The Adirondack wilderness covers almost the whole of Northern New
York. This region is an elevated plateau of about fifteen thousand
square miles, crossed by mountain ranges. It stretches from Canada
down almost to the Mohawk Valley, and from Lake Champlain northwest to
the St. Lawrence, in rugged surface, the plateau from which its peaks
arise being elevated about two thousand feet above the sea. Five
nearly parallel mountain ranges cross it from southwest to northeast,
terminating in great promontories upon the shores of Lake Champlain.
The most westerly is the Clinton or Adirondack range, beginning at the
pass of Little Falls upon the Mohawk River and crossing the wilderness
to the bold Trembleau Point upon the lake at Port Kent. This range
contains the highest peaks, the loftiest of them, Mount Marcy or
Tahawus, rising fifty-three hundred and forty-five feet, while Mounts
McIntyre, Whiteface, Seward and several others nearby approximate five
thousand feet. A multitude of peaks of various heights are scattered
through the region, over five hundred being enumerated. They are all
wild and savage, and were covered by the primeval forests until the
ruthless wood-chopper began his destructive incursions. The stony
summits of the higher mountains rise above all vegetation, excepting
mosses and dwarf Alpine plants. The geological formation is mainly
granitic and other primary rocks. In the valleys are more than a
thousand beautiful lakes of varying sizes, generally at fifteen
hundred to two thousand feet elevation, Schroon Lake, the largest,
being the lowest, elevated eight hundred and seven feet, while the
highest is "The Tear of the Clouds," at forty-three hundred and twenty
feet elevation, one of the Hudson River sources. Some of these lakes
are quite large, while others cover only a few acres, and most of them
are lovely and romantic in everything but their prosaic names; and
their scenery, with the surrounding mountains and overspreading
forests, is unsurpassed. The labyrinth of lakes is connected by
intricate systems of rivulets which go plunging down myriads of
cascades, their outlets discharging into several well-known rivers,
the chief being the Hudson. The largest and finest stream within the
district is the Raquette River, rising in Raquette Lake and flowing
westward and northward to the St. Lawrence. Around it, in the olden
time, the Indians gathered on snowshoes to hunt the moose--the
snowshoe being the French Canadian's "raquette," and hence the name.
The Ausable and Saranac pass through romantic gorges and flow
northeastward to Lake Champlain. This "Great North Woods," as it was
called by our ancestors, is being so greatly despoiled of its forests,
that to preserve the water supply of the Hudson, as well as to protect
its scenic attractions, New York is making a State Park to include
four thousand square miles, of which nearly one-half is now secured,
having cost about $1,000,000. Railways are gradually extending into
the district; it is becoming dotted with summer hotels and
camping-grounds; and is one of the most popular American pleasure
resorts.
The highest peak, Mount Marcy, has a summit which is a bare rock of
about four hundred by one hundred feet, elevated more than a mile, and
its outlook gives a splendid map of the Adirondacks. All about are
mountains, though none are as high; McIntyre and Colden are close
companions, with the dark forests of the St. Lawrence region
stretching far behind them to the northwest. To the northward is the
beautiful oval-shaped Lake Placid, with Whiteface rising beyond it,
and nearby, to the westward, is the Indian "Big Eye," Mount Seward,
which, with the "Giant of the Valley," rises far above the attendant
peaks. Behind these, the hills to the northward gradually melt into
the level lands along the St. Lawrence, out of which faintly rises the
distant Mount Royal, back of Montreal. The Vermont Green Mountains
bound the eastern horizon, with the hazy outline of Mount Washington
traced against the sky through a depression in that range, thus
opening an almost deceptive view of the distant White Mountains. The
Catskills close the southern view. The vast wilderness spreads all
around this noble mountain, its white lakes gleaming, its dark forests
broken by a few clearings, and smokes arising here and there
disclosing the abiding-places of the summer sojourner. Off to the
northeast stretches the long glistening streak of Lake Champlain,
low-lying, the telescope disclosing the sails of the vessels like
specks upon its bosom, and the Vermont villages fringing the
farther shore. This narrow, elongated lake, filling the immense
trough-like valley between the Adirondacks and the Green Mountains of
Vermont, the Indians called as one of its names (for it had several)
Cania-de-ri-qua-rante, meaning "The door of the Country." Naming
everything from a prominent attribute, to their minds the chief use of
this long water way was as a door to let in the fierce Hurons from
Canada when they came south to make war upon the Mohawks or the
Mohicans. Many a brave warrior, both Indian and white, has gone
through that door to attack his foes, one way or the other. As far
back as tradition goes, the dusky savages were darting swiftly along
the lake in their canoes, bent upon plunder or revenge. Then came
Champlain, its white discoverer, to aid the Hurons with his arquebuse
in their forays upon the Mohawks and Iroquois. In the ante-Revolutionary
days many a French and Indian horde came along to massacre and destroy
the English and Dutch settlements in the Hudson Valley. Then the
current changed, and the English beat back their foes northward along
the lake. Again it changed, as Burgoyne came in triumph through that
door to meet defeat at Saratoga. Finally, in 1814, the last British
forces moved southward on the lake, but they, too, were beaten. Since
then this famous door has stood wide open, but only tourists and
traders are passing through, though zest is given the present
exploration by its warlike history of two centuries.