Katmai National Park is a spectacular four million acre national park and preserve located on the Alaska Peninsula in southwest Alaska. Katmai is famous for its geology, salmon, and the world’s largest protected population of brown bears, estimated at 2,200 individuals.

Most visitors come to Katmai National Park to see and photograph the large numbers of brown bears that congregate at Brooks Falls to feed on the abundant spawning salmon. Katmai became a national monument in 1918 following the eruption of the Novarupta Volcano in 1912. Katmai National Park has 15 active volcanoes and its eruption was the world’s largest in the 20th Century. 

David Govatski will share every thing you need to know about traveling to Alaska to see the bears, including bear behavior, safety and general travel tips.

David retired from the US Forest Service after a 33-year career and currently works as a naturalist. He works as an expedition ship naturalist in Alaska in the summer and has visited and studied brown bears at Katmai, Lake Clark, Glacier Bay and Denali National Parks and elsewhere.

Effective 1/10 through 3/15/2023

The Goodnow Mountain Trail (newcomb, NY) will be closed from January 10, 2023 through March 15, 2023 (subject to change) to accommodate an on-going timber harvest taking place in the vicinity.

During that time, the public will not be allowed to access the Goodnow Mountain Trailhead, trail or fire tower.

The Goodnow Mountain Trail leading to the fire tower is part of the Archer and Anna Huntington Wildlife Forest.

Here are the dates for the Fire Towers that are closed for hunting and ski season, all dates are inclusive. Please respect these trail closures and private property. Climbs during these closure periods will not count towards the challenge.

For ten days, Lenore and Jack Reber explored lesser known national monuments and State Parks in New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. Join them on a photogenic tour through lava fields, red rock country, volcanic ash formations, and a black canyon.

Our armchair travel will visit ancient indigenous sites and the old mining towns of Durango and Silverton, Colorado. Lenore and Jack are retired teachers who have hiked and paddled with several organizations and in many places in the USA and Europe. They live in Saratoga Springs and Indian Lake, NY.

Co-sponsored by the Saratoga Springs Public Library. ( No registration required )

Congratulations to our ADK Glens Falls-Saratoga trailhead stewards for a successful summer season educating hikers at the Buck Mountain/Pilot Knob trailhead this summer. This year was our first-year pilot program having chapter volunteer stewards on duty weekend mornings during July and August.

Last week we had our end-of-season meeting with ADK Stewardship Manager Kayla White #stewardstheadksummits and NYSDEC Forester Rebecca Terry #nysdec. 11 members of your Glens Falls-Saratoga Chapter engaged with 1,022 hikers. New and novice hikers along with tourists to the area as well as experienced hikers welcomed our talks about the 10 essentials for every backpack for every hike, 7 Leave No Trace Principles (#LeaveNoTrace), and the importance of safety and resource protection.

Thank you to our partners Adirondack Mountain Club #adkmtnclub, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Lake George Land Conservancy #hikelakegeorge, Pilot Knob Volunteer Fire Co ( Chief Paris!), and special thanks to Kayla White for her dedication and passion for wild places.

Would you like to get involved next summer? Simply send an email expressing your interest to: trails@adk-gfs.org . We'll be in touch as the 2023 season approaches.

The Adirondack Mountain Club is nothing if not for the stories of members; we are our stories. ADK at 100 years has lost so many stories; more are being lost each year. It is ironic that this storied organization does not have a formal history program, a commitment via human and financial resources or at least a mention in its guiding strategic plan.

Recognizing the need to capture Adirondack Mountain Club oral history - a dedicated group of passionate volunteers from throughout organization has banded together to make this a reality. Funding has been provided by generous donations from ADK chapters.

What is ADK Voices?

We are a group of ADKers from across New York State and New Jersey working in collaboration with OurStoryBridge, a nation-wide platform, resource and toolkit for producing a crowdsourced community story project emphasizing audio history and sharing. Using OurStoryBridge we are recording short stories (five minutes or less) of ADK chapter folks, ADK staff - past and present, stories of the past and stories of the present for use as historical record.

The recorded stories will be publicly accessible on a website we are currently building with the expectation the ADK administration will link ADK Voices to adk.org. Our group is proud and excited to bring this member-directed, chapter-driven project to reality.

Do you have a story to tell? Send an email with a summary to: trails@adk-gfs.org

Go to the new website: https://www.adkvoices.org

These bear-proof canisters are required in the Central High Peaks Zone and are essential to use on any backcountry overnight adventure to any backpacking or canoe camping destination.

8.8 inch dia. X 12 inches long, weight 2.7 lbs.

Designed to slip into your backpack. Backpackers Cache (Garcia Manufacturing) and Bear Keg (Counter Assault) are the only two bear resistant food containers approved for use in the Central High Peaks Zone.

Rental Rates ( We have the best rental price! ):

•   1-3 nights $5.00
•   4-7 nights $10.00

Call Jim Schneider 518-421-4975 to reserve your canister rental.

Rentals are available exclusively to ADK Glens Falls-Saratoga Chapter members

• The Cascade Ski Center was purchased; Goggins Road property has an interested party.
• 60+ outings are scheduled for the Fall Weekend/Centennial Celebration, Sep 23-25, 2022 in Silver Bay.
• Kate Hacker, from the Niagara Frontier Chapter, was elected to serve on the ADK Board of Directors. She will represent the Club membership.

The ADK mission statement has changed and is no longer stated as a 'member directed' organization.

As per the change in ADK bylaws approved by ADK membership, member representation in ADK governance now focuses on the lone board seat allotted to the Advisory Council representative - the representative of ADK membership.

If you have any comments, thoughts, concerns, suggestions regarding ADK in any way, shape or form, please let Jim Schneider ( trustee@adk-gfs.org ) know and he will communicate them to Kate.

The next Advisory Council meeting is May 17, 2022.

The Adirondack Mountain Club Fire Tower Committee has officially included SWEDE MOUNTAIN in the ADK Fire Tower Challenge effective August 13, 2021.

Public access is due to the hard work of Warren County folks and community leaders. Most importantly, the trail traverses private property to access the tower. The landowner requests hikers stay on the trail at all times. Please respect private property.

The trail is closed to public access September 10 - December 16 due to hunting club leases. Climbs during the closure period will not be accepted toward the challenge.

Swede Mtn Details: View PDF

• Historic Bridges of the Adirondacks (May 19, 2021) Video
• Alaska the Last Frontier (4/21/2021)  Video
• Forest Pests Impact on Adirondacks (3/24/2021):   Video
• Hiking Adrians Wall (11/18/2020):   Video
• Modern Threats to ADK Waterways (9/23/2020):   Video

During spring mud season, trails are particularly vulnerable to erosion. The spring thaw creates mud that penetrates much deeper into the soil than the surface mud created by summer rains, and trails are thus more easily damaged by hikers' boots.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation institutes a voluntary trail closure in the Eastern High Peaks during this time of year that asks hikers to refrain from traveling above 3,000 feet.

Here’s a big way you can help: if you encounter a muddy patch on the trail, walk right through it! Skirting to the edges widens trails and creates even more mud, so help out your fellow hikers and stick to the trail. This is where good footwear comes in handy!

Views From On High 2nd Revised 2021 Edition is now available from ADK. New material includes extensive Catskill and Adirondack trail and fire tower updates through winter 2021 including:

• Poke-O-Moonshine - New Ranger Trail with its hiker friendly stone steps, switchbacks and scenic reroute.
• St. Regis: - New trailhead from Spring Bay of Upper St. Regis Lake. Combine a paddle trip with a fire tower hike.
• Hunter: - We love loop hikes! So, we put together this very interesting route combining the Spruceton Trail and the Devil's Path for an 8.8 mile loop.
• Red Hill - NYS Department of Environmental Conservation teamed up with New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the town of Denning, with support from the State's Environmental Protection Fund and constructed a new trailhead and information kiosk on Denning Road.

Purchase book: ADK Mtn Club Publications

Fill out report if you hiked Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area. Have you hiked in the Pharaoh Wilderness Area? If you haven’t what you will find are beautiful lakes and ponds, quiet solitude, great backpacking, easy walking, and delightful swimming. When you come back, let us know what you found. We are particularly interested in flowers, animals, trail and lean-to conditions, and just about anything notable either good or bad. Your Glens Falls-Saratoga ADK Chapter has adopted the entire Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area.
Please send send an email with the information to Jim Schneider at: metadatajim@gmail.com

• Unusual Animals
• Unusual Plants
• Trail Conditions (blowdown, beaver activity, signs missing or incorrect, etc.):
• Lean-to Conditions:
• Other:
Or mail your report to:
• Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area
• Glens Falls-Saratoga Chapter ADK
• P.O. Box 2314
• Glens Falls, NY 12801