A broken ankle, forest fires

The state Department of Environmental Conservation released today a forest-ranger report for Memorial Day weekend. Nothing too exciting. A broken ankle. A missing hiker who turned up OK. And several small forest fires. The full text of the report follows.

DEC FOREST RANGER MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND ACTIVITY REPORT

High Peaks Search & Rescue Incidents

On Sunday, May 30, 2010, at approximately 2:50 PM, DEC Dispatch in Ray Brook received a call from the husband of Isabella Kicior, 28, of East Rutherford, NJ reporting that his wife had injured her ankle while hiking on the VanHovenberg Trail between Marcy Dam and Indian Falls.

Three DEC Forest Rangers responded to the incident and carried Ms. Kicior down to Marcy Dam. She was transported by a forest ranger vehicle on the Marcy Dam Truck Trail to the South Meadow Road. A Lake Placid Rescue Squad Ambulance transported her from there to the Adirondack Medical Center in Lake Placid.

On Sunday, May 30, 2010, at approximately 11 PM, DEC Dispatch in Ray Brook received a call from the wife of Randy Freeman, 57, hometown unknown, reporting that they had been hiking Mt. Marshall in the Town of Newcomb and became separated.  She was concern because Mr. Freeman had minor health issues.  A DEC Forest Ranger was dispatch and encountered Mr. Freeman just before midnight near the Upper Works Trailhead in satisfactory condition

Adirondack Wildland Fires

The dry weather prior to and during the Memorial Day Holiday Weekend resulted in a High Fire Danger Rating and eight wildland fires in the DEC Region 5 portion of the Adirondacks. However, the rains on Tuesday, June 1, have likely put out many of fires and lowered the fire danger. Summary of wildland fires that DEC forest rangers and others responded to over the past 5 days:

• The 0.3 acre Valentine Pond Fire in the Town of Horicon, Warren County, which was started by lightning on May 27, is out.
• The 1.0 acre Wevertown Fire in the Town of Johnsburg, Warren County on Mill Mountain, which was started by fire on May 27, is out.
• The 7.0 acre Skagerack Mountain Fire in the Town of Chesterfield, Essex County, which was started by lightning on May 27, is in patrol status.
• The 3.0 acre Spier Falls Fire in the Town of Corinth, Saratoga County, started on May 28 by lightning, is now in patrol status with forest rangers reporting some hotspots on 6/1.
• The 2.0 acre Ingraham Road Fire in the Town of Chester, Warren County, started on May 31 of unknown origin at this time, is out.
• The 0.5 acre Oven Mountain Lane Fire in the Town of Johnsburg, Warren County, started on May 31 by a structure fire, is out.
• The 0.5 acre Eagle Lake Fire in the Town of Ticonderogra, Essex County, started on May 31 by a campfire, is under control.

New Adirondack hiking guidebook

In the July/August issue of the Adirondack Explorer, a Montana angler writes about falling in love with fishing the Adirondacks. He was introduced to the region by another love, Lisa Densmore, a freelance writer and photographer who grew up in Saranac Lake.

Lisa Densmore

Well, Lisa has just published Hiking the Adirondacks, which describes forty-two hikes from all parts of the Adirondack Park. Released by Falcon Guides, the book sells for $18.95. It can be purchased in stores or online.

Lisa is more than qualified to offer us advice: she has been hiking in the Adirondacks since she was a young girl. Although she now lives in New Hampshire, she has a summer camp on the Chateaugay Lakes in the northeastern corner of the Park.

The book carves up the Park into six regions—the same six delineated in the series of guidebooks published by the Adirondack Mountain Club. In a smart move, Lisa subdivides the High Peaks region into two chapters, one for peaks above four thousand feet, the other for smaller peaks.

She includes hikes to eleven of the forty-six High Peaks. No doubt people will quibble about her choices. For example, she offers separate chapters on Algonquin and Wright, two neighboring peaks that share the same approach. It would have made more sense to combine them into a single chapter (or drop Wright altogether) and add a chapter on Nippletop or Dix.

But this is a minor cavil. Overall, she did a superb job in selecting hikes that are sure to appeal to the general hiker. Some of my favorite mountains are in this book: Catamount and Lyon in the northern Adirondacks, Nun-da-ga-o Ridge in Keene, Tongue and Buck near Lake George, Crane in the southern Adirondacks, Vanderwhacker in the central Adirondacks, and Black Bear near Inlet. Not to mention little Baker Mountain in Saranac Lake, which I often climb on my lunch hour.

This is not a book for people who prefer flat hikes. With two or three exceptions, all of the hikes lead to summits or lookouts. However, the climbing varies greatly in difficulty. Kane Mountain, for example, entails an elevation gain of just 535 feet.

Densmore’s professionalism is evident in both her writing and photography (it’s a shame the inside shots are not in color). I had the opportunity to watch her at work when I tagged along on two of her hikes: the loop over Nun-da-ga-o Ridge and the traverse of Pitchoff Mountain. I can attest that she is a meticulous note taker and observant photographer. Readers will enjoy the fruits of her labor.