Adirondack Sports May 2024
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Adirondack Sports May 2024

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42 Adirondack Sports The Adirondack Dog Store – Quality Pet Supplies & Gear – – Huge Toy Selection – – Natural Pet Foods & Treats – – Quality Supplements for People & Pets – – Gifts for the Pet Lover – There is nothing like us around! 518-523-0157 –♥– manandbeastlp.com –♥– 2779 Main Street, Lake Placid, NY Just like having the Owner’s Manual to the Adirondack Park! LOOK FOR IT ONLINE OR AT YOUR FAVORITE LOCAL BOOKSELLER! Come Visit Old Forge Your Adirondack Base Camp! Eagle Bay • Stillwater Big Moose • Beaver River It’s Our Nature! Make your own fun, or let us help you! Info-Webcams-Vacation Guide OldForgeNY.com

MAY 2024 43 HIKING & BACKPACKING continued from 41 ◀ WEST CANADA LAKE BRIDGE. ▶ TRAIL SIGNS. ◀ MEADOW AND STREAM. ▲ WINTER ON THE TRAIL. PHOTOS BY JEFF CASE ▶ SEWARD LEAN-TO. out to be a more than 33-year avocation. I began to plan and train. Planning was fairly easy. The Adirondack Mountain Club published a slim volume at the time, separate from the High Peaks guidebook, that dealt with the trail and planning. That was pretty much straight-forward. Gear was suggested and all I had to do was purchase it. But what about the physical training? Books on the subject of backpacking were scant at the time, and the internet wasn’t even thought of. One of those books suggested that one pound of weight on your feet equaled five pounds of weight on your back. Hmm, it occurred to me that if that premise were true, by walking with weight on my ankles I would be able to train for walking with weight on my back. Hence began my training with ankle weights, and thereafter a weighted vest. Before long, the day to leave finally came, and I found myself walking down the trail with about 40 pounds on my back. Beautiful scenery and nearly perfect weather contributed to what seemed to be a fairly easy 7.3 miles on the first day. Not bad for a start. The next day gave way to 11.3 miles. Then 11.1 and so forth. Before I knew it, I was covering more miles than I thought I ever could. The exertion of each of those long days was whipping my body into shape. Muscles were getting stronger and firmer. Hills and steep grades at first were agonizing – an exercise in deep breathing and sometimes gasping for air. I told myself “I’m never gonna die of a heart attack, because if I was, I’d be dead by now.” Before long they became what I came to call “butt burners,” because of the calories they were burning. The intense exercise was only part of the equation. The other part was unexpected: A drop in appetite. I had packed snacks and treats of all sorts, along with nutritious ready-to-eat meals. But at the end of the day, I wasn’t hungry. Maybe it was the summertime heat. Maybe it was the exhaustion. In any case my calorie consumption dropped with my appetite. The result was the pounds began to come off. The days on the trail grew to be beautiful. The scenery was delightful, sometimes spectacular. There seemed to be new things to see and enjoy around every bend in the trail. Before long I reached the halfway point, the seventh day, and Blue Mountain Lake. This brought with it a day off to go into town and pick up a package of food mailed to the post office. Without a heavy pack, the long walk into town was almost like a ballet, skipping along the tops of rocks effortlessly. When I returned to camp I began to notice it; my clothes were getting loose, noticeably loose, welcomely loose. The second week began with a difficult climb up and over Blue Ridge in the Fishing Brook Range, on the way to Long Lake. This brought another day off and a trip into town to retrieve a package, and surprisingly, to send a package of unneeded food home. By this, the 11th day of my trip, I felt like a new man. When I ventured into town, I did not crave sweets and salty snacks at all. I wanted yogurt and cheese, and vegetables and meat. Then soon enough, on the 14th day I reached Lake Placid, triumphant in having successfully completed my end-to-end trip. Once I returned home, I weighed myself and found that I had lost 15 pounds. My clothes were all baggy and loose, and I felt like a million bucks. Because I had increased my muscle mass, my calorie expenditure continued at a higher rate than normal, so I continued to lose several more pounds. Additionally, I was more conscious of my eating habits, and I’m sure that contributed to my weight loss and overall fitness level. I made a determined effort to keep my activity level high, and my calorie consumption low, and that has paid off over time. Now, I regularly tout the benefits of taking the challenge of hiking the trail as ‘a perfect two-week fitness vacation.’ It wasn’t long after completing that first end-to-end trip that I began longing to repeat the experience. Little did I know then that it would turn into an annual trek, with just several exceptions, that would culminate in 30 completed trips to this date. An added bonus is that over 20 years ago the Adirondack Mountain Club invited me to write and edit the guide to the Northville Placid Trail, part of the Forest Preserve Series of guidebooks. All in all, given the modest expense, the experience of seeing the Adirondacks in person, and the health and fitness benefits, this may be the ideal vacation. Perhaps this centennial will find you on the NPT, a two-week fitness vacation to better health! Jeffrey Case (jeffrey_case@hotmail.com) spends his time with his wife Dora at their homes in Salisbury, Md. and Syracuse. When he can’t be on the NPT or bagging one of the 46, he can be found riding his StreetStrider or walking his dog, Molly.

42 <strong>Adirondack</strong> <strong>Sports</strong><br />

The <strong>Adirondack</strong> Dog Store<br />

– Quality Pet Supplies & Gear –<br />

– Huge Toy Selection –<br />

– Natural Pet Foods & Treats –<br />

– Quality Supplements for People & Pets –<br />

– Gifts for the Pet Lover –<br />

There is nothing like us around!<br />

518-523-0157 –♥– manandbeastlp.com –♥– 2779 Main Street, Lake Placid, NY<br />

Just like having<br />

the Owner’s<br />

Manual to the<br />

<strong>Adirondack</strong><br />

Park!<br />

LOOK FOR IT ONLINE<br />

OR AT YOUR FAVORITE<br />

LOCAL BOOKSELLER!<br />

Come<br />

Visit<br />

Old Forge<br />

Your <strong>Adirondack</strong> Base Camp!<br />

Eagle Bay • Stillwater<br />

Big Moose • Beaver River<br />

It’s Our Nature!<br />

Make your own fun,<br />

or let us help you!<br />

Info-Webcams-Vacation Guide<br />

OldForgeNY.com

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