Truck Trail

While using the Truck Trail in the Five Ponds Wilderness to gain access for my most recent bushwhack from Stillwater Reservoir to Cranberry Lake I noticed an increase in the amount of human impact on this trail. The increased impact was evidenced by the presence of human foots prints, bike tracks and many pieces of miscellaneous litter. Unlike the other major trail out of Wanakena (the trail heading to Dead Creek Flow and Cat Mountain), which has been historically the more used of the two trails, the Truck Trail was a fairly little used trail especially past the junction with the old Leary Trail.

Beaver dam crossing along Truck Trail

The trail appeared much muddier than I remembered from previous trips. And every muddy area was covered with layers of human foot prints. Although these muddy conditions could be due to increased human traffic, or just from excessive rainfall this summer, but the amount of litter along the trail is not so easily explained away. I picked up more pieces of litter than I ever have on any previous hikes here, from candy wrappers to pieces of hiking poles. At one beaver pond I spotted a blue water bottle floating out in the middle of the water. Although accidental littering occurs occasionally, I have never noticed it to this extent in the 13 years I have been using this trail.

This trail has been recently promoted as part of the Cranberry Lake 50, a network of trails circumventing Cranberry Lake, the third largest body of water entirely within the Adirondack Park. The Cranberry Lake 50 was established in 2008 in an attempt to promote areas in the Adirondacks outside of the High Peaks and, I suspect, businesses in this part of the Park.

Truck Trail

Could the promotion of the Truck Trail as part of the CL 50 be causing a negative impact on the wilderness nature of the trail with increased traffic and litter? How will the CL 50 impact the solitude nature of this area? Is it better to attempt to disperse the human population’s impact within the Park or keep it concentrated (e.g. in the High Peaks)? Could this strategy backfire and result in reducing the wilderness nature of less used areas (e.g. Five Ponds Wilderness) while at the same time fail to measurably depreciate the impact of human population on other areas (e.g. the High Peaks)?