Narrows Escape

     There's something about the top of Adirondack cliffs. About how, like Sirens, they tempt you to come closer, to peer over the brink. I felt that temptation recently. There was a steep slope that dropped to emptiness. I could see water far below. There were trees to grab on to but the ground was slick from recent rains and the trees leaned out, as if they too wanted to see what was down there. Some had uprooted and toppled. Gravity felt like a lurking presence, ready to draw me into her embrace. I was alone and nobody really knew where I was (I know: bad and badder). From such moments are mini-adventures made. Moments at the edge.

     'Edgy' might seem an odd description for an easy flat water paddle to a low hill. It's a trip anyone can do in a couple of hours. But The Narrows of Dresden is an odd place and 'edgy' might just be the best way to describe it. Especially since the low hill is split down the middle with cliffs facing each other and a bit of Lake Champlain filling the gap between them. 

     One obvious edge is The Narrows location. Indeed, for much of this outing you can't tell if you're in New York or Vermont. It's as far east as you can get in the Adirondacks, with one surprising qualifier that we'll get to shortly. Access is off of Rt. 22 in the Washington County hamlet of Clemons. Look for the large artillery (seriously)  and turn off on to Lake Road. That will lead you down to your put- in at a place called Chubbs Dock.

     There's a lot of interest here, even before the paddling begins. Take the landmark cannon for instance. Sometime before 1900 it was found on the bottom of Lake Champlain near Fort Ticonderoga and brought here "In memory of the Soldiers and Sailors of 61 to 65". Just a few feet down the road the Dresden Town Hall has a roll of honor for all the veterans this small Adirondack town has sent in defense of our freedom. From the same spot you look out on the communities well kept cemetery with the Dresden Baptist Church on a high knoll across the road. A little further down Center Clemons Road I've heard of an 1860 stone arch Keystone Bridge over Carrington Brook. Not sure if it is still there but you can see a similar structure, exquisitely preserved and apparently by the same craftsman, on nearby Pike Brook Road. In short order the Center Road loops back up to Rt. 22 beside a ledge that used to host another bit of Clemons lore: the iconic Red Top Tavern sign.

The Pike Brook stone arch bridge

A similar one in Clemons?

Gone but not forgotten

(web image)

     Back by the Town Hall, Lake Road drops steeply downhill to an intersection where you'll want to go right. A left will take you to the afore mentioned Red Top Tavern, a beloved local watering hole where a few fish stories have been told down thru the years. Unfortunately the establishment closed about a year ago, another victim of regulations and rising costs. You'll also want to keep an eye out for mysterious wooden creations hiding in the woods along the road. Not sure what they are but they certainly add to the areas edgy vibe.

Then...

 

...and now

     Dropping down to Lake Champlain the road makes an awkward   crossing of railroad tracks at a place called Chubbs Dock. Look both ways as this is an active route with both freights and Amtrack. At one time this was a busy station with passengers getting off here for the carriage ride over the mountain to Lake George. Today it's part of a 156 acre parcel of Forest Preserve that DEC acquired from the Nature Conservancy in 2012. At the end of the road is a launch with parking for a couple of cars. 

         

     Directly across from the put-in is Maple Bend Island. It divides the lake into two channels. While the western channel may seem to be the shorter way up to The Narrows, you are better off slipping around the southern end of the island and then paddling north, joining the route of the Champlain Canal. Here motorboat traffic is both a blessing and a curse for the canoeist. The canal side is deeper from dredging and is kept clear by more activity. The western channel suffers from a heavy infestation of invasive water chestnut which makes for very arduous paddling.

This drone shot looks south over the tip of Maple Bend Island.

The put-in is lower right. Vermont's Bald Mountain is in the distance.

(web image)

      Looking south at the put-in gives you a good view of Bald Mountain. This might be called the Adirondacks of Vermont because  the gneiss bedrock is the same as on the New York side. Geologic and political boundaries don't always play by the rules. Bald is a wild, rugged bit of terrain with high cliffs and lots of ecological diversity. It is best explored from the Nature Conservancy's Buckner Preserve in West Haven. 

The Chubbs Dock put-in is lower left and The Narrows is upper right

      It would be easy to mistake this for a lazy river rather than part of the '6th Great Lake'. Indeed, in the past this was considered to be a continuation of Wood Creek all the way to Crown Point. The water is murky from suspended clay particles, as the leftover sediments from the previous and much larger glacial Lake Vermont and the Champlain Sea continue to erode into todays lake. Mucky wetlands along the shore are common and  provide valuable wildlife habitat. You paddle here right on the Blue Line as this is the edge of the Adirondack Park. 

   

     As you approach The Narrows the impression is that someone took a giant axe and split the hill in two to let the water thru. The cliffs on either side are made of dolostone, a sedimentary rock associated with limestone. Similar rocks are found in the lowlands surrounding the Adirondacks and probably covered the entire region before doming pushed up the hard metamorphic gneisses and anorthosites of the mountains, with the softer sedimentary cover rocks eroding away. 

The dolostone cliffs that form The Narrows

      The hills on both sides of The Narrows beg for exploration. The New York side seemed easiest to approach so that's where I beached my canoe. Based on fire rings and empty beer cans, it's where others had been as well. As a once and (maybe) future rock climber, the first thing I noticed were some obvious routes on the cliffs that could easily be top-roped. But not today. Instead I found a scrambling path up the hundred or so feet to the heavily forested top of the hill.

     This hill has some history and I wanted to see if I could find traces of it. During the War of 1812 there was a fear that the British Navy would advance up the lake and a blockhouse and breastwork were built here above The Narrows to stop them. But, after Macdonough's victory at Plattsburgh, there were no British ships left on Champlain so the threat never materialized and the blockhouse was subsequently torn down. My question was whether any traces of the defenses could still be found? And the answer was: not by me. Despite wandering over the entire hill the best I could come up with was a few rocks that looked like they might have been placed in a row and even that involved some wishful thinking.

      Another story from the earlier Colonial Wars (1756) has Israel Putnam and a company of Rangers crossing over the mountain from Lake George to ambush French and Indian marauders at The Narrows. The enemies were tying to escape back down Champlain after a raid. This is what lead me to the cliff edge as I fantasized waiting for the war canoes to come close before opening fire. But the cliff edge was too scary to position myself for a shot at those imagined miscreants. Let's just say I'm no Ranger and leave it at that.

     As I wandered the hill on my history mystery tour there were a few other things I noticed. The forest is a relatively open mix of hardwoods and pine with a number of large shagbark hickory, but what stands out are the northern white cedar. Lots of them, with some quite large. Also noted were the variety of ferns and moss covering everything. While the south facing ledges were relatively clean,  outcrops oriented in other directions were virtual rock gardens of ferns, forbs and mosses. And then there was the unusual patterns of erosion as joints in the bedrock were widened by dissolution. 

      I had hoped to check out the other side of The Narrows as well but the sinking Sun suggested saving the Vermont shore for another day. One more reason to return to this edge of the Adirondacks for more exploration. Maybe next time I'll invite a historian, an archeologist, a botanist and a geologist to really make the most of this fascinating place. And let's not forget a belayer. Gotta climb those ledges.   

*Both Sides Now... 

     A complete tour of The Narrows might include paddling up thru and then walking the hills on both sides. For those without a boat or anyone just looking for an alternate approach, the Vermont side offers a hike-in option. The 429 acre Narrows Wildlife Management Area is accessed from Cold Spring Road in the Town of West Haven. 

     I recently walked from the parking area down to what's called 'the island'. This is the hill on the Vermont side that matches its sister across the water in New York. There are no marked trails but anybody with a little 'Lewis and Clark' in them should be able to find their way. 'The island' is notable for hosting what's left of an old homestead with a dilapidated house, an overgrown field, some apple trees and fencing. The WMA also has traces of Native American activity, a number of rare plants and and a surprising variety of natural communities for such a relatively small area. 

'open house' on 'the island'

The Narrows LRMP: a window into an intriguing place 

      The Narrows Long Range Management Plan is the best resource I found for understanding this unique area and much of it seems as applicable to the New York side as to Vermont. Here's a link to the 146 page document. Fun reading for The Narrows minded.

   

Narrows Maidenhair

Landing on the Knob

 

     Where would Starks Knob be without Ed Landing?

     Probably right in Northumberland where it's been for a very long time. But it might not be publicly accessible and we certainly wouldn't understand its origin and history quite as well.

     Landing is New York State Paleontologist Emeritus ( a geologist who specializes in fossils). During his long career in Albany he took two Museum owned properties under his wing, opening them to the public as educational reservations. One is Lester Park with its stromatolite fossils and the other is Starks Knob, noted for rare pillow basalts.

     Landing takes his place in a long line of researchers (Woodworth, Cushing, Kidd, and others) trying to understand how this geologic oddity was created and why it's located here in the Hudson Valley. He detailed his findings at a recent talk with the Knob serving as a backdrop. It's a story of plate collisions, subduction and melting with subsequent magma eruption on the sea floor. Of course, there's much more to it than that. At his talk Landing answered questions that revealed how science worls to understand our world and he painted a picture of just what a fascinating world we live in.

     If you missed last weeks event you're in luck. Landing will be repeating his program at 3 pm on Sunday, July 6th during Hudson Crossings Water Music event. A second chance to get to know one of our areas most distinctive landmarks and meet the man who studies it.

A Walk in the Park

     Attention hikers: are you ready for higher, harder, further? In Washington County that means hitting the trails on the east side of Lake George. These are the Adirondacks with bigger mountains, more remote ponds, deeper forests and craggier cliffs. All that plus views of the lake that will take what breath you have left away.

Lake George from Buck Mountain

     The Towns of Putnam and Dresden and much of Fort Ann lie within the Adirondack Park. State lands here are designated 'forever wild' Forest Preserve and it is on these public lands where many of the trails are located. Many, but not all. The Lake George Land Conservancy has a number of preserves in the lake's watershed and many of these holdings have their own trails. Go to their website where you can access brochures with maps and descriptions. The Sucker Brook Preserve in Putnam is over 1000 acres with 6 miles of trail. Anthony's Nose includes a climb up Record Hill and the Leeming Jelliffe property in Huletts features a short walk to a scenic view. Finally, the Schumann Preserve near Pilot Knob hosts a gazebo with a view of the south basin and a seasonal waterfall. 

In this web image Sucker Brook is on the right while Anthony's Nose

and Record Hill lie just beyond

 

Icons show some of the preserves around Lake George

       One way to get a handle on the spaghetti tangle of Lake George trails is to list them by trailhead and destination. Let's start with the Pilot Knob parking area near the end of Co 32. This is the beginning of the trail up Buck Mountain, one of the most popular of Adirondack peaks. To the east is Sly Pond Road where there is a pull off for Inman Pond. This trail also gives access to Pilot Knob Mountain and a rock climbing ledge on the south shoulder of Buck. Drive a few more miles to a T intersection and a left will put you on Shelving Rock Road where there is a major parking hub leading to Dacy Clearing, Sleeping Beauty Mountain and a number of upland ponds. Descending Shelving Rock Road towards the lake will bring you to trails for Shelving Rock Falls and Shelving Rock Mountain as well as walks along the lake shore. 

Hiking a Lake George trail

     Another popular starting point is a parking area on Pike Brook Road uphill from Huletts Landing in the Town of Dresden. This leads to Black Mountain and alternate access to a number of ponds. That is a vastly oversimplified introduction to the forest preserve trails that connect and branch off in a sometimes confusing maze. Maps and guidebooks will get you where you want to go.

     

DEC map of Lake George Wild Forest 

     * Spruce Mountain is an adventurous hike not connected to the DEC trails just described. From Rt. 22 in Dresden look for a left turn onto North Road. At the end of the road there's a trail that starts on private property. Follow the blazes to Spruce, Hogback and possibly down to the shore of Lake George, keeping in mind it's a long steep climb back up.

View from Spruce

(photos from Off on Adventure blog)

     * Two private camps deserve mention. CampWakpominee is owned by the Boy Scouts and covers over a 1000 acres including Sly Pond. I have heard of occasions when members of the public have been allowed to hike here with special permission. A little further up the road is Camp Little Notch where there was a tradition of access to the historic iron furnace when the Girl Scouts owned it. The new group managing the property may have different policies. Best bet is to contact them before hiking in to this popular landmark.

     * Two State Forests in the Town of Whitehall are interesting destinations. Access to both is off Rt. 4 between the Villages of Fort Ann and Whitehall. Dolph Pond consists of 726 acres of former Finch land with skid roads and snowmobile paths rather than marked trails. The Saddles State Forest is bigger at 2471 acres and wilder with rugged terrain stretching up and over a ridge and down to South Bay. Access may require a hi-clearance 4x4. Tim Ward has done some amazing stone work on the trails in the area. Snakes may be seen but not touched (duh).

From a recent hike at Dolph Pond State Forest

A view of The Saddles from a canoe on South Bay

     * Death Rock and Skene Mountain have been popular Whitehall destinations in the past but I'm not aware of any access currently. Indeed, the entire range from Battle Hill in Fort Ann extending up thru the state forests and on down to Rt. 22 near South Bay could be an outstanding trip if granted private landowner permission. Back in the day Art Stiles let us go up thru his gravel pit and Christmas tree plantation to enter Big Notch and gain the high ridge. I'ld love to see the view from The Pinnacle one more time. Opening up trails on private land is something the CATS organization has done so well just to the north in Essex County.

Big Notch, Orebed Hill and The Pinnacle beyond a barn in Welch Hollow 

     * East Bay Wildlife Management Area and the Lower Poultney River Natural Area may appeal to the intrepid. These DEC and Nature Conservancy preserves are located northeast of Whitehall Village along Co. 10. They are perhaps best explored by boat. Hikers might want to cross the Poultney River into Vermont to check out TNC's 3800 acre Buckner Preserve.  

Green trails are in TNC's Buckner Preserve

     * Carvers Falls and the William Miller homestead are two Town of Hampton locations good for short walks. Carvers Falls is a hydroelectric facility on the Poultney River with scenic grounds and a stone power plant. You can also launch a canoe here to explore the lower river. The Miller property includes Ascension Rock which is interesting from both a geological and a historical perspective.

Ascension Rock

     That wraps up my three post overview of hiking opportunities in Washington County. Enjoy what I've included and let me know what I've missed.

Walk on

      Last post we looked at hiking options in the lower part of Washington County, including the four towns south of the Battenkill: Easton, Cambridge, Jackson and White Creek. This time let's see if we can find some trails in the county's mid-section and then, sometime in the future, we'll finish up with a post focusing on the huff and puff hiking in the northern mountains. 

Sitting on a Hudson Crossing trail. You are also allowed to walk here.

(web image) 

     * Schuylerville feels like cheating (because it's on the wrong side of the river in Saratoga County) but there are some walks here that are too good to ignore. Hudson Crossing Park's two miles of trail are popular for their views of the canal and river. I've been running here for some 60 years (since way before it was a park) and it never gets old. Nearby is Starks Knob, a short, stiff climb to a sweet view. Connecting Hudson Crossing to the Village of Schuylerville, the Empire State Trail and Canalway Trail overlap and lead to a connection with the Victory Woods Trail System.

   

These three maps give you some idea of the Schuylerville area trails

     * Denton Preserve is located north of Schuylerville. Drive across the Hudson on the Rt. 4 bridge and look for a small pull-off with a sign on the right. Walk across the old Champlain Canal thru a shale pit area to a trailhead with several diverging paths. The 330 acre property has unique shale hogbacks with vernal pools in between and sections of an abandoned trolley line. There is also a section between Rt. 4 and the river that's best seen by walking along River Road. If you've got a small boat there's a pond that can be paddled here in the spring.

     * The Empire State Trail enters Washington County from Hudson Crossing Park via the Dix Bridge. From there it extends all the way to the northern border with Essex County (and beyond). Only parts of it are attractive for walking with some sections along busy Rts. 4 and 22 best avoided. River Road, both north and south of the hamlet of Fort Miller, is very pleasant with minimal traffic and lovely views. Another desirable segment begins in Fort Edward and extends to Fort Ann. You can also connect to the Feeder Canal Trail that leads up past the Five Combines locks, thru Hudson Falls and on to Glens Falls. Beyond Fort Ann there is town road walking with no shoulders to reach a nice but short stretch on abandoned Quarry Road. Best to use these maps to find parking and parts to explore. 

     The Empire State Trail from Fort Edward to Fort Ann

  

     * Several sites that may become available in the future or have been popular in the past include: 

- ASA's proposed Argyle Community Forest on Saunders Road which awaits trail development.

- Battle Hill just north of Fort Ann is slated to become a park commemorating the Revolutionary war engagement there.

- Egg Mountain, outside of Salem  (in Vermont), with its archaeological resources may be open to the public at some point in the future.

- The Thunder Mountain Recreation Area in the Town of Greenwich off North Road has been popular in the past but I've heard that logging operations have made it less desirable.

   

- Bald Mountain, also in the Town of Greenwich, used to be fun to explore. I can remember skiing all over it back in the day. To the best of my knowledge there is no longer any public access.

- Pumpkin Mountain, rising above Hartford is another lost area. It was formerly a very popular outing for locals but there is no longer any access.

Then...

...and now

(image from Green Mountain Dronography on facebook where you can watch a neat video)

     * Carters Pond Wildlife Management Area is noteworthy for its wheelchair accessible trail and viewing platform. The 446 acre parcel features the pond and adjacent wetlands with trails at the southern end of the parcel. Several parking areas and a canoe launch add to the appeal. It's located in the Town of Greenwich on Co. Rt. 49.

 

     * Several dirt roads in Greenwich and Salem are appealing destinations for a quiet walk. Try Riddle Road for great views and Binninger for tree shaded serenity. Hickory Hill and Roberson are also nice and a little exploring will turn up others.

The Owl Pen Book barns are located on Riddle Road

(web image)

     * Salem Art Works offers a unique hiking experience as you walk amongst monumental sculptures on Cary Hill (where the Taconic views compete with the art).

(web image)

    * The Pember Nature Preserve is located between Salem and Granville on Rt. 22. The 125 acre property has several miles of trails on either side of Black Creek. Access is from the quaint Porter Schoolhouse which is used as an environmental education center.

     * Slate Valley Trails is a non-profit that manages 60 miles of multi-use trails in the Castleton, Poultney, Wells area of Vermont just over the border from Washington County. Visit their website for maps and trailhead locations. Also available for hiking and biking is the D&H rail trail running from Castleton to Rupert. Unfortunately, the section that extends to Salem has never been completed. Further into Vermont but definitely worth checking out are the trails at Merck Forest and the hike up Haystack in Pawlet. 

A Slate Valley Trail leads to this viewpoint

 

     * Fort Edward is a good place to wrap up this tour of hiking options in central Washington County. As previously mentioned, a section of the Empire State Trail extends north from the village. Also worth exploring is Rogers Island with its history stretching back to pre-colonial times. A little to the east of the village are several parcels of preserved grassland bird habitat with trails and observation areas. 

     

  

     After doing some (or all!) of these trails you deserve to sit a spell and catch your breath. Up in the next post is the tougher Adirondack Mountain terrain of northern Washington County. Sleeping Beauty here we come...