Painting wild places...

Months ago I was invited to be a guest speaker, about my Adirondack paintings, at the Adirondack Mountain Club's Johns Brook Lodge. I agreed, since I'm an ADK member and an audience of hikers know and appreciate the mountains much like I do. The plan had been to get out and do more hiking so I'd be in shape for the 3.5 walk in to the Lodge, but summer has flown by without having much opportunity for that. So I asked the young woman who had initially contacted me if I could get a "sherpa" - someone to help carry gear as I wanted to bring my full painting backpack and a number of canvases. My fully loaded pack, with water, snacks, extra gear, and painting stuff, weighs over 30 pounds. I've carried it a mile or 2 and gone up small mountains with it - but I was concerned about the 3.5 mile hike in and back (I was invited to stay over that night). So Danna agreed to carry my pack - she must have been all of 110 pounds and she strapped my pack on top of her pack and away we went! I carried my sleeping bag, water, lunch, and a change of clothes!

The hike was actually quite easy - all a gradual uphill, but well maintained and not a lot of rock scrambling involved. There was one instance when we stopped to take a break and Danna sat down and tipped over backwards! She just needed a little boost to get back up again. Johns Brook Lodge is, as the name implies, in the midst of the High Peaks along Johns Brook. The view from the front porch looks at the slides on Gothics. This is was everyone had told me - that I'd love it there because of all the views. Well, I fell for that. I optimistically brought 6 canvases with me. The brook was beautiful and I painted it as I ate my lunch. Then later in the afternoon I painted the view of Gothics, peaking between tree branches to try and get most of it.. But in the midst of a mature Adirondack forest, and in the valley of Johns Brook, there weren't any other views to be found. Most Adirondack trails don't have views until you get to your destination, and even then, some summits remain heavily wooded.

Staying at the Lodge was wonderful. Very nice communal bunk beds that were quite comfortable, toilets, water, and home cooked meals! I highly recommend it to people who want to climb some of the High Peaks in that area. You can make the 3.5 mile hike in the Lodge at a relaxed pace, get a good nights sleep, and then tackle a big mountain or 2 the next day. Mount Marcy is just a 5 mile hike! But for painting, I was kind of stumped. I gave my talk that evening to a nice group of hikers, some were families with kids. They were all very appreciative and afterwards I asked them if they could recommend a view I could paint. Someplace that wouldn't be more than a couple miles to walk. It was hard to come up with anything! Even the staff got involved and we looked at the trail maps to see what we could find.

The next day, after some thought and map analysis, I tackled a mountain I'd never heard of. Short Job! It was only a .7 mile hike, literally a 'short job' across the brook, from the Lodge. It was obvious most people preferred the high peaks as the trail was neglected and overgrown. Fallen trees blocked it in places and it had not seen much use for years. It got a little steep in places, but was essentially pretty easy. It was all wooded, but being surrounded by high mountains, there were at least 3 places where there were some views through the trees. On one side you could look at the slide on Big Slide. Another open spot had a view looking past Gothics at Saddleback and Basin. A third path led to a pretty limited view towards Bennie's Brook Slide - but it was directly into the sun and hard to see. I chose Saddleback! 

There is nothing I love more than exploring a place with my paint brush, and I'm so glad I hiked in the Johns Brook Lodge. Each of the paintings need just a little more work before I add them to my website. I will probably not ever climb all the High Peaks, but it's fun trying to paint them from whatever view points I can find in the dense Adirondack forest. Maybe I'll go back again in the fall and see if I can capture the changing colors. If you know of some trails with good views - let me know!