These deep Adirondack woods are wilder than they look from the road, and they're full of life if you know where to look. Out on the lakes and ponds, listen for the loon — that wild, wavering, laughing call that is the very sound of the northern wilderness; there's nothing else like it. Black bears are all through these mountains, so keep an eye on the roadside at dawn and dusk, and never, ever leave food out at a campsite or a pull-off — a fed bear is a dead bear, so keep your lunch in the car. Beavers are busy in every stream, ponding the water and building the wetlands half these creatures depend on.
And the big news in the Adirondacks is the moose. They were gone from here for a hundred years, hunted out — and then, on their own, they walked back, wandering down out of Canada and Vermont, and now there are hundreds of them in the park again. A bull moose is enormous, the size of a horse with antlers, and if you see one near the road, slow way down and give it all the room in the world — hitting one is a catastrophe for you and the moose both. It's a real sign of how wild this country still is, that the moose came home. Drive easy, and watch the edges of the woods.
Photo: Trougnouf · CC BY 4.0
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