C&K explores the Adirondack Park's remote Essex Chain Lakes system in the heart of the northern New York state forest preserve, near the town of Newcomb, N.Y. With local outfitter Dave Olbert, this short film exclusive traces the backcountry system of eight lakes and four ponds open to canoe use and primitive camping.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00The biggest thing that appeals to me for being on the water is, uh, it's quiet.
00:26I like being around people, but I really like getting out to the middle of it where there's
00:30nobody.
00:31Just being able to paddle on the calm water and look around.
00:34Camp out there in the wilderness without the sounds of civilization near you.
00:56As far as finding spots that are uncrowded in the Adirondacks, the people that come here,
01:02they're all driven to go to the high peaks, or they're driven to go to the real popular
01:07tourist destinations like Lake George, and they don't really engage with the more remote
01:12areas in the park that are pretty much frickin' awesome, in my opinion.
01:16I think one of the things that made the Essex chain of lakes different for me and unique
01:29was that there was nobody else here.
01:33There are a bunch of campsites, but they're not on top of each other, so even if there
01:36are other people here, you could be here and they could be at their campsite nearby and
01:40you wouldn't even know that they were here.
01:42The only place you might run into them is on the carry.
01:47It's a mile, but that's, I've done worse portages.
01:52I think it gives you some sense of accomplishment, you know, I mean, fulfillment or whatever
01:56you want to call it, but whenever I'm challenged with a task like that and I get it done and
02:01I make it, I feel good about it.
02:03I say, yeah, I was able to make that happen and I didn't have a coronary.
02:12There were some hills, but it wasn't terrible getting in.
02:14The trail's pretty well marked and easy to find and, you know, once you're at the water,
02:21you're just up and down the chain without having to stop and get out of your boat and
02:24carry it.
02:36The water's just calm because it's kind of protected by the way that the mountains and
02:41hills are surrounding it and you get the views of some of the mountains nearby from
02:45the mountain.
02:52Each lake is kind of its own little individual, you know, pocket of water.
02:58Some of them are wider than others and shorter.
03:00Some of them are longer and narrower.
03:02You paddle into those little connectors and then it comes out this opening and you just
03:05look out and see just nothing but water and trees and mountains.
03:14You can have a really great primitive camping experience away from roads, you know, away
03:19from the high traffic areas by going through that little extra effort to get here and stuff
03:25and to me that's golden.
03:26That's what it's all about.
03:43Just propelling myself along, pushing along on days like today when the water's just
03:48a mirror.
03:49It's glass and you can just watch the little wake come off the bow.
03:56You know, the Adirondacks, it's a place where people and nature coexist.
04:02That's really kind of the cool part about it because the people that are up here and
04:07live here full-time year-round, they use the land, they take from the land, they give back
04:12to the land and to get out here and be here by yourself or with someone you care about
04:19and friends and everything else, it's just special because you have that interconnectivity
04:26with the land.
04:36Even people that supposedly don't like doing this, once they've done it once or twice,
04:41I think they start to make that connection and figure it out that this is really kind
04:46of good for the soul.
04:49It's a little bit of work getting in here but the rewards are definitely worth it,
04:53you know, no doubt about it.
04:55There's no cost to coming here.
04:57There's no permit to park your car.
04:59There's no pass you need to get to get into the property.
05:02It's public land and it's here for you.
05:28I mean, if you like the outdoors, it'll be all good.
05:30I'm going to get this one, okay?
05:31All right.