Adirondacks - Adirondack Museum Fire Tower

"I would consecrate these old forests, these rivers and lakes, 

these mountains and valleys to the Vagabond Spirit, 

and make them a place wherein a [person] could turn savage and rest, 

for a fortnight or a month, from the toils and cares of life." 

-- Samuel H. Hammond, "Wild Northern Scenes" (1857)

... just one of the many reasons we call our blog - Dave'n'Kathy's Vagabond Blog.  We are always on the lookout for the Vagabond Spirit.  Or, in our case, spirits (no, not ghosts, but craft brews and local wines)!

In keeping with the whole Fire Tower theme, we started our visit to the Adirondack Museum at the Whiteface Mountain Fire Tower display. There was no way we were going to climb to the top of Whiteface Mountain today. It has been pouring rain all morning with temps in the low 50's. Today would be an inside day. We managed to catch this photo of Kathy in front of the fire tower between showers.

The first exhibit we visited was on Working in the Woods: Logging in the Adirondacks, which explores the history and traditions of one of the region's most important industries. It included displays of the tools used and species harvested in the Adirondacks, as well as the products made from wood. Displays included life in a logging camp and how the logging industry has changed over time. Sometimes it is sad to think of the great forests destroyed by the loggers ax, but on the other hand, the lumber helped create our country and now these lands are preserved for future generations.

The Adirondack Museum opened on August 4, 1957, after two years of construction and collecting. The first objects collected were from the Blue Mountain Lake area. The exhibits featured the Marion River Carry Railroad engine and passenger car, the steamboat Osprey, a stagecoach, several horse-drawn vehicles, a birch bark canoe and dioramas depicting various aspects of life in the Adirondacks. Here is one of the original buildings on the property purchased by the Museum.  Bull Cottage is used to demonstrate rustic furniture.

All of the furniture in this cottage is hand made in the Adirondacks. We loved each and every piece. We were taking notes on design and construction just in case we ever decide to get that forever and ever cottage.

Nothing says cozy and comfy like a stone fireplace. We think this would make the perfect Chuckluck table. Now all we need is the wine and beer. :)

From cabin life to the camping life.  Here Kathy takes a look at a typical Adirondack lean-to. We visited a number of these lean-tos while hiking in the Adirondack and we don't remember any of them having feather beds and curtains.

Dave preferred the fishing camp A-frame tent complete with tea pot and oriental rug.  Those Victorian era tourists really knew how to do it up right.

In 1955, the Adirondack Museum began a search for a private rail car that had brought wealthy visitors to the Adirondacks.  None were available, so the Oriental was acquired to serve as an example of the type of private rail car that families like the Garvans, Whitneys, Vanderbilts and Huntingtons had used. Originally built in 1890 at a cost of $60,000, the 69 foot long car was packed with all the gilt and glitter of the day.

For those who couldn't afford the luxury of traveling to the Adirondacks by private rail car, there was still the horse drawn sleigh. In order to pack the snow to make traveling by sled easier, this mammoth snow roller was used.

Here we are getting in the spirit of the early Adirondack vacationers. Nothing like going for a hike in the great outdoors with top hat and long dress. Sure glad we don't do that anymore.

Dave is taking a look at the latest in canoe carriers. Even back in the day, folks needed to shuttle their canoes to the inlet.

The mission of the Adirondack Museum is to expand public understanding of Adirondack history and the relationship between people and the Adirondack wilderness.  It has done a great job of collecting historic artifacts, including entire buildings in order to preserve them for future generations. Sunset Cottage, a one-room cabin from Camp Cedars on Forked Lake, is decorated with split-spruce pole siding. Don't you just love the design?

Learning all about the history of the Adirondacks is hungry work.  We took a break from the learning, to tie on the feed bag at the Lake View Cafe.  Because of all the rain, the Museum was packed, and the same was true of the Cafe, so we had a little bit of a wait to order, but that gave time for the Cafe seating to open up.  We scored a window seat and a view of Blue Mountain Lake while we enjoyed bowls of chili and roasted veggie soup and shared a BBQ pulled pork sandwich.

After lunch, we continued our tour of the exhibits.  The Art Galleries had plenty of paintings and prints of all the famous Adirondack scenes - Lake George, Mt. Marcy, Lake Placid, etc.  Since there are so many lakes, rivers, streams and ponds in the region, boating has always been popular. The Boat and Boating exhibit had a number of examples from birch bark canoes to early gas powered speed boats. Our favorite:  the guideboat.  We've gone fishing with guides a few times.  However, we never got a chance to travel in a boat as nice as this.

The Museum has collected over 90,000 historic photos and postcards. They installed a really cool conveyor-belt systems for rotating the photos.  Here is a short video of the photobelt: postcard photobelt.

As we were leaving the museum, we noticed that the soggy weather didn't deter these folks from taking the horse-drawn hay ride.

Now most folks have heard of the Adirondack Mountains, but they don't get the same publicity or hype as the National Parks like Glacier or Yellowstone.  However, Adirondack Park covers some 6.1 million acres, a land area roughly the size of Vermont and greater than the National Parks of Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Great Smoky Mountains, COMBINED. We have only just begun to discover all the Adirondack have to offer!