WEDNESDAY JULY 4, 2001 - SUNDAY JULY 8, 2001

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Lanny Wexler, Aaron Cohen and George Form headed north on the 4th of July to attempt a 36 mile roadless section of the Northville-Lake Placid Trail between Long Lake and Lake Placid. This section of trail requires at least three days and two nights out on the trail traversing the shores of Long Lake and heading up the Cold River into the High Peaks Wilderness Area. It is a remote and rugged portion of trail that brings you far from any roads.

This trip was being led for the Mosaic Outdoor Mountain Club of Greater New York and was rated as A+ for difficulty. While Mosaic does some adventurous events such as white water rafting, exploring ice caves and cross country ski trips in winter, this trip was definitely atypical for a Mosaic trip and ranked off the scale in strenuous and hardship that are not found on the majority of Mosaic trips.

The night before we left my car at the trails ending point on Averyville Road in Lake Placid and I drove in Aaron's car with George following to our motel in the small Adirondack village of Tupper Lake.

The Northville-Lake Placid Trail is a 133 mile trunk-line path opened in 1922 by the Adirondack Mountain Club that traverses the heart of the Adirondack wilderness as a generally lowland route between Northville and Lake Placid. From its official start in Northville, the first two-thirds of its length provides an undulating ascent to a plateau area, following streams from lake to lake. Past Long Lake, the largest body of water encountered on the route, the northern third is a valley route between several trailless peaks. The trail does not traverse ridges or peaks.

George Form and I hiked most of the trail in August 1999 as day hikes and one three day back pack. Having completed 97 miles of the N-P Trail we were now coming back to finish the remaining section. George, Aaron and I set off from the Long Lake trail head about noon on Thursday July 5 on a day of bright sunshine, cool temperatures and low humidity. Aaron, a new member to Mosaic was only planning to hike with us for a few hours as he had to be back in the City by Friday evening.

 The biggest challenge of this backpacking trip was carrying all the weight. Before leaving home, Lanny weighed his backpack and it tipped the scales at 42 pounds! Why so heavy, well in the pack goes a tent with poles, sleeping bag, inflatable air mattress, one pair of long pants, two short sleeved shirts, one long sleeved shirt, underwear, rain gear, sweater, freeze dried food consisting of Cajun chicken and pasta for the two dinners out and two bags of freeze dried blueberry granola cereal, two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, energy bars, cookies, GORP, for lunch, a backpacking stove with fuel, cooking pots and utensils, first aid kit, soap, personal toiletries, flashlight, matches, compass, insect repellent, Swiss Army knife, water purifier, stuff sacks, extra straps, map and guidebook, two quarts of water and walking stick. I also brought me a cell phone which did me no good as I left the phone on in the phone by accident the night before in the motel and the batteries had been discharged.

The time we started on Thursday was alot later than I planned on starting because I was not feeling well that morning being kept up much the night by stomach cramps, possibly being brought on by the nervous anticipation of the trip. Any way by mid morning I was better and so prepared for the trip.

As we set off into the woods we saw a New York State Dept. Of Conservation Forest ranger and told him where we were going. The ranger seeing George and I with our tents and heavy packs, suggested we would not need these because there were very few people on the trail and the lean to shelters would most likely be empty. We decided to carry them any way just in case. He also warned us to hang our food at night because bears had been spotted at the shelters.

Less than an hour into the trip I sensed there was a problem. I had hiked on ahead and could hear no signs of George or Aaron even after pausing for several minutes. I had given George a walkie talkie to communicate with as we would call in every hour on the hour. Even after turning on my radio at the appointed time of 1:00 pm there was no response.I continued on for a short while down to a scenic lunch spot along the shores of Long Lake and waited there while I ate my lunch. It took George and Aaron nearly an hour to reach me and I could see right away George was not going to be able to do the trip. He told me so point blank. That he was going to have to turn around as he was not having any fun any more. He complained the weight of his pack was just getting to him. He was unable to adjust the pack so that some of the weight could be shifted off his shoulders. He was just out of shape.

As it turned out George made the right decision. He had only hiked two miles and with 34 miles to go he would have been incapable of completing and would have jeopardized both of us. Aaron would hike on with me for two more miles before he too would turn back. The remaining 32 miles would be on my own. I gave my tent to Aaron to lighten my load and I would do as the ranger had suggested and sleep the two nights out in the Adirondack lean to shelters.

Aaron left me at a particularly nasty section of trail in which I had to go through thick brush and around logs, down a steep embankment of a brook and up due to blowdown blocking the trail. My destination for the first night was Plumleys Landing on the northern shore of Long Lake. It was only eight miles from Long Lake as I originally planned to hike 12 miles to Shattucks Clearing on the Cold River but due to the late start was only able to cover 12 miles. This meant the next day I would have to somehow make up the distance if I was going to complete the backpack in three days.I did have some extra food in case I had to spend an extra third night out. The trail throughout its entire route stays in dense forest with an occasional view of Long Lake seen on the first day. The path tends to stay away from the shore line because of private lake front properties where people have fishing and hunting cabins.

Just before arriving at Plumleys at 6 pm, I hit a real nasty stretch of trail. Beavers had cut down trees and flooded the trail! My adrenalin rose and my heart raced as I wondered where the trail went. I took off my heavy pack and scouted ahead as a herd path gave out and I stood in deep silence in the middle of a swamp. I saw no route. what was I going to do? It was too late to walk back. I had no ride back to my car any way, which was back in Lake Placid. I might have to set up camp right on the trail for the night and walk back to long Lake in the morning and find a ride back.

I anxiously walked back to my pack trying to determine if I some how missed the trail.I easily found the trail but when I traced it back the foot travel kept leading me back into the swamp. Finally, I spotted some fallen branches and logs that led across an outlet of the swamp. I crossed it and on the otherside I was able to discern foot prints in the mud. I zig zagged my weigh through the brush following the perimeter of the beaver pond and within two minutes I saw the trail resume with its familiar blue blazes. Crisis #1 over. Boy I was ever relieved! I went back across the swamp to retrieve my pack and continued on. Ten minutes after crossing through the swamp I saw a sign for Plumleys. I followed the side trail less than a 1/4 mile and found a lovely camp site overlooking Long Lake.

I had took my pack off my weary shoulders and sat down on the entrance into the lean to for a few minutes contemplating the peace and solitude of this location. Here I was all by myself in the wilderness.

For those of you who are unfamiliar what a lean to is, a lean to is a three sided shelter that generally protects you from rain, thats if the wind is not blowing from the wrong direction! It has a wood floor to lay down your sleeping bag, pack and gear. It may have a log book and a few magazines left by a volunteer caretaker who might come by a couple of times a year. Usually the inside of the lean to is marked with graffiti as people tend to carve their initials into the wall of the lean to, some time stretching back several generations. Outside the lean to is a fire ring for a camp fire and a primitive outhouse is found some 100 yards from the lean to.

Otherwise, one side of the lean to is completely open. That means mice, chipmunks, squirrels, porcupines, raccoons and even bear could dare to visit you in the night. Usually most of these critters except the mice will leave you be provided you hang your food up in a tree, a good distance away from the lean to. That was my next big worry, would I be able to find an adequate tree to throw my food bag up. After finishing my sandwich that night, I searched for an adequate tree. There were a couple of candidates but I finally found one about 100 yards back from the lake with a limb hanging out some twenty feet off the ground. I found a small sized rock, tied some parachute cord around it that my friend George lent me and then tried throwing it around the limb of the tree in the gathering dusk. I tried several times and failed. A couple of times I just was mot throwing high enough. The rock I had was to small to get over the branch. I tried a somewhat larger rock. Another time it snagged with the cord on some branches which took some effort to untangle.

Then, I finally did get the rock over the branch. Relieved I tied my stuff sack with my food and garbage in it and to my dismay the parachute cord would not raise the bag. The cord had to much give in it so when you pulled nothing happen. Fortunately, I was carrying an extra cord which was more taut. So i had to start all over again. This time however, I was successful after the second try of getting the rock over the tree. I tied my bag, raised it up high and secured the rope to the trunk of the tree by walking around the tree several times. I went back to the camp and prayed it would be there in the morning when I woke. arriving back in my lean to I discovered that I had forgotten to pack away a few food items. Now, nearly dark I was not going back to lower the food bag. So I put these few items in a stuff sack and put them on a rock near the lake shore before turning in for the night.

Fortunately the night was short. Because it was early July it did not get dark until 9:30 pm. I slept fitfully awaking a few times in the night, thinking I heard something shuffling in the brush outside, near the lake shore. What was it? Was it a bear. I shall not know but what ever it was it left me alone. I did hear a few loons whose beautiful cries traveled a great distance through the night air. Otherwise all was at peace.

I awoke the next morning a little sore, resting in the chilly morning air not wanting to rise from my sleeping bag as I knew soon I would have to pack up and don my heavy pack for a long day ahead. Well, I decided to get up and nervously checked my two food caches. I was relieved all was well. Both food bags were left untouched, where I had left them the night before. Even the one I left lying on the ground near the lake shore.

 I lowered the bag and went back to the lean to to enjoy my breakfast of blueberry granola which I ate right out of the bag. All you do is add water, and there is powdered milk with the granola. Well next thing was to get water from the lake. My two quarts of water obviously was not going to last me three days and as I was down to lees than a quart of water I needed to replenish. I went down to the lake with my water purifier, attached one end to the mouth of the water bottle and started pumping. To my chagrin. no water was coming thru the tube. I tried again several times from several positions thinking I was holding the bottle up to high. I even placed the bottle down between two rocks on the lake. Nothing! I opened the filter unscrewed it and put it back together to see if anything was blocking the filter. Tried again. Nothing!

My choice now was to start up the stove and boil the water. I could not chance drinking the water out of the lake for the risk of coming down with giardia. Giardia is a parasite that lives in the water that can make you quite sick for weeks on end. Reluctantly, I got out my stove and attached the butane can to it. Not being great at lighting matches and a bit nervous working with this combustible fuel I was dreading this moment. If the stove did not light my trip was finished and I'd have to pack out and walk the eight miles back to Long Lake, instead of pushing ahead to Lake Placid.

The moment came. I placed the stove on a large boulder and turned the fuel valve on the stove to let the butane drip into the stove. First I tried my Bic lighter. No luck, my lighter would not luck. I tried matches. Finally, after several tries the match lit and I cautiously approached the stove. It lit! But the flame shot up into the air and the stove and fuel canister were surrounded by a mini conflagration that seemed to burn for an eternity as I quickly backed away fearing the butane canister would explode.

My heart sank as I saw my chances for doing this trip slip away. I was expecting the fuel canister to explode from the heat of the flame. However, suddenly I saw the flame diminish and the stove burned normally with a low blue flame hissing from the burner. The flare up had been caused by the excess fuel that had gone into the stove while I was attempting to light it. Fortunately, the fuel canister was not exposed that long to the flame so it did not explode. Still that was a close one.

 I placed a pot of water I had drawn from the lake on top of the stove. The water is suppose to be brought to a rolling boil for two minutes in order to ensure the giardia is killed. I stood their waiting checking periodically on the pot of water. Five minutes went by, then ten minutes, then twenty minutes and nothing much was happening. Just a few small bubbles at most. At one point I cautiously touched the water and to my dismay was still bearable to touch. Now, there had been a bit of a breeze blowing off the lake that morning and it occurred to me the breeze might be interfering with the heating of the water. After about a half hour I placed a lid on the pot. That seemed to help some what but after 45 minutes went by I still could not bring the water to a rolling boil. I decided to shut the stove down as I could not afford to use up my fuel supply or else I would be unable to cook dinner that night.

I resorted to my third back up. Iodide tablets. Iodide will usually kill giardia,the only downside is the taste of iodide in the water. The iodide tablets are sold with a neutralizer to somewhat offset the taste of the iodide. Basically, you drop two iodide tablets in the water, shake and wait 30 minutes before applying the neutralizer. Having done this you can usually drink after 40 minutes from first applying the iodide. This was not an attractive choice but it was my only choice now.

Finishing up with my water problems I proceeded to pack up my gear and cram back into my Kelty backpack. There was not enough room for the pots so I hung them from the back. I stuffed my sleeping bag back in, bagged the food and assorted gear and zipped into the compartments. Zipping up the compartments were a pain and it would often take several attempt of rearranging the bulges here and there until everything fit in. Meanwhile as the morning air warmed, black flies began to emerge causing me to swat them and reply the insect repellent.

Finally, I was ready to move. I hoisted the heavy pack, adjusted the pack and I was on my way.

I began a long morning headed north and east towards Shattuck Clearing and the Cold River. Basically, my plan was to eat lunch at the spot where I was supposed to have camped last night. I knew it was going to be a long day to make up the mileage I failed to cover yesterday. The trail also was generally up hill. I started the morning at 1600 feet at Long Lake and would be at 2100 feet by the time I reach Duck Hole that evening.

Though I know I had 15 to 16 miles to cover that day, I did not think in terms of the whole distance or else I could not have made it. I promised my self I would take a 5 minute break approximately every hour. Therefore I would plod ahead with my pack and not think of the entire day. I would only think at most an hour ahead or to the next landmark, which might be a stream crossing or another lean to.

I walked through the cool forest deep in thought heading on towards Shattucks. Shattucks was a significant landmark because it was a clearing in the forest as it was the site of a former ranger station until it was torn down back in 1977. There are some views of some views of the imposing Seward Range which loom in the distance.

I did not linger long when I reached Shattucks near noon as the black flies and mosquitos were thirsting for blood and I already had numerous red marks among the calfs of my legs from the numerous bites I already had sustained. I chose to wear shorts as long pants would have been very uncomfortable and would have soiled easily in the deep, sucking black oozy mud patches I had to cross occasionally throughout the day. The clay like soil of the Adirondacks makes it difficult for water to run off and creates these mud holes that can cause you to sink up over your knees if you fail to miss a rock or log when crossing. Sometimes there is no rock or log and you have to just plod through!

Just before 1 pm I reached the Cold River and crossed it on a rather impressive looking suspension bridge. The suspension bridge swayed and bounced as I crossed it. On the other side was Cold River Lean To #3 hidden in a grove of hemlocks. I shed my leaden backpack and had my lunch. My lunch was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that I had prepared yesterday with some cookies and a Power Bar. After a half an hour I resumed my trek.

The next section of trail paralleled the Cold River. The first two miles were pretty easy with a few nice views of the Santanoni Range. I passed by a large whirlpool called the Big Eddy, shortly after passing Big Eddy the river narrowed and the banks became steeper and soon the trail was continuously going up or down these sharp pitches. The trail became rocky with precarious footing in places. At about mid afternoon I reached the Ouluska Brook Lean To. This lean to is the set off point for trailless bushwacks of the Donaldson, Emmons and Seward, three of the Adirondack Forty Sixer peaks that are higher than 4,000 feet in elevation. I stopped a few minutes here to fill up my water bottle. Up until now my water from yesterday had lasted. From here on I would be drinking water from the lakes or streams that I treated with my iodide tablets.

At about 4 pm, I reached the half way point of the trek. I had traveled 18 miles since leaving Long Lake. Other than George and Aaron who left me in the first few hours of the trip I had seen only five people going in the other direction. I had 18 miles to go to reach my car the next day. At this point half way through my check I had reached the former homestead of Noah John Rondeau, the Hermit of the Adirondacks. At this remote location, far from civilization Noah John Rondeau lived in his small cabin by himself for 38 years throughout all four seasons of the year.

Adirondack winters can be brutal with deep snow and temperatures of -20 degrees to - 30 degrees not uncommon. So under standing what this man went through made my three day pursuit seem somewhat trivial. All thats left to know that some one lived here once is a plaque a few piece of wood or stone, perhaps leftover from the cabin that stood here until a half century ago. There were a number of pretty flowers around which I took a few photos of.

Well, as the poet Robert Frost once said I still had miles to go before I sleep, so I pushed on. The miles seemed to go on endlessly. The climbs were really getting to me as more and more I felt the weight of the pack on my shoulders. I adjusted my pack to distribute more of the weight to my hips and grinded on. There were few land marks at this location. My destination for the night was Moose River lean to, some 14 and 1/2 mile since leaving Plumleys this morning. My land mark was Moose Pond. I saw hills loom ahead. I started having my doubts. The map did not seem toi indicate I had to climb these hills. Well maybe not all the way but the trail climbed more than I would have liked causing me to make more frequent brakes as it contoured around the south shore of Moose Pond.

Finally, I reached a main trail junction. The sign read only 0.4 miles to Moose Pond lean to. Yeah! I follow the wide dirt woods road and arrive at the lean to only to see it occupied but with its inhabitant mysteriously absent. The site did not look inviting as it was rather dark, tucked away in the trees and the Moose River where I would need to draw water tonight was down a rather steep embankment. Since I was not particularly crazy about this site and not knowing who I would be sharing the shelter with I pushed on to Duck Hole, only 1.5 miles away.

Even though it was already 7:30 pm, the attraction of going on to Duck Hole was an attractive scenic site with a choice of two lean tos and from Duck Hole my trip to my car tomorrow would be a mere 12 miles. I say this facetiously, as today I would cover 16 miles between Plumleys and Duck Hole.

I made the right choice to move on. Duck Hole was indeed a lovely site and both lean tos were empty. I chose the lean to closest to the dam which created an artificial lake called Duck Hole. The Duck Hole site is nice because is out in the open with mountains visible. It has a pristine feeling, as you might feel if you were camping in Wyoming, Montana or the Yukon Territory for that matter. The sun reflected off the pink cloud tops as I set up camp on this lovely evening.

Set up tonight went a lot smoother than last night. Hanging the food was easy. Right in sight, a bridge crossed the dam by Duck Hole and there fore all I had to do was lower my food bag off the bridge and tie it to the railing. My stove started flawlessly tonight. No flare ups. I cooked cajun chicken with lentil soup for an appetizer and was even able to get the water to boil! Dessert consisted of apple sauce and chocolate chip cookies. Yum!

I went to sleep more readily tonight only waking once when the full moon flooded the lean to with its light, making it very easy to see. The water rushing over the dam, sounding like a washing machine helped lull me to sleep. Morning dawned and once again I reluctantly lied in my sleeping bag enjoying the peace and quiet of one more final morning in the wilderness. It was hard to believe in two days time I'd be back to work commuting on the Long Island Rail Road to my office in Long Island City, Queens.

I awoke sore and ate my breakfast. Today, though shorter in length than yesterday would prove to be my toughest day. Three days in the woods on a self rationed food supply and a sixteen mile day yesterday had really taken allot out of me. I knew today would be a slow day with frequent breaks as that pack weight was getting to me. I knew now how my friend George felt when we set out at the beginning. Fortunately I was now coming out.

The trail out was also the toughest of the three days. The trail in many places was so overgrown it was barely evident. Lots of rocks, poor footing, ups and downs, stream crossings and two beaver swamps which I had a similar experience as on my first day, only at this point turning around was not an option.

Lunch today would be at the pretty Wanika Falls. Wanika Falls is only 6.5 miles from the Lake Placid Trail head on Averyville Road. I literally dragged myself and my pack to Wanika Falls, at times groaning and hunched over by the weight and sweating profusely by the higher heat and humidity of today. I lunched on my last peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Power Bar. I had rationed myself just enough food to get out.

At this point I was seriously thinking of leaving most of my pack and coming back for it the next day. It had become such an ordeal that I seriously considered this. However, doing this would mean a thirteen mile hike the next day,, 6.5 miles in to retrieve the pack and 6.5 miles out and the pack would not be much lighter. It would also mean that I would not get back home if at all causing me to miss work on Monday.

I decided to prepare myself mentally and little by little, groaning and all made my way out, taking frequent breaks. I passed a few more people today as I was approaching the trail head. One Chinese girl helped me put my pack on as she saw me struggling with it as I tried putting it on after a rest break. I also met Tony, a middle aged guy from Massapequa, Long Island who congratulated me for my achievement and even left a note for me on the trail when I was nearly out, telling me that I had about only 15 minutes to go.

So about 7 pm on Saturday evening July 7, 2001 I emerged from the forest catching a glimpse of my car through the trees as it had patiently waited for me for the past four days. I dropped the pack for the last time and was free of my burden, relief at last!

It was real neat to sit in my car for the first time. I drove the short distance into Lake Placid and it was rather strange to see cars, buildings and people, even after just a few days in the woods. I treated myself well tonight to make up for the three days of deprivation. I went to one of my favorite eating establishments in Lake Placid; Goldberries. What a feast I enjoyed. I took advantage of the full salad bar; replete with home made vegetable soup, freshly baked bread, healthy greens, a main course of filet mignon and baked potato. I washed this down with tall glasses of ice cold water and ginger ale soda. and had a wonderful dessert of Kentucky chocolate chip pie. Yum!