My Favorite Neck of the Woods

At 6.1 million acres it's the largest designated park in the contiguous 48 United States and is nearly three times the size of Yellowstone.  Even after hikes in Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and the Smokey's, this park retains its status as my favorite place to backpack.  You might be surprised to learn where this amazing place is.  Here's a hint: you don't have to travel over the Rockies to find it.  Tucked away in the north east corner of New York State, the Adirondacks are known as America's most accessible wilderness.

But what is it that makes the Adirondacks so endearing?  It's a mosaic of forests, mountains, wetlands, quaint towns, lakes, rivers, and wildlife.  According to an article by the founder of the Center for Environmental Information, "Within the park are 2,800 lakes and ponds, and more than 1,200 miles of rivers... fed by an estimated 30,000 miles of brooks and streams. In the northeast part of the park, rising from the base elevation of 1,000 feet, are 46 peaks over 4,000 feet, nine with alpine summits."  Check out this short video taken from atop Saddleback Mountain to get a glimpse of what all those numbers look like:

But in truth I don't think it's the Adirondacks greatness that make it endearing... at least not for me.  Rarely have I visited the park when the trails weren't steeping in six inches of black mud just waiting to suck a boot off a hapless hiker's foot.  And if it's awe and majesty you're looking for you're better off venturing to one of our National Parks out west.  So what is it then that keeps hikers like me coming back to the Adirondacks?  To say it's accessibility is its best feature would be sorely selling the Dacks short- Wal-Mart is also accessible but it doesn't make me feel good when I go there.  I heard of one Rochestarian who makes the 10 hour round trip to the Adirondacks every weekend to bag a few peaks before going back to work again on Monday... every weekend!  So clearly there must be something deeper about this place than just its convenience or the occasional adrenaline rush.  

For me there's something about the Dacks that help me to strip away all those things that so often consume my time and occupy my mind but aren't really the stuff of life.  There's something about clambering up wet rocks with my hands, standing atop a windswept peak, twisting and turning with a gnarly trail, and, yes, sloshing through the mud with good friends that re-opens my eyes to what really matters. 

I guess it goes back to my first trip to the Adirondacks when I was 15.  It was my first backpacking trip and I was an LIT or 'Leader In Training' along with a handful of other boys my age.  We were all preparing to spend our summer working at a Christian camp and this was one of the prerequisites.  None of us had ever been backpacking before but we geared up as best we could with hand-me-down packs and garbage bag-raincoats.  I remember standing on a ledge looking across a valley at a sheer cliff with the sun washing everything in gold.  That nameless place remains a distinct memory though I've never been able to find it again.  I also remember the mountains being bigger on that trip than anything I've ever seen since.

We were to spend one entire day in solitude with nothing but a water bottle and a Bible.  I was led to the pebble shore of a meandering stream then left completely alone in the wilderness for countless hours.  During that time  I found a ten inch long piece of wood perfectly chewed at both ends by beavers.  I contributed to the beaver's work by carving  into it's side- 'LIT 1992'.  That branch has stayed with me to this day.  It is currently in Paraguay serving as a reminder of what God did in my life during that first visit to the Adirondacks.  In fact, God has used the Adirondacks the same way in my life every time I've gone back- 1992 just happened to be the first time he opened my eyes to what really matters.