Adirondack Overland Video!

Hey folks! Just posting up a little ADK Overland adventure video for ya'll. This one took a lot of work but I'm really happy with the results. Adria and I had such a great time. Sit back, click that play button and enjoy!

Overlanding the Adirondacks

A Moose... in Moose River Plains.

Just got back from a three-day overland adventure through the Adirondacks! What a blast! Although one of the best parts of wheeling is the fact that you need not be in shape; I’ve been home for two days and my legs are still sore. I planned out a killer trip through some of the most beautiful country I know and managed to pull it all off without a hitch! Well, maybe there was a small hitch on the last day, but I’ll get to that.

Perhaps we’d better start from the beginning.

I’ve been dying to get the Jeep up to the Adirondacks for some exploratory adventure wheeling for quite a while now. Having spent a large part of my youth in these mountains, I really wanted to plan an adventure that would take us (My copilot Adria & I) through some of the best parts of it. So, I sat down and put together a list of the things I knew I’d enjoy and that I wanted her to experience: Inlet, 7^th Lake, Moose River Plains, Long Lake, a couple High Peaks, Lake Placid and the Olympic Village, Buttermilk Falls, Whiteface Mountain, etc. Next, I broke out the topographical maps and trail guides and noted all of the potential camping areas we could use. After calculating distances and time needed to enjoy each area, the last step was to create route that would take us to all of these areas without having to backtrack. It ended up looking like this:

Friday 9/13

Philly to Inlet, NY (6:00hr)

Pick up fire wood & hoagies - find a campsite in Moose River Plains

Sleep in the Roof Top Tent (RTT)

Saturday 9/14

Inlet to Buttermilk Falls (0:45hr) Hang out, aerial photos & general photos of the falls

Buttermilk Falls to Keen Valley (1:15hr) Hike Cascade Mt. & Porter Mt. (total hike < 6 mi)

Keen Valley to Lake Placid (0:25hr)

Camp at Wilmington Notch Campground ($23/night) Showers on site

Sleep in RTT

Sunday 9/15

Explore Lake Placid

Gondola ride to top of Whiteface Mountain?

Whiteface Mountain Memorial Highway takes you to the summit of Whiteface Mountain?

Lake Placid Olympic Village?

High Falls Gorge waterfall walk?

Camp at Wilmington Notch Campground ($23/night) Showers on site

Sleep in RTT

Monday 9/16

Lake Placid to Philly (7:00hr)

Things didn’t go exactly to plan but having an actual plan proved to be a really big help. Often, we’ll take a trip and have a great time, but play it all by ear. Having the itinerary kept us aware of all of our options and the time it’d take to go to each place. We deviated quite a bit.

Friday… Friday the 13^th that is… which happened to coincide with a full moon… we drove north  from Philly, PA up to Inlet, NY about 40 minutes inside of the Adirondack Park. Arriving around 6:00pm, we grabbed firewood and picked up a couple of hoagies from Kalil’s Grocery Store. From there we dropped into Moose River Plains. This is a great area, mostly marshland with a winding sand road, along the side of which are numerous primitive campsites. No permits are necessary to camp here. About a mile into the plains our trip got very real: We saw a young moose standing in the road! I’d never seen a moose in the wild. As he made his way into the woods, I quickly and quietly made my way to the back of the jeep to dig out my 200mm lens. Cautiously, I followed him into the brush and managed to get a few shots of him before he marched off. I had a tough time focusing on him, through the thick brush, but managed to get a couple poorly framed shots of him. What an experience!

We spent Friday night at a campsite, around a warm fire, drinking Saranac and enjoying our hoagies. It was a cool, windy night. Rain was forecast to fall around 4:00am, so we took our raincoats to bed with us. We woke a few times in the night only to be lulled back to sleep by the rain and rumbling thunder. IN the morning the rain had stopped, and we fixed ourselves some coffee and instant oatmeal.

Continuing through Moose River Plains, we stopped several times to take photos of the gorgeous scenery. We admired everything from beaver dams, lakes, streams, old bridges, and the very beginning of autumn’s foliage transformation. Still early in the season, bright explosions of orange and red lit up the otherwise green surroundings. Although it was a very overcast day with drizzling rain, it was still quite amazing and we both felt very lucky to be there. The drizzling rain had thrown a curve ball into our plans. We’d planned to hike up Cascade mountain in the afternoon, but decided we’d better hold off for better weather. The view from the top of Cascade is incredible and we didn’t want to miss out all that it had to offer, so instead we just took our time photographing to our hearts’ content.

Leaving Moose River Plains we continued north towards the High Peaks Region. We stopped at the Adirondack Hotel on Long Lake for lunch and then spent some more time on the shore photographing the sea planes which were grounded due to the weather. It was getting late, and we decided we’d better get up to Lake Placid and check in to the Wilmington Notch Campground. A hot shower was sounding really good at this point! To our surprise, when we got to the Campground, it was closed for the season! A quick search on the phones turned us onto a KOA Campground. Now, I’ve never stayed at a KOA before. I’ve always just pictured them as glorified trailer parks for those who “camp” in RVs. But, I have to say, I was quite pleased with the site we stayed at. It was far from the RVs and absolutely stunning. We set up the tent, got comfy around the fire and drank delicious beer until we were ready to hit the sack.

A seaplane floats on the shore of Long Lake.

Saturday morning was gorgeous. It was bright, sunny, cool and breezy. After showering, we were eager to hit the trails so we drove over to Keene Valley and got to it. The hike up Cascade Mountain was easy compared to hikes we’d done earlier this summer. Although it’s one of the 46 High Peaks, it’s considered one of the easiest and has one of the best views. Just 2.4 miles to the summit. Nearly at the top, we decided to pop over to Porter Mountain (Another High Peak) and see what there was to see from that mountain while we were there. The weather had turned from sunny to rainy and the wind on the mountain was very strong. We were glad we’d brought our rain coats because we really needed them! The summit of Cascade Mountain was one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. It’s completely exposed with alpine vegetation and views that can’t be beat! We had a great time up there photographing it all and just enjoying the moment.

Adria enjoys the summit of Porter Mountain.  Elevation: 4,058 Ft.

Dilly-dallying on our way down the mountain, we ended up getting out of the woods after dark. Boy, were we exhausted! So much so, that we stopped at the Cascade Inn just a few minutes down the road and spent the night. We just had zero strength after all that hiking. For $70 we spent the night in a warm bed and I sawed logs all night long. I have no shame!

In the morning 

Overlanding at Bald Eagle State Forrest

In the spring of this year, I was bitten by the Overland Bug. What is overlanding? Essentially, it is vehicle-supported, self-reliant adventure travel, typically exploring remote locations. This sort of hobby is right of my alley for a few reasons: 1) You need a high-clearance 4X4 vehicle.  2) Camping is inherent to the activity. And 3) it's an activity chuck full o' adventure.

Although typically, overlanding trips are multi-day journeys, I have really only been "overlanding" once and that was just last weekend at Bald Eagle State Forest. Adria and I drove three hours to the forest where we navigated a planned 20 mile route across high-clearance off-road trails and dirt roads, terminating for the night at a campsite that we had reserved. Other trips have simply been camping trips where there was no need for four wheel drive, and my tires didn't really even see gravel. They were more or less just luxury car-camping trips utilizing my roof top tent. Nevertheless, I am excited at the prospect of future overlanding trips.

The above video was a lot of fun to make and I believe it to be just a small taste of what the future holds for me and my quest for adventure. Bald Eagle State Forest is huge, comprised of 193,424 acres of land spread across five counties in Pennsylvania. I'm sure I can put together at least a two or three day overland trip through this area. Maybe even include Michaux State Forest in the mix. Stay tuned!

I'm not dead!

I’m baaaaaack! I’m dusting the cobwebs off of this crumby little blog and breathing new life into it! I’ve been busy working hard & playing hard and it seems that Facebook has taken the place of the blog that I once loved to update and share with you all. I’ve got a lot of updating to do. I mean, hell, a lot has changed over the past few years that I’ve been away. Let’s break it down section by section, shall we?

Home

Home is the suburbs of Philadelphia now. In June of last year, I came to a fork in my career path. I had to choose between continuing along the path that was slowly draining my health & happiness and a new and scary path, rife with challenge and unknown adventure. I chose the scary new path. That said, I no longer live in Maryland; the state I’ve loved so dearly for the past 8 years. Alas, I no longer live in that amazing old farm house nestled in the quaint and quiet country side of Carroll County. Gone are the late night bon fires, dips in the local reservoir and Natty Bohs down the road at A-Town. I miss it all very much. Still, I’m glad for the decision I’ve made. Faithfully, I followed my new compass heading and again my choice ended up being the right one. I’m happy to be here. 

Work

That scary new path, I mentioned above took me to a new side of my industry. Although I still work in the passenger rail industry, I now consult the transit authorities on matters related to subway vehicle production and quality assurance. I work with great people, one of which is a very close friend of mine, and I don’t find myself stressed out, in a panic, or angrily working through my weekends.

Hobbies old & new

I’ve come to accept (finally) that the hobbies I once loved, have slowly become less important to me. Mountain biking specifically. This was once a huge outlet for me. It served as a way for me to get away from my social pressures and fly as fast and as far as I wished. Early morning cross country rides along dew-soaked fields and over the loamy, soft single-track in the woods of my hometown in NY was one of the most enjoyable and freeing experiences of my adolescence. I was fast, I was fit, I was free. Today, it’s just not the same. While I love the sport, the fun factor is not quite the same with my 41 year old, out of shape body. Still I do visit the downhill parks a couple times each summer.

Hunting remains a favorite hobby of mine. To date, nothing tops hunting with my father. It will forever remain my favorite part of life.

Photography has taken a backseat to film. I’ve really been enjoying videography and although my Sony A7 Mark III is ideal for motion pictures, I remain impressed by the footage I’m taking with my GoPro cameras. Although they lack any control over depth of field, the ease with which I capture fun footage continues to impress and amaze me. Check my YouTube channel for my most recent adventures at Bald Eagle State Forest.

Although I still have my truck, I traded my Jetta in for a 2 door Jeep Wrangler which I’ve named Samsquanch (A Trailer Park Boys reference). I went with the Sport model, although in hindsight the Rubicon would have been a much better choice. Nevertheless, the upgrades I’ve performed have been a lot of fun and I’ve learned a lot about the machine in the process. The ol’ Samsquanch has taken my girlfriend and I on many fantastic adventures, mostly overnight trips, which have been a hoot. My girlfriend Adria has very much enjoyed being a part of the wheeling lifestyle and has proven to be a great mechanic’s apprentice and copilot!

To recap the gap between my last blog entry and today’s I’ll let the below pictures do the talking. They’re supposed to be worth a thousand words anyway. Enjoy. Talk atcha’ soon!

"Squanchy": 2017 Jeep Wrangler Sport edition. 4.5" Metalcloak lift, 35" tires, Tom Woods drive shafts, Smittybilt bumpers, EAG rock sliders & rack, Steinjager spare tire carrier.

Little solo overnight trip to Eight Lake in the Adirondacks, this past June.

Despite moving to Pennsylvania, I still managed to eat a lot of crabs with Adria (Left) and my sister Kate (Right).

Lots of crabs.

I took Adria to the range and taught her how to shoot pistols. She's pretty good!

Beauty shot of Adria in Texas for a good friend's wedding.

Buttermilk Falls in the Adirondacks.

Got to see my folks a bit over this past winter :]

  

Adria and I had a good time in NYC this past Christmas!

I've done a lot of traveling with my new job. I've been to Japan a few times, Spain, Prague... and I stepped directly into a pile of dog poop in Italy. 

I filled the other eye in my Daruma Doll. Finally. Feels fantastic.

Adria and I did a lot of hiking this past summer. Including a 15 mile, two day trip along the Burrough's Range.

  

When I left my job at with my old company I was unemployed for a month and grew a ridiculous mustache. 

I certainly miss my old dive bar just down the road from the farm house. Adria and I had so many good times there!

Gimbals and Swivel Mounts; oh my!

I'm back! Another weekend at Blue Mountain, yielded another sore ass, dirty, sweaty pads and of some decent new footage from behind, over and around the bars. Pushing pride aside in the name of creative exploration, I hit the trails looking like R2D2, just to see if I could get some more exciting yet steady footage of what I enjoy most. I picked up a Rhino Swivel mount from Amazon to take advantage of the 360° coverage as well as a cable extension for my gimbal, which I mounted to my chest. The results are shown below. If you compare this video the last video I posted here, you ought to notice a lot more image stabilization. As I continue to ride at Blue Mountain, my cajones grow larger which means more speed and more exciting footage. For now, here's the latest from phattire headquarters!

DH ride at Blue Mountain

Fortunately, I got a few XC rides in this summer and for that; I'm thankful. A ride up in Jim Thorpe, PA and a few trips to my local trails at Hashawha have quelled my thrist for dirt and speed.

Although over the past few years, like the mold in my vegetable crisper, the urge to get into downhill (DH) mountain biking has been steadily growing. What once was an exciting thought has now become reality. A few weeks ago, I picked up a  used DH rig that I found on Pinkbike. It's a 2015 Specialized Status 1. In all my years of riding, this is my first "Spesh". After a quick bleed of the breaks, new tires, flat pedals, and overhaul of the drivetrain, she's running tip-top.  I took it out to Blue Mountain and we put eachother through our paces. I was exhausted after only 5 runs down the mountain. 7" of front and rear travel makes for a lot of bike but I am absolutely loving it! This is not to say DH riding is new to me. "Back in the day" I was quite a ballsy freerider, spending most of my weekends riding pirate huckle up at the Frederick Watershed. Those were the days. My bike was a beefy hardtail and my body was made of rubber. Young and fearless, you might say. Things are a little different today. I was quite reserved during my first day of riding this bike on the mountain. I got some hangtime and I carved some berms, but a lot slower than the rest of the riders at the park that day. Nevertheless, I did have my Gopros running and I put together the 3 minute video you see below. More soon.

Above: 2015 Specialized Status 1

Burroughs Range revisted

Back on July 12th, I posted with great enthusiasm about a recent re-hike of the Burroughs Range in the Catskills. This was awesome, but a killer for me. I'm pretty out of shape. Nevertheless, I packed light and planned to make the same 15 mile day-hike I had done years ago, into a two-day hike. I thought it'd be fun to take my time and enjoy it over a couple days at a leisurely pace. However, it was super hot, humid and muggy. I ended up putting in a good 10 miles on the first day because I couldn't decide on a good camping spot, and for a while had to hike until a legal site was available (There's no camping over 3,500'). And I got tired. Really tired. At times I thought someone would probably find my body (my sweaty, out of shape body) collapsed over a rock cairn; two empty Nalgene bottles at my side. Someone would say: "Geez, this guy was in rough shape! ...See if he's got any change in his pockets." Nevertheless, I traversed Wittenberg, Cornell and Slide Mountains and made it out with only the loss of one Teva. I am sure someone scratched their head upon finding only one Teva sandal on the trail. 

Phat biking

It's been quite a while since I made a video. This one, was fun to make. The entire video was shot using my iPhone 6S and edited on my iPad Pro. Im super happy with the results. It was a lot of fun to make for a few reasons. For starters, it was a perfect evening after work. I really wanted to be in the woods and the setting sun, smell of the pines and lush trails were just what I wanted. Secondly, it was a 'back to basics' ride; I used flat pedals, took no tools with me, and just wore a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. No lycra. No SPDs. No camelback. Just the essentials; like back in the day. At any rate, good times. Need to start doing this on a regular basis again!

The mountains are calling

I have not blogged in a coon's age, but I'll tell you what; I have been one busy man. A week off of work doing the things I most like, has gotten me really excited about backpacking again. Last week I hiked a nice 15 miles in the Catskills along the Burrough's range and Panther Ledge. I also spent part of the week with my girlfriend, Sara, in my childhood playground; the Adirondacks.  Just being up there in the mountains has really gotten me pumped about hiking the High Peaks of the 'Dax'.  Tonight, as I read trip reports and blogs of others who have hiked a lot of the exciting alpine routes of the park, I plan my own adventure along the the Lower Great Range Traverse in Keene Valley. In my delusional quest to conquer all 46 of the High Peaks, this traverse, albeit challenging, would bang out a few of the peaks in one shot (Upper & Lower Wolfjaw, Armstrong, Sawteeth & Saddleback). Stay tuned!

Life on the ol' farm

Hello interwebbers. Time for a serious update from phattire headquarters. I'm speaking to both of you, who follow this sad little blog. I am renting an excellent old farm house in Manchester, Maryland. The house was built in 1900 and is rife with character and the general old-timiness that  I love so much. It's lonely, but it's perfect for me. It's nestled right in the middle of a cluster of horse farms and the views out my windows are amazing. I don't think I'll ever get tired of walking out through the fields around my property. I have plenty of garage space for my bikes, it's got a great basement with a workshop, a timeless attic for my backpacking gear, hardwood floors, a great wood stove in the living room and here's the cherry on top: It's got a wood shed in the back, so my firewood will stay nice and dry as I burn through it this winter. It's been ages since I've posted, but I was up for the sunrise this morning and walked the frosty fields with my new camera, and just wanted to get some images up on the ol' bloggidy blog here. The rest of the day, holds a few projects for me. I've got the first batch of this year's pineapple-orange marmalade simmering away; so I've got to jar that. I'm also planning on filling a growler with some local IPA from Johannson's in town, so that I don't get thirsty watching a little football this afternoon. Perhaps a quick burn on the cross bike before I head into town... Be well friends.