A few shots from my recent whirlwind northeast road trip
There’s no place like …..
Last Tuesday, I went to Albany NY to support pipeline protesters and bring home their work.
Seeing that I was on the edge of the Adirondacks, I figured I’d head north, get in a hike before dark, and stealth camp there instead of going right back home.
I found a great spot in some private logging lands just off Slide Brook, a small tributary to the Boquette River just south of New Russia.
Just before dark, I met a man who hunted the property, who was out scouting. I was initially concerned that he’d demand I leave, but he was very friendly and we had a good conversation. He liked to hike, camp, fish and hunt. Told me about his 11 pound carbon fiber kayak he got from a local craftsman that he uses to fish interior ponds.
In one of several moments illustrating that you can’t get away from bad shit no matter how far you roam, he told me that Slide Brook had been hit hard by Sandy.
Next morning, I didn’t feel like going home and thought I’d head further north and visit Quebec. (see Quebec photos).
Ausable Chasm (8/13/15)
Lake Champlain, near Peru NY
Spent the day in Quebec, but with no stealth camping opportunities in the City, decided to head south for the Maine border.
Found another spectacular stealth campsite just over the border near Jackman Maine.
Attean Pond
Kennebunk River
Not exactly what Thoreau saw:
saw a lot of logging in Maine woods – Not exactly what Thoreau saw
Next day, continued into New Hampshire to see some of the Presidential Range.
White Mountain National Forest was far too crowded and no way was I prepared for any serious hiking (and I would never drive to the top of Mt. Washington, no less pay $28 to do it), but managed to find some nice short hikes along streams draining the mountain:
And of course, had to see Bretton Woods
Again found a great stealth campsite in National Forest land less than a mile off off Rt 118 near Warren NH.
sunrise in WHite Mountains, looking northeast toward Presidential Range
In morning, headed west toward Vermont, thought I’d see the Green Mountains.
In another case of amazing serendipity (I seem to have a nose for this) I found a spectacular hike to Silver Lake, where I spent the afternoon. Hiked in with just a bottle of water and the dog, so sorry, no photos.
Got back to the car and was too pooped to hike back in with tent for the night, so figured ‘d find another stealth opportunity. But didn’t realize I was on the western edge of the mountains, not far from civilization.
As nightfall approached, I got shut out and ended up doing some urban camping along a railroad line, behind an abandoned factory in Whitehall NY.
Just happened to be next to a rail switching yard, with a bunch of trains rolling thru most of the night – tremendously loud and scary – they even left me with some oil trains. Nothing like the smell of oil trains at sunrise – can’t seem to get away from this shit no matter where you go:
oil trains, near Whitehall NY