Snowshoes on the Sandstone Trail

The map of the trail and the two snowshoers (Andy Sewell & myself)

Red Sandstone Trail

Difficulty: Easy
Date of Hike: 1/25/2009
Length: 2.5 miles
Trip Time: 3 hrs
Temperature: 27 Degrees and snowy

I think that I had been putting off hiking the Red Sandstone Trail (which is located in my hometown, Potsdam, NY) because it seemed both a bit too close to home and just not "Adirondacky" enough for my aspirations. While both of these assumptions proved true, that should have by no means been a reason for me to avoid this wonderful trail. Andy Sewell, who was visiting us for the weekend with his wife, Sarah Miller, accompanied me on this Sunday afternoon snowshoe hike. Andy is no stranger to hiking the region, as he was my hiking partner a few months ago, when we hiked Owl's Head, down in the park.

Sunlight peeking through the clouds at Sugar Island Flow (old Clarkson Quarry)

I have both my home chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club, the Laurentian Chapter, as well as other organizations such as the local boy scout troop and Brascan Power for making this wonderful and relaxing walk through history possible. While it is a short hike overall (the total mileage is listed as 3.5 miles), we only ended up hiking about 2.5 miles of it, due to our schedule. The entire hike follows the Racquette River, which is a historically interesting body of water, due to it's importance throughout the last 200 years in the lumber, sandstone, and now hydro power industries. Over the course of our hike, we encountered two distinct sandstone quarries (one of which was the famous quarry where Thomas S. Clarkson met his tragic death, causing his sisters to found Clarkson University in his name), four powerhouse/dam structures, a half-mile long pipe/aqueduct section, and a beautiful wood-encased cylindrical water tower. Thanks to the many "interpretive plaques" along the way, one could get a sense of the river's powerful and evolving presence in the region throughout the past two centuries.

Broken Ice Exposing the Racquette after the Sugar Island Dam

This was the perfect hike for winter sports, including both snowshoeing and cross country skiing, for much of the terrain (especially up near Sugar Island) is extremely flat while it follows the river. During this hike, more than any other I've been on, I found myself fascinated (and not at all annoyed) by the continuous presence of man-made structures nestled amongst the natural wilderness. Each one was a more amazing engineering feat than the previous, all of which focused on harnessing the Racquette River's power. From the various dams, to the massive pipeline (which measured at least 10 feet in diameter) and it's eventual end in the Sugar Island Powerhouse (which held two house-sized GE generators), I was awestruck by humanity's ability to control such a massive and powerful amount of earth's most abundant natural resource.

Half-mile Long Aqueduct running to Sugar Island Powerhouse

The weather was wonderful as well, with just enough snow to make using snowshoes practical, while not being too deep to make it not worth the effort. Since we were not able to finish the hike completely, I look forward to returning to this trail in the spring, perhaps with a boat, so that I might be able to experience and appreciate the Racquette's power from yet another vantage point as well.

Water Tower Covered with Wood Planks near Sugar Island Powerhouse

Stone Valley Trail

Byron Bennett at the Racquette River

Stone Valley Trail

Difficulty: Gradual
Date of Hike: 11/26/2008
Loop Distance: 7.5 miles
Trip Time: 4 hrs
Temperature: 30's w/ wintry mix

This trip once again taught me that going "local" is always the best choice - whether it be locally grown food, local businesses with great customer service, or an amazing 7.5 mile just 15 minutes down the road from Potsdam. The Stone Valley Trail takes the hiker along both sides of the of the Racquette River shoreline (3.2 miles on each side with a .9 mile stretch linking them together via a bridge on either end). If you're an amateur geologist, you'll love this hike because of the diversity in the rock types (and informational geology plaques) along the trail. If you're a fan of waterfalls, you'll also love this hike, due to the frequent pockets of cascading water formations that one comes across throughout the hike. If you're a rock lover who enjoys fast moving water, I can't imagine how much this hike would make your day.

The Raging Racquette River

Byron and Cheryl Bennett were visiting us for Thanksgiving. After the treacherous Mt. Jo hike last year on this very same holiday weekend, I wasn't sure if Byron would ever want to take a walk with me in the outdoors again. Luckily, he was very much up for another challenge, so after assessing the weather forecast and realizing that there was a likely chance that the roads to the Adirondacks would be covered with snow/ice, we thought it would be best to stick closer to home.

Two Falls

After parking near downtown Colton (which consists of a bar, a library, and a hair salon), we started our northbound journey along the Racquette River. The first 1.5 miles was packed with great views of the cascading falls, complimented by a gradual foot trail that was a welcome change to the "straight up the mountain" philosophy of the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks. The sun decided to peek through the clouds for a few minutes, only to leave us in an overcast and desaturated wash for the rest of the hike. The middle 4.5 mile portion of the hike found the river at a more peaceful state, as the intensity of Colton Dam's open floodgates had lost their power this far down the river.

The Colton Water Tower

With the Colton Water Tower serving as our beacon, we crossed the river on Brown's Bridge. After a quick (and light!) lunch of powerbars and tortilla chips, we began to follow the river back to Colton, by way of another trail on the other side of the river. This route turned out to be far superior to the first half, as it provided us with amazing views of the Racquette River. Even though we passed many of the same spots on the first half of the walk, it seemed almost as though the rock outcroppings on the second half of the trip existed specifically for us to walk out on them and catch dramatic glimpses of the river's power.

"The Tub"

We ended the trip with a beer at The Finish Line, which turned out to be the perfect end (title and location) to the trip, perched atop the Colton Bridge, overlooking the distant southern rapids of the Racquette. Overall, this trip was quite a surprise - I didn't realize that something so special and majestic could be so close. Just as with Owls Head in the Adirondacks, this will surely be a hike that I frequent with visitors, due to the accessibility, convenience, and sheer "wow" factor it provides.

Lampson Falls on the 4th of July

Emily and Cheryl on top of the falls

Lampson Falls

Difficulty: Extremely Easy!
Date of Summit: 7/4/2008
Trailhead to Falls: .44 miles
Trip Time: 45 min
Ascent: 100 ft
Temperature: 78 and sunny

It was the perfect day to enjoy the 4th of July with family. We were blessed to have Emily's mom, Cheryl Bennett, visiting us from Minneapolis! Knowing that Cheryl was a big fan of waterfalls, we figured that this would be the perfect excursion for the afternoon. Not bug, nor crowd, nor firework was anywhere near Lampson Falls, which is hidden just inside the blue line of the Adirondack Park boundary line. I can't believe it's taken this long to discover such a gem! The less than half-mile walk from one's parked car alongside Route 27 in Clare, NY is extremely easy-going for hikers of any age and skill level. Thanks to the trail blazers covering an old logging road with fine gravel, this hike is accessible for wheelchairs and bikes as well.

A felled tree with it's exposed root system (it grew on the rock!)

After about 10 minutes of hiking, we suddenly heard the muffled roar of the falls that were waiting for us around the next bend (I actually thought it was the engine of a plane or truck at first). Before revealing a final view of the falls, the well-groomed trail took us past a MASSIVE tree that has collapsed, exposing it's root system and demonstrating how it had somehow grown on top of the surface of a large boulder.

View overlooking Lampson Falls from end of accessible trail

The view at the end of the accessible trail was very nice, as it looked over the side of the falls, as they spilled into a small pond below. The proximity of a gradually steep dry rock face (which is the reason for the falls' formation) invited us to take a few steps off of the path and onto the side of the falls to get a closer look. Once we got out onto the rocky surface, we discovered that we actually were experiencing a somewhat mediocre view in comparison to other groups experiencing the falls. There were small clusters of people across and below the falls, both on the pond (in Hornbeck Boats (a cool 10' canoe/kayak hybrid made only in the Adirondacks!)) and across the water on the rock shelf. After spotting these other viewpoints, we quickly descended to the pond shoreline, via a more primitive trail (no gravel or logging road anymore).

Emily and me, at the campground near the base of the falls


Fishing in a Hornbeck Boat below the falls

The view from below the falls was well worth the short hike. It was the perfect picnic spot (if we had a basket), the perfect fishing spot (if we had a pole), and the perfect camping spot (if we had a tent). We had a our cameras, so this trip definitely served as a reconnaissance mission, so that we'll be prepared for our next visit - which will definitely be soon!

Emily and Cheryl up by the accessible trail's end, taken from below