging in the region and Tupper lake had several Saw Mills. In any case today it is a spot that tends to be used by long distance canoe tours as an ideal camping location. There are probably 4 spaced out camping areas around the landing, or enough room for a group of 20-30. On certain weekends there are canoe competitions and large tours that may use it. Though I have camped here several times and have never seen more than one other person or couple camping there. Just up the road from the driveway into Axton Landing is a trail head parking area to walk to the Raquette River Falls. There is a ranger station there and it is a pretty nice hike. Dakota and I have done it several times before Caesar (BC). For some reason the last 2 times we did it there was a yearling bear cub hanging around the trail. No threat to the average hiker, but a nice piece of nature to see along the trail. Axton Landing is a great place to camp and bring a kayak or canoe to play around in the river because the current isn’t so strong that you can’t get back up River if you go down. Or if you paddle up River to begin with you have a nice easy paddle back down to the Axton Landing. If all else fails, the Raquette River flows into Tupper Lake, and you can get a cab from there back to The Landing !!
This will be my 2nd video about horseshoe Lake. Check out the first one here. The first one I did almost exactly a year ago. I have camped at horseshoe Lake probably 10 times in the last 30 years. It never fails to amaze me how great a place it is. Though 2 years ago when I camped there the mosquitoes were absolutely unbearable at dusk, we did not see them during the day or in the morning. Last year they were mildly bothers some at dusk, and this year they were almost nonexistent. I’m wondering if that’s related to the weather, or if maybe mosquitoes have cyclical population dynamics. Oh, if only I was still studying wildlife biology. Horseshoe Lake is listed on the DEC website as a lake that has pretty good fishing. Because it is a relatively small lake it also is a great place to canoe and kayak. There are places along the shore were big rocks allow you to get out of the canoe and enjoy the forest or just relax on a big rock. A typical Adirondack activity. It is also a good location for hiking in many directions as there are several trailheads that come off the roads. Not to mention the Bog River flow canoe launch site to canoe up to Lowe’s Lake. Now that the road has been partially repaired, it also makes it much nicer to go out to Route 30 and explore so many places along Route 30 from the Adirondack Wild Center in Tupper Lake to Long Lake and its attractions, or several trailheads for day hikes or overnight backpacking trips. Check out the video on Goodman Mountain I did last year here, And of course the state park at Lake Eaton. Lake Eaton is a very nice state campground with very nice facilities and has a fairly well-known reputation for having a great picturesque sunset. We did a video last year on Lake Eaton and you can get to that by clicking the blue Lake Eaton of Course. For Horseshoe Lake, unfortunately you’re on the west- southside most of the time so sunsets aren’t so great, but sunrises and moon rises can be quite interesting.
So I think that’s all I will say about these 3 great areas. I hope you get a chance to visit them. If you do, look around for the Aliner with the 2 dogs keeping track of the old man.
And may you have safe and frequent travels into the woods.
Rick, Caesar, Dakota.