This year’s Birdathon results from within the Pepperbox Wilderness of the Adirondack Park were less than stellar. With only 46 species, it was the second lowest count for the seven years in which I participated. A severe head cold, recent beaver dams, a black bear and lack of some common species contributed to the low turn-out.
Trip Plan: Carpet Spruce Swamp of Middle Branch Oswegatchie River
During the late summer of 2011, while hiking across Isle Royale, I planned an outing into what might be one of the remotest and least often visited (by humans anyways) parts of the Adirondacks. Unfortunately, a mysterious knee injury in the spring of 2012 put this trip onto the back-burner until this year. Now I
Trip Plan: Birdathon 2013 – Hopefully Back to the Pepperbox Wilderness
Almost a year ago, a knee injury forced me off the hiking trails, yet alone allowing any bushwhacking off-trail through forest, swamp and meadow. Fortunately, my knee appears to be healing adequately, and once again, I am thinking about future trips into the backcountry, one in March, another in May, and a final one probably
Birdathon 2012: Bum Knee Puts the Kibosh on My Bushwhacking Plans
There will be no Birdathon bushwhacking adventure this year. And I am not happy about it. What is the Birdathon? The Birdathon is the National Audubon Society’s largest annual fundraising event and the globe’s biggest birding competition. The goal is to find as many bird species as possible within a given region in a single
Oven Lake Trip: Exodus from Five Ponds Wilderness via Sand and Rock Lakes
The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. Part two of the
Oven Lake Trip: Spending the Final Night at Wolf Pond
The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. The fourth part of
Oven Lake Trip: A Long Bushwhack from the Robinson River to the Five Ponds Trail
The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. The third part of
Oven Lake Trip: Bushwhacking Along the Robinson River
The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. The second part of
Oven Lake Trip: Robinson River, Here I Come!
The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. The first part of
Oven Lake Trip: Bushwhacking from Gal to West Pond in the Five Ponds Wilderness
The following is a description of an eight-day bushwhacking adventure into some of the most remote areas within the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwestern Adirondacks. The trip includes traversing areas of intense blowdown along the oddly-shaped Oven Lake, exploring a cluster of wilderness ponds and following the wild Robinson River. The third part of
