Woods Wanderer

Last August, I came off a three-day backpacking trip realizing that my trekking days are over. Oh sure, I can still do short trips but going out for a week or more just isn’t a smart thing for me to do. Carrying 7 days of food or more, hmm… that’s a heavy pack, and my joints are worn out from decades of trail pounding. Besides, I don’t have the stamina I had when I was 50 or even 60. Maybe it’s time to start doing things a little differently.

As long as I can remember, I have dreamt of having a cabin in the woods. But the urge has never been strong enough for me to buy a piece of land, build a cabin on it, and live there. Not really. Then there are the practical considerations. As a writer I could live off the grid, sure, but not as a publisher or bookseller. Even if I had such a place for the occasional weekend getaway, I wouldn’t want the headache of owning and maintaining it. I like to keep things simple.

How about renting a primitive cabin and day hiking from there? I googled Adirondack cabins but couldn’t find anything that wasn’t a drive-up place with full amenities. That’s just not my idea of a backwoods experience. Then my wife Judy found something that might work. This guy Joe has several cabins a short hike into the woods. The smallest, most remote, and most primitive one of them all looked very appealing to me when I met with Joe last month to check out his offerings.

Last weekend I stayed there 2 nights. The cabin is smaller than Thoreau’s cabin was, with no amenities other than a little wood-burning stove. No indoor plumbing and no electricity. Forget about internet connection. It’s over a mile from the nearest road, with the last leg being only the semblance of a trail. Nearest dependable water barely within earshot. Perfect!

The place exceeded my expectations. A deep woods feeling with the luxury of a cozy cabin. Backed up against a wild forest, with plenty of wide-open Adirondack country to explore. And most importantly, solitude. I plan on spending a week there next spring for my 70th birthday. Now that’s something to dream about all winter long.

Tags: Adirondacks, cabin in the woods, deep forest solitude

The fall foliage is reaching peak here in the Champlain Valley. The color isn’t too bad, but it’s muted this year. That’s because of the ongoing drought in New England. The rivers and streams are as low as I’ve ever seen them, the earth is parched, and the trees are stressed as a result. A lot of them have browned out and have dropped their leaves prematurely.

Judy and I went for a ride into the mountains about ten days ago, up through Ap Gap and over to Highway 100. Judy took some photos, but none of them were keepers. The foliage was underwhelming to say the least.

The hikes I’ve done here in the Champlain Valley since then haven’t been much better, though I did see some pretty good color today, banging around in the local town forest. A light rain fell as I hiked and, I must admit, I was more excited about that than I was the foliage. We need rain –– a lot more of it.

I don’t like it. Can’t imagine how people live with the dryness out west. Here in the northeast, one expects a certain lushness predicated by moisture. The northern forest is usually wet, especially in its lowlands and hollows. One of the reasons I live here is because moss, ferns, ponds and ephemeral streams are commonplace.

The drought will end soon we Yankees keep telling ourselves. It’s not normal. Then again, what is these days? We’ve seen two hundred-year floods during the past fifteen years, a lot more temps in the 90s than usual, and winters aren’t as snowy as they used to be. I’m trying not to worry. Today’s foliage is nice, but we need a good soaking rain –– ideally a couple weeks of it. Fingers crossed.

Tags: climate change, drought, fall foliage, New England