Case against Ausable Chasm paddlers dropped

Ausable Chasm is now open to whitewater paddlers. Photo by Seth Lang.

No charges will be pursued against three kayakers who paddled through Ausable Chasm in June, the Explorer has learned.

The Ausable Chasm Company complained that the three trespassed on the company’s land on the first weekend that the river was declared open (against the company’s wishes) to whitewater paddlers.

Based on the company’s complaints, state troopers filed “a request for a criminal summons” in the Chesterfield Town Court, according to State Police Captain Brent Gillam. However, Gillam said it was up to the town judge to decide whether to press charges.

Today, Gillam said troopers ended up making no arrests and considered the case closed.

A spokesman for the town court confirmed that no charges were filed.

“It’s not something I would be interested in pursuing, based on the federal court cases,” Gillam said. He added, however, that the judge made the decision to dismiss the case.

Paddlers waged a long legal battle to win the right to kayak through the chasm. This includes the right to portage around rapids and other obstacles and to scout the river.

Read my earlier post for more background about the controversy that erupted on the first weekend of paddling.

Paddling 740 miles in a day

The Raquette River is part of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. Photo by Phil Brown.

You’re invited to help celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail this weekend. Although the party will take place in Rangley, Maine, you can take part in the celebration right here in the Adirondacks.

The NFCT is asking canoeists and kayakers to paddle any portion of the water trail on Saturday, July 24, and report their mileage (and upload photos, if possible) by 5 p.m.

The 740-mile trail begins in Old Forge and ends in Fort Kent, Maine. The Adirondack leg includes the Fulton Chain of Lakes, Raquette Lake and part of the Raquette River, the Saranac Lakes, and the Saranac River. Click here for an overview of the route.

Click here for more information on and to register for Paddle 740 Miles in One Day.

Click here to read a feature story about the NFCT in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

A beautiful surprise

A view from the top of the waterfalls. Photo by Phil Brown.

I went missing for five days recently. I was out canoeing on various waterways in the western Adirondacks. One day I took two trips on the West Branch of the Oswegatchie. On the second of those trips, I paddled through several ponds owned, largely or entirely, by the Oswegatchie Educational Center, a nonprofit institution in the middle of the woods run by the Future Farmers of America.

This was on Day 4 of my mini-vacation. By then I was pretty much sated with scenery. I was thinking to myself that I really needed to see something spectacular to rouse me from my aesthetic torpor. And I did.

After exiting Mud Pond near Long Pond Road, I portaged around a small waterfall and paddled less than a mile downstream to the head of another falls. I pulled over and walked to the middle of a footbridge across the river. I was stunned by the view: the river was washing over pink-gray slabs of gneiss, dropping into a dark pool, and then winding away through a lush-green marsh. It was one of the most enchanting scenes I have come across. The photo above doesn’t do it justice: I’m a lousy photographer, and the light wasn’t right. But I hope it serves as a reminder of the unexpected beauty that can turn up on any day in the Adirondacks.

Paddling the Middle Moose

In the March/April issue of the Explorer, Mal Provost wrote about a long whitewater trip on the Middle Branch of the Moose River. Not being much of a whitewater paddler, I opted for a long flatwater trip on the same river earlier this week.

The Middle Branch of the Moose. Photo by Phil Brown.

From Thendara, outside Old Forge, you can paddle down the Middle Moose for more than six miles. The catch is that you have to paddle back upriver. Although the current is slow, even a slow current can be tiring at the end of the day. You’ll need to judge for yourself how far you should venture before turning around.

The put-in is on Green Bridge Road in Thendara. At the start, the river winds through a marsh where you’re likely to see ducks and turtles. The right shoreline has seen a lot of development, but you’ll leave the buildings behind in less than a half-mile.

In just over a mile, you come to an old wooden dam. Take out on the left and follow a short path to the next put-in. Below the dam, the Moose has a much wilder feel as it meanders through a dark forest. As you continue downriver, the forest starts to open up and eventually gives way in places to alder swamps and marshes with big-sky views. On my trip, I enjoyed a close-up look at an American bittern hiding in the grasses.

You’ll reach a rapid about five and a half miles below the dam. Unless you’re a whitewater boater, this is the farthest you’ll want to go. Most people probably will want to turn around earlier.

If you’re interested in a shorter trip on the Middle Moose, see my earlier post on paddling to Nelson Lake.

Note: It is possible to paddle the longer stretch of the Moose and return by train. For information on this trip, call Tickner’s, an outfitter in Old Forge, at 315-369-6286.

Directions: From Route 28 just east of the railroad overpass in Thendara, drive south on Beech Street (which turns into Green Bridge Road). After crossing the Moose, park in the lot on the right. To put in, walk back over the bridge. The put-in will be on the right.

Paddle to Nelson Lake

Nelson Lake. Photo by Phil Brown.

The Middle Branch of the Moose River is not the wildest river in the Park, but try telling that to the American bittern, the osprey, the various ducks, and the kingfishers I saw when I explored the Middle Moose on Monday.

Starting in Old Forge, the Middle Branch more or less parallels Route 28 and the Adirondack Scenic Railroad for its entire length. On my two trips on the river this week, I rarely felt I was out of earshot of traffic, but this did little to diminish my enjoyment of this beautiful stream.

An American bittern along the Middle Branch of the Moose. Photo by Phil Brown.

For a quick trip into the wild, I recommend putting in west of Old Forge and paddling a few miles to Nelson Lake in the Black River Wild Forest.

The parking lot, marked by a DEC sign, is on the east side of Route 28 a few miles north of McKeever (or several miles south of Thendara). There is a 0.35-mile carry along an excellent dirt road to the river (bear left at the first fork, then take a right immediately after crossing the railroad tracks). The put-in is just below some rapids, across from a grassy island.

Paddle 0.6 miles downriver and look for the Nelson Lake outlet on the left, just past a marsh. Along the way, you’ll see one house on the right, up near the tracks, and several rowboats on the bank. Otherwise, it’s as wild as can be.

 Nelson Lake lies entirely within the Forest Preserve. You can easily make a circuit of the lake. At the far end is a flat outcrop of bedrock with a sandy landing nearby—a good place for a picnic. Or eat at the old picnic table (one bench missing) on the northwest shore. A herd path leads to an old logging road that is now used for hiking and snowmobiling.

The stretch of the Middle Moose leading to Nelson Lake has little current, so paddling back to the put-in should not be difficult. The round trip, including a circuit of the lake, is about 3.5 miles.

Paddling the West Ausable

The view of the West Ausable from the put-in off River Road. Photo/Phil Brown.

Last week’s snowstorm notwithstanding, this is paddling season. In fact, the additional snowmelt from the storm will improve paddling on Adirondack rivers.

This is a good time of year to explore the West Branch of the Ausable River on the outskirts of Lake Placid—a river that attracts schools of trout fishermen but is often overlooked by paddlers.

From a put-in at a steel bridge off River Road, you can do a 5.4-mile flatwater cruise to Monument Falls off Route 86. You’ll need to spot a second car or bicycle at the takeout. There is one carry around rapids. You can avoid it by ending your trip at the Route 86 bridge instead of continuing to the falls.

Although the river is never far from roads, the wildlife don’t seem to mind. You’ll see lots of ducks and other birds. The river also offers impressive views of the High Peaks, the Sentinel Range, and Whiteface Mountain.

The winding river is usually canoeable throughout summer, but it’s best paddled in spring when water levels are higher. Be prepared to navigate a few riffles.

From the put-in, it’s 3.5 miles to the Route 86 bridge. About 0.75 miles beyond, you’ll come to a flume at the head of some Class II rapids. Take out on the right to follow a rough path for 0.25 miles to a put-in below the rapids. If you’re comfortable in whitewater, you can shoot the rapids below the flume.

Less than a mile from the rapids, you’ll come around a bend and find a spectacular view looking downriver at Whiteface Mountain. After rounding the next bend, you’ll hear Monument Falls. Take out on the right just above the cascade.

DIRECTIONS: From the intersection of Route 73 and River Road, near the Olympic ski jumps, driver 1.1 miles down River Road to a pulloff on the left near the Intervale Way bridge. This is the put-in. To reach Monument Falls, continue 3.1 miles down River Road to Route 86, turn right and go another mile to a pulloff on the left, where there are two stone monuments commemorating the Forest Preserve.

Between the seasons

Ron Konowitz on Mount Marcy last Friday. Photo by Phil Brown.

You know we’re in between seasons when you go backcountry skiing one day and canoeing the next.

Last Friday, I skied Mount Marcy with Ron Konowitz. It was so warm than I stripped down to my T-shirt on the ascent. On the summit, we met Keith Kogut, a music teacher in Saranac Lake, who was wearing a T-shirt and shorts.

Despite the warm temps, the Van Hoevenberg Trail had plenty of snow, at least above Marcy Dam. A few rocks were starting to show on the section along Phelps Brook.

The view from my canoe on Saturday.

As noted in an earlier post, the high-water bridge across the brook was washed out a few weeks ago. The water was too deep, swift, and cold to wade through, so on the ascent, we bushwhacked for an hour and picked up the trail again high on TR Mountain. On the descent, we found ourselves on the opposite side of the brook (having crossed a mile up on another bridge), so we bushwhacked to the Marcy Dam Truck Trail.

The Van Ho trail was in great shape for skiing. Unfortunately, I heard that post-holers trashed the trail on Saturday. There is no excuse for this. Hikers should know that the regulations still require snowshoes or skis at higher elevations.  There is still plenty of snow up there. Don’t ruin it for others!

On Saturday, I drove to Utica to spend time with my family. On the way, I stopped to canoe South Inlet, following the broad channel from Raquette Lake to the small cascades where the tributary spills out of the woods. It felt like summer, though the bogs that line the inlet were still a drab brown and yellow.

I observed a pair of common mergansers—one male, one female—in one of the side many channels. As I approached for a closer look, they took flight.

Spring is definitely in the air.

Sierra Club on Shingle Shanty

Those of you who have been following the saga of Shingle Shanty Brook may be interested in an article that appears in the latest newsletter of the Sierra Club’s Atlantic chapter, written by Charles Morrison, the former director of natural resources at the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Morrison and two other Sierra Club members have asked DEC to force a private landowner to remove a cable strung across the brook to keep out paddlers. The club contends the public has a right to paddle the waterway. DEC says it is looking into the matter.

In the article, Morrison describes Shingle Shanty Brook as “a critical link” in the canoe trip from Little Tupper Lake and Lake Lila. The blockage of the waterway, he says, “forces paddlers to make a one-mile carry over a very rough trail in the Adirondack Forest Preserve.”

You can read the entire newsletter (which goes to about 35,000 members) by clicking here. The article in question appears on Page 8.

You can read the account of my paddle along the disputed waterway here.

Shingle Shanty decision a ways off

Don’t expect the state Department of Environmental Conservation to reach a quick decision on the Sierra Club’s request to force landowners to remove a steel cable that stretches across Shingle Shanty Brook.

In a recent letter to the club, DEC Regional Director Betsy Lowe says the department plans to provide “a comprehensive response” to the request. “As you can imagine, this will take some time given the careful consideration required by the Department’s technical and legal staff, possible coordination with the State Office of the Attorney General, and the need to balance a variety of demands with limited resources,” she wrote on November 4.

The Sierra Club contends that the public has a common-law right to paddle through a corner of a large tract of private land owned by the Friends of Thayer Lake, which is affiliated with the Brandreth Park Association. The association owns the recreational rights to the land and has posted no-trespassing signs to deter paddlers from using the waterways in question.

The club’s request was sparked in part by an article that appeared in the July/August issue of the Adirondack Explorer. In it, I described my two-day trip from Little Tupper Lake to Lake Lila. At one stage, I paddled on three connected waterways owned by the Friends of Thayer Lake: Mud Pond, the pond’s outlet, and a stretch of Shingle Shanty Brook. This enabled me to avoid a mile-long portage.

The Brandreth Park Association contends that the public doesn’t have the right to paddle these waterways. Since my article appeared, the owners have strung a rope across Mud Pond, put up additional no-trespassing signs, and installed two motion-sensitive cameras.

The Sierra Club contends that the chain, rope, and signs are an illegal blockage of a public canoe route.

Lowe’s letter was addressed to Roger Gray and John Nemjo, the co-chairmen of the club’s Adirondack Committee, and Charles Morrison, who is heading the committee’s public-navigation-rights project.

Click here for an earlier post that contains links to letters to DEC from the Sierra Club and Brandreth Park Association.

Click the link below for a PDF of Betsy Lowe’s reply to the club.

Shingle Shanty letter

Proposed Forest Preserve addition

The land shaded in pink would be added to state holdings. Courtesy of DEC.

In a post yesterday, I reported that Heartland Forestland Fund would donate 2,661 acres to the state under a plan to modify a conservation-easement agreement in order to allow hunting camps to remain on timberlands in the northern Adirondacks. I now have a map of the lands in question, shown above.

Most of the land (2,146 acres) lies within the Adirondack Park and will be added to the Deer River Primitive Area, which is part of the Adirondack Forest Preserve. The remainder (515 acres) lies just north of the Park and includes three quarters of a mile of river corridor along the Deer. Since it is outside the Park, this parcel would become part of the Deer River State Forest.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation says both parcels contain ecologically valuable wetlands. The larger parcel also contains frontage on Cole Hill Road, which can be used for access.

Most of the Deer River inside the Park and beyond is canoeable. In Adirondack Canoe Waters: North Flow, Paul Jamieson writes that the biggest attraction for the cruising canoeist is an eight-mile level known as Deer River Meadows, which overlaps the Blue Line. The 515-acre parcel contains part of this stretch.

In an earlier post, I wrote about canoeing the Deer River Flow. A longer story on this trip will appear in a future issue of the Adirondack Explorer. I’m looking forward to paddling the river proper next year.