Monday, August 31, 2015

Bay to beach and back, connecting Edward Hopper and Henry Beston: Cape Cod Nat'l Seashore

For 7 out of the last 8 years we've taken a week's vacation at the same part of Outer Cape Cod (Truro), and it seems we keep searching for the perfect rental house with the right combination of price, availability and location, location, location. Maybe this year's house, steps from a quiet bay beach, Fisher Beach, is the one.

Last year's house, tucked behind a dune overlooking the Atlantic, lay on the edge of a vast stretch of ocean beach that evokes Henry Beston's description of the Outer Cape:
At the foot of this cliff a great ocean beach runs north and south unbroken, mile lengthening into mile. Solitary and elemental, unsullied and remote, visited and possessed by the outer sea, these sands might be the end or the beginning of a world.

Overlooking the Atlantic, Truro MA.

The Saratoga Skier and Hiker, first-hand accounts of adventures in the Adirondacks and beyond, and Gore Mountain ski blog.

The landscape surrounding this year's house, just a few miles away, is entirely different. Rolling hills overlook a comparatively calm Cape Cod Bay. Sometimes wooded, sometimes open, this is the landscape of Edward Hopper, the iconic American landscape artist who summered at Fisher Beach for 40 years.

View of Cape Cod Bay from Fisher Beach in Truro.

The Saratoga Skier and Hiker, first-hand accounts of adventures in the Adirondacks and beyond, and Gore Mountain ski blog.

While reading Beston's The Outermost House, I got inspired to put together a mountain bike ride that would connect the two landscapes, staying entirely off pavement. A bay-to-beach-and-back ride.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Exploring Chimney Mountain's Eagle Cave: 08/09/2015

The view from Chimney Mountain, Sunday 08/09/2015.

The Saratoga Skier and Hiker, first-hand accounts of adventures in the Adirondacks and beyond, and Gore Mountain ski blog.

It seems like the junior spelunkers in our family have been asking me all summer long "When are we going back to Eagle Cave?" We had explored the entrance and upper reaches of the cave on a trip back in mid-June, but had turned around when we reached a point where a rope would be necessary to explore further. This time we came prepared.

Monday, August 10, 2015

The Pinnacle: 08/08/2015

Panoramic view of Lake George from The Pinnacle, just outside of Bolton Landing, Saturday 8/08/2015.

The Saratoga Skier and Hiker, first-hand accounts of adventures in the Adirondacks and beyond, and Gore Mountain ski blog.

In a textbook example of environmental groups, local government and citizens working together, the Lake George Land Conservancy just last month closed on its purchase of the prominent peak outside Bolton Landing known as The Pinnacle. The closing was the culmination of more than 5 years of negotiations to protect the parcel. A trail has been marked and is now open to the public leading to the spectacular summit overlooking Lake George. We hiked the new trail this past Saturday.

The trail can best be described in one word: easy. That's not to say that you don't have to work for the view, but it's as easy as 400 vertical feet and a mile each way can be. I'm seriously considering bringing my parents up, and they're in their upper 70s (now I'll find out if they really read my blog). The route follows a jeep trail that would have been the driveway leading to 3 homesites on the ridgetop, climbing rather steeply at times but with good footing and a steady grade. Compared to the rough jeep road up Thomas Mountain (another nearby LGLC site), the Pinnacle trail is much easier.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Paddling the Floodwood - Rollins loop: 08/01/2015

Rollins Pond and Floodwood Mountain, Saturday 08/01/2015.

The Saratoga Skier and Hiker, first-hand accounts of adventures in the Adirondacks and beyond, and Gore Mountain ski blog.

Before I was a hiker or a skier or a climber, I was a paddler. Granted, the term “paddler” may be overselling things a bit, but nonetheless my first introduction to the Adirondacks came as a kid at Scout camp, where paddling the lakes and ponds near Upper Saranac Lake on mulit-day canoe trips was an integral part of the program. I paddled those waters for 5 years as a camper, 5 more years on the camp staff, and have returned many times as an adult. In a way, those waters represent my Adirondack roots.