1 70 
FORES I AND STREAM 
Photo, by Warwick S. Carpenter. All rights reserved. 
A Familiar Type of An Adirondack Shack 
feet high and the front from seven to eight. 
The roof may be made of poles, with a canvas 
covering, or it may be of boards, with a cover¬ 
ing of tar paper or shingles. A double roof of 
boards may also be used, the top ones breaking 
joints with the lower; or the boards may be run 
horizontally, with a good generous clapboard lap. 
The form of construction will be determined 
largely by the locality, and the ease of getting 
materials to it. But wherever it may be, a good 
open lean-to of twelve feet in length by eight in 
depth will cost so little that it is quite within the 
reach of any vacationist. 
A jutting roof along the front, porch fashion, 
of about three feet in width, will keep out much 
bad weather, and a drop curtain will shut out 
any driving storm. The curtain need not be 
heavy. The lightest duck will serve admirably, 
and even heavy unbleached muslin will answer. 
A log along the ground at the front will make 
a seat before the fire, and act as a footboard for 
the balsam bed. 
The usual rules for placing the camp should 
be carefully observed. Adirondack storms come 
rarely from the north, so the lean-to should face 
in that direction. Hollows should be avoided, so 
that water will drain off, and a spring or brook 
should be close by. If a large rock is in front, 
it will make a natural fireplace and reflect the 
heat into the interior. Otherwise a good fire¬ 
place of stones, carefully laid up, will be well 
worth the small labor of its construction. The 
fireplace will also prevent the spread of fire. 
One will find almost all of the advantages 
of the open Adirondack lean-to in the 
Baker tent. It is shaped like a lean- 
to, and when made of waterproof silk or 
tanalite it is the last word in portability. With 
it the vacationist may search out every secret 
recess of the woods, until he finds that corner 
that best suits his liking. It requires no special 
permit from the Conservation Commission. 
Equipped with such a shelter and a suitable out¬ 
fit, one may wander without let or hindrance, 
Midst dripping crags where, foaming soon, 
Through soaking mosses steals the Schroon, 
From hoarse Ausable’s caverned wave 
To Saranac’s most northern rills. 
For a preliminary reconnaissance let the start 
be in the neighborhood of Schroon. The details 
of the country are all accurately shown on the 
topographical maps of the United States Geolog¬ 
ical Survey, with which every camper should be 
provided. Entrance may be had up the Adiron¬ 
dack Branch of the Delaware and Hudson to 
Riverside, and thence by stage to Schroon Lake. 
For the real hiker, however, it will be more inter¬ 
esting to go in by way of Ticonderoga, on Lake 
Champlain. From there a road runs to Chilson, 
and then to Putnam Pond, on the edge of a 
wide region of unfrequented lakes and streams. 
Or let the break come at Baldwin on Lake 
George, six miles from Ticonderoga, and the 
route lead thence up a highway a few miles and 
into the woods in the direction of Bull Rock 
Mountain. The way will lead past Lost Pond 
to Putnam Pond, beyond which are spread out in 
intricate network some eighteen or twenty lakes 
and ponds of many sizes. It is a country well 
worthy of long tarrying. From the fire station 
on the summit of Pharaoh mountain it is ex¬ 
tended in bold relief. Pharaoh was the On-de- 
wa of the Iroquois, interpreted Black Mountain, 
as I have said in The Camper’s Own Book, 
“though another meaning, Coming Again, is prob¬ 
ably more accurate. More lakes may be seen 
from it than from any other mountain in the 
Vdirondacks. The sweep of the view is superb, 
it extends horn the mountains behind Lake 
George clear to the serrated line of the Great 
Peaks, in which are Indian Pass, McIntyre, Mar- 
cy, Skylight, Dix, and all the other best-known 
summits. The slender thread of Lake Cham¬ 
plain lies far to the east, and westward is a 
fringe of lesser heights. Immediately under foot 
are Pharaoh Lake and Gooseneck and Crane 
Ponds, and on all sides are other lakes of vary¬ 
ing sizes. But aside from its magnificence, the 
prospect from Pharaoh is just what might be ex¬ 
pected from such an isolated peak. It gives ‘wide 
vvand’ring for the greediest eye.’ Another aspect 
of Pharaoh is more interesting to the lover of 
unusual and secluded pictures. Its western side 
drops sheerly and precipitately off into Desolate 
Swamp. From the edge of the precipice Deso¬ 
late lies outspread in wild abandon. To reach 
it is a matter of much angling down treacherous 
slopes. But an intimate acquaintance with moun¬ 
tains is seldom easy. Beyond the rank grasses 
and sluggish, lily-padded pond-holes of Desolate 
the bluff mass of Pharaoh stands impressively, 
the sharp up-whipping of its precipitous sides 
strongly accented by the scrub spruces and bal¬ 
sams of the swamp. It is such a fascinating des¬ 
olation as makes the promise of On-de-wa. 
Coming Again, doubly alluring.” 
From the top of Pharaoh the way is pointed 
also to other sections of the wilderness. Over 
the ridges to the west, beyond North Creek, is 
Indian Lake, where big pickerel abound. To 
catch them is no trick at all for the expert fish¬ 
erman, and one who wants big fish and plenty 
of them will find this a Mecca. About Indian 
Lake is surpassing trout fishing, and in Lewey 
Lake, which flows into Indian Lake, are fighting 
“lakers.” Westward of Indian Lake is the fish¬ 
ing of the Cedar River country, and beyond that 
Raquette Lake and the well-known Fulton Chain. 
The sign may lead north from Pharaoh or In¬ 
dian Lake, by a diversity of roads and trails, 
many of which are laid down on the maps of 
the Topographical Survey. They come at last to 
the Great Peaks, and run over their summits, or 
through their passes, to Keene Valley and Lake 
Placid. Indian Pass is the most romantic, with 
associations of Iroquois mythology. Of the 
mountains, Marcy, the Iroquois Tahawus, mean¬ 
ing The Cloud Splitter, is the highest, and the 
one great objective of all Adirondack climbers. 
Near the fork of the trail to Lake Colden and 
Avalanche Lake is a log lean-to, maintained by 
the Tahawus Club, and travelers may use it for 
a night. The trail to the top of Marcy from 
the south and west, starting at the Tahawus Club, 
is one of the most absorbing in all the Adiron- 
dacks. I have told of it in detail in other places. 
At the very beginning stand the ruined fur¬ 
naces of the McIntyre Iron Company, whose or¬ 
ganizers far in ante bellum days, endeavored to 
found a profitable iron industry in this remote 
corner of the woods. But the haul was too long 
and the project failed. The way winds upward 
along Calamity Brook to Calamity Pond, where 
David Henderson, the leader of the iron enter¬ 
prise, was accidentally killed in 1845-, by the dis¬ 
charge of his own pistol. On the shore of the 
pond one comes suddenly upon a monument 
erected to his memory here in the midst of the 
wilderness. The trail continues on “through a 
most interesting country, crossing the Opalescent 
River at the Flowed Lands, just above Gui-en- 
dau-qua, The Hanging Spear, one of the most 
beautiful falls in all the North Woods, and just 
below Avalanche Lake, the highest sizable body 
of water in the Adirondacks. This is Ta-ne-o- 
da-eh, Lake High Up, a recent and fanciful des¬ 
ignation. which is more appropriate than authen- 
