TRANS-ADIRONDACK ROUTE

I love the crazy ideas that go through the heads of some devoted hikers. We have all heard of several well known routes like the Appalachian Trail or the Continental Divide Trail or even the Pacific Northwest trail. These all encompass at least 200 miles, several states, and take months to accomplish. All of that sounds good only if you are successful in combining all of those factors. Then there is the question of weather and ultimately survival.

Recently I came across an article in the ADK Explorer of of a hard-core hiker, Erik Schlimmer, who charted a new hiking trail that spans the entire ADK park from north to south, a 235-mile route. He also published a guidebook titled Blue Line to Blue Line. The nice part was that it took him only 12 days. That makes for an interesting 12 day adventure in the wild.

The ADK Explorer described the route in the following way: "It combines hiking trails, snowmobile trails, abandoned trails, and paved and dirt roads, along with the occasional bushwhack to connect them all." (May/June 2014 Issue by Alan Wechsler)

More info about the route and guidebook can be found on his website: www.transadk.com

A NEW BIKE CIRCUIT IDEA IN THE HIGH PEAKS

I started road biking about a year ago and after taking on this new hobby I started to dream big. "Big" in road biking means longer distance rides. My longest ride so far has been only 29 miles but I have day-dreamed of how it would feel to accomplish a 50-mile or 100-mile ride?

Nevertheless I have really enjoyed road cycling because I can exercise while having a good time. Every ride feels like a mini adventure, especially when doing new routes.

So if a 100 mile ride wasn't a big enough dream, lets talk about 150+ mile circuit I just read about in the ADK Explorer. Ethan Rouen an avid cyclist and writer for the Explorer recently wrote about his high peaks circuit. The sense of accomplishment was not only in the miles but the fact that he hauled a bike trailer with gear as well as camped out every night in a tent. He and a friend completed this trip in 3 days.

I like this circuit route because it combines 2 passions: road biking and the Adirondack mountains. If you aren't hiking them then why not ride circles around them on bike!!!

RAFTING THE HUDSON GORGE?

On several occasions I have seen whitewater rafting in action on the Black River in Watertown. And I have heard of some great rafting in Letchworth Park gorge. The most popular whitewater rafting in Upstate NY is the Hudson River.

There are several outfitters on the river that have appeared in the ADK Explorer over the year of reading with good and bad reviews. However, the most recent article captivated my attention because it provided some nice details for rafting on the Hudson.

This trip depicted in the map
Travel distance: 17 miles
Duration: 5 hrs
Details: 3 miles of heavy rapids on the Indian to its confluence with the Hudson; 3 miles of milder rapids and calm water on the Hudson; 8 miles of heavy rapids in the gorge; 3 miles of mild rapids and then calm water to the takeout.

Although I have yet to attempt such an adrenaline filled adventure, I feel more determined to take a whitewater rafting trip in the near future. It sounds like a great plan for guys weekend trip in the ADK's.  

FUTURE HIKE: MOUNT GOODNOW

I have only hiked one mountain with a fire tower, Bald Mountain (Rondaxe). Apparently there are 5 such shorter peaks in the ADK with fire towers. Its always fun to quickly ascend to the peak and then achieve greater heights for better a view by simply climbing the stairs of the tower.

I recently had an opportunity to read about Mount Goodnow in the ADK Explorer May/June issue. It's located just outside of Newcomb, NY with a 2,694 ft of elevation. The hike to the summit is 2 miles, making a nice 4-mile round trip hike.

This is a great idea for a future hike if we will be in the area.

KAYAKING THE ONONDAGA CREEK

This spring I really wanted to kayak the Onondaga Creek that flows through the city of Syracuse and empty's into Onondaga Lake. The only concern I had from observing the creek is that it may be too shallow if we didn't have rain. This spring was rainy and at times it was too much rain. But it made the conditions really nice for kayaking the creek.

Last year I came across an article online of Jason Driscoll, who lives in the valley, commuting to work on his kayak. He expressed the same concerns that I had regarding kayaking down the creek only after some heavy rain. This is the article in the PS as it was published in 2011: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/08/no_traffic_lights_slow_his_com.html

So I decided to kayak this creek in a tandem kayak as compared to always traveling in a single. A friend of my mine, Ruslan agreed to tag along and join in on the adventure. On a cloudy Saturday morning, with some threatening clouds we made our way to the creek. There are several areas that you can put with any size kayak, but I wanted to go as far up the creek as possible. After a little research, I found a nice spot on West Roswell Ave which comes off South Salina St (Route 11 in Nedrow). The street is a dead end street and it has a easy slope to the creek. After a couple quick photos we were on our way.

Shortly down the creek we came to our first obstacle, a dam right before Dorwin St. We had to portage for a very short 50 yards around the dam. If we were in single kayaks that dam would actually be very doable.

The creek then continues with a slow shallow current to Ballantyne Rd. There are grassy banks on both sides. And for a few seconds it almost seems like the creek is in a remote area. This part of the creek is probably the cleaner portion, with minimal garbage on the banks and water.

Beyond Ballantyne Rd. the creek becomes more canalized with stone walls on both sides as it enters the inner city. The current picked up fairly well and it made it slightly challenging to maneuver around obstacles in the water. With the quicker current however, it was more adventurous.

The remain part of the trip, also had a historical spin on it as there were many older building that lined the creek. The bridges were marked with dates doing back into the 1950's and 1960's.

The kayaking experience would be so much more scenic if the banks of the creek were cleaned up and kept nice during the warm months. As we kayaked closer to the Inner Harbor the smell of the surrounding garbage and polluted water made for an unpleasant environment. The smell is probably worse when it gets warmer outside.

At the Inner Harbor, there are several docks which make for an easy exit out of the water. The parking is 50 feet from the water's edge. Thanks to my wife we had a quick and easy pick-up and transport back home.

Overall, I enjoyed kayaking the Onondaga Creek. The key factor is the water level has to be high enough.

I'm currently working on a video taken by my GoPro. I will post as soon as it is completed.