By Tim Rowland
When a Jeep Cherokee ended up at Marcy Dam recently, Adirondack advocates, who had felt they were just starting to make progress with educational, leave-no-trace principles, scarcely knew what to say.
Somehow, a pair of would-be hikers had avoided the two-mile foot trail into the wilderness base camp and plowed their way through the forest up a gnarly, abandoned truck road to a virtual shrine of backcountry recreation where motors of any sort are emphatically not allowed.
To reach Marcy Dam, the driver had to go through a gate, which apparently had been left unlocked following a recent mountain rescue, and ignore signs against motorized use.
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The incident also put a capstone on a summer season that has attracted a new demographic to the woods, as people have shunned beaches and air travel and searched for drivable vacation destinations.
Mistake or not?
“The vast majority of visitors want to do the right thing,” said Ben Brosseau, director of communications for the Adirondack Mountain Club. “This is certainly not the first time the gate to the Marcy Dam Truck Trail has been left open, so I don’t think we can use this one incident as an example of a behavioral trend.”
Brosseau said the breach in protocol was more due to an isolated case of poor judgment than anything related to a new set of Adirondack Park users who don’t know the ropes.
“Most probably would have taken one look at the Marcy Dam Truck Trail and decided that it wasn’t worth the risk to their vehicle,” he said. “It hasn’t been maintained for vehicle use in many decades.”
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In fact, the last non-emergency vehicle on record to take the truck road was a security detail for George Pataki, who drove the then-governor to the dam so he could hike Marcy within a timeframe that did not interfere with his official duties.
A spokeswoman for the DEC said the owner of the Jeep was ticketed for use of a motorized vehicle on State Land, failure to obey a DEC sign, and damaging, destroying and injuring vegetation on State Land.
Surge in new visitors
But in the topsy turvy summer of 2020, officials are considering the impact of a new set of Adirondack fans on future years. Keene Supervisor Joe Pete Wilson said the one thing that’s caught everyone’s attention is that hiker numbers have remained the same, or even increased, over last year even though the Canadian border remains closed due to the coronavirus.
Canadians typically represent between a quarter and a third of Adirondack hikers. That means there’s been a big influx of American hikers, many of whom may be experiencing the mountains for the first time.
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Wilson said the town has been trying to educate the crowds about lesser used trails, but now even those trailheads are filling. Plus, many newcomers who have read about the park online come determined to climb a High Peak, he said.
Banner year
It’s all added up to record or near-record crowds. Employees at the Adirondak Loj who need to be at work at the crack of dawn say they have had to go in even earlier, to avoid the lines of cars that are flowing into the lot by 5 a.m. Wilson said The Garden, another popular trailhead, has been filled seven days a week.
That’s another difference. Perhaps because of more flexible work schedules, weekdays in the Adirondacks have been almost as busy as weekends.
Brosseau said ADK summit stewards have made about the same amount of contacts this summer — more than 12,000 — as last year, despite the absence of the Canadian hikers. But there are some curious differences. For example, the numbers of hikers to Marcy are up, while Algonquin’s are down. Brosseau said Canadians tend to find Algonquin — the Adirondacks’ second-highest mountain — to be a more appealing hike, while new hikers want the distinction of climbing Marcy, the state’s tallest mountain.
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“We believe that a combination of pandemic-related situations — including limitations on most forms of recreation, travel restrictions, disruptions in work schedules, and the lower risk of contracting coronavirus in the outdoors — pushed a lot more people to explore hiking and backpacking for the first time,” Brosseau said. “As a result, we did see increased issues with unburied poop, trash, and illegal camping this summer. These sorts of challenges are often associated with novice users, who may be either unaware of regulations or uncomfortable with certain outdoor practices, such as using a cathole to dispose of poop.”
Or refraining from motorized shortcuts.
Is anyone surprised? With a better vehicle, they would have made it halfway up Marcy.
Maybe the Google Map designation of “State Truck Route” inspired these boneheads. Might Google be convinced to change or remove that description?
My best Buddy and I have hike the high peaks years ago when mt. marcy paths were hard to find and you could camp around the dam. Just wish people would respect it carry it in , carry it out. You are in one with nature and yourself respect it
This is ridiculous! At least they got caught, though they didn’t choose the most subtle way to break the law!
Governor Pataki should abide by the trail rules. He is not special, he is a citizen like us all. If his schedule did not allow time to hike to Mount Marcy, he needed to go there another day when he had time to hike it. This elitist permission to circumvent laws of preservation of the land needs to stop. We the people of the USA have no kings.
I was hoping someone left just this comment!!!!
Possibly More substantial fines and posted signs with the fines would help deter selfish idiots
It’s almost comical, yet kind of sad to see all of the perceived outrage regarding this incident. Maybe it’s due to the over-saturation of media coverage, or just the “outrage” society we live in lately. There is “outrage” for everything in the news, everyday. What we actually see here is an extremely isolated incident, where someone drove on a “truck trail” (that is indeed the name of it) through an open gate that is not supposed to be open. This may well indeed be an honest mistake from someone who did not know they were breaking the law. And yes, it could have been a deliberate act but that’s hard to imagine someone wanting to be ticketed and fined for something that has brought on so much “outrage”. Were we outraged when Cuomo was driven in to see Marcy Dam because he was too lazy to walk four or five easy miles? Of course not, he’s the Governor, so he can break the law and nobody is outraged by that. But what harm did this outrageous act actually cause? None that is perceivable, unless you are harmed by your own “outrage”. So why not just let it pass, someone made a mistake and they will or have payed for it through ticketing, fines or what-not. It’s not likely to happen again and maybe the responsible parties will keep the gate closed like they are supposed to do.
I hope one day we Humans finally take crimes against Mother Earth more seriously. Put this kook in jail for a hell of a long time. Hell let them rot in jail!
Rules are there for a reason, and EVERYONE should have to abide by them….general public or State Leaders…it doesn’t matter who or what or why.
This article does not include the comment made to the ranger by one of the two individuals that were ticketed: “… I’m a veteran…”
This was in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise piece prior to the writing of this article.
My niece just last week sent me a photo of our family the day our family hiked to Marcy Dam and came back on that truck trail over 25 years ago.
Last week my niece sent me a photo of our family on the day we hiked to Marcy Dam on the trail from the ADK LOJ. We returned to our car via the truck road these clowns took! It was a nice walk down by that road though… they probably missed a lot being in a generally noisy vehicle like a Jeep. None the less; no harm, no foul! Let’s not make a habit of this prank, people!
Extremist of the worst sort. Self-rightous, hymn-singing extremism. Anyone who’s ever hiked the truck trail knows it’s stone embeaded, capale of supporting trucks, and no actual damage was done. I also think the rangers may occasionally use ATV’s on this road for multiple purposes, perhaps even supplying the outpost near Marcy Dam, based upon tracks I’ve seen along the road over the years, but maybe not because of the mass hysteria it would create. Just the steady drum beat and mantra to restrict access and limit use of our public lands. Woody Guthrie had the right idea. This land is your land, and this land is my land. This land was made for you and me. Don’t ever let the extremists take away our public lands, or with rules that kill by a thousand cuts.
Marcy Dam “Foot Trail”….
Close Meadows Lane and solve several problems with one simple action. Access is still allowed but on foot as it should be.
Dam Hikers hit it on the head. Way too many self righteous idiots commenting here. Like holier than thou kind of righteousness. The same fn idiots that wear a mask while driving their car and nobody is with them. Baaaaaaa baaaaaaa.