Ghost Town

After getting our chores done, like the roof and getting the Divco running and cleaned up, we headed back to Ticonderoga since the weather was predicted to be calm and 75 degrees, Those are perfect conditions for our annual paddle from the Ti beach to Roger's Rock. Unfortunately, when we woke up that morning all the forecasts were wrong and it was really windy. We regrouped and decided to hike to the newly reopened fire tower trail on Swede Mountain between Hague and Brant Lake. The trail was due to close again for hunting season on September 10th so our timing was imperative. We had read that the trail was fairly easy once you got over the initial flowing brook and a steep climb to the main trail. When we arrived, we made it over the brook but the steep climb (almost straight up) had absolutely nothing to hang on to and it was total mud from the recent rain. Dave made it up to the landing, but there was no way I could do it, let alone come back down when we were done. We will have to return when they install stepping stones that we had heard a rumor were going to be installed at some point. Now it was time to regroup again, as the wind had really increased. The saying "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade" was really appropriate, and boy did we make one great batch of lemonade!  A few weeks ago, when we had gone kayaking at Long Lake, we had passed a sign for a place called Tahawus, which was on the way to Newcomb. Dave did some investigating and discovered that Tahawus is a actually an iron mine ghost town! The intrigue got us jumping in the PT Cruiser convertible and we were ready to explore. It is a long rough road down to this historic site (sometimes not paved) but when we came across the blast furnace, we knew it was already worth the trip. This is the McIntyre Furnace named after one of the financial backers.

A lot of the old equipment was left on site also...

We continued on to the main parking area and there is a pedestrian only road that is lined with placards telling about the houses that used to be there in the community of Adirondac(k). The houses were fallen in and have been removed except for the chimneys. You can click on the photos and zoom in to read the history.

The McNaughton Cottage has survived though. This is where Theodore Roosevelt was staying when he learned that President McKinley was dying, and he had to make the journey to Buffalo to be sworn in as president.

There have been three different communities here. From 1826-1857 there were the iron miners. From 1876-1947 the area was a seasonal club for well-to-do families to enjoy nature and hunt wild game and fish. From 1947-1963 titanium was mined in the area and the homes were where the workers lived.

As we walked along the road and trails (one trail goes to Mt. Marcy), we could see that there was still iron in the ground with the creeks running orange.

I spotted a very old fire hydrant...

We followed the trail (about a half mile) to Henderson Lake, where you can actually portage your kayak or canoe on a dolly from the parking lot and then launch on the lake. It sure was a pretty lake.

We also discovered that although the Hudson River originates from a pond near Mt. Marcy, it actually officially starts right here at this spillway coming out of Henderson Lake (the river was dammed and diverted along the way during the mining era).

As we walked back to the car, Dave wanted to check out the relic of what looked like a farm stand on the side of the road. I glanced up into the woods and saw the remains of one of the houses that had not been removed. Dave couldn't resist going up the hillside to explore.

On the way back to the main road, we came across this other building on a hunting club's property. It was probably from days gone by. Perhaps it was some kind of silo.

We also found this gorgeous waterfall on the Blue Ridge Road coming from the Northway. 

When we got back to Ti and did some more research, I found that the historic site we were at, was newly rehabbed and is actually having its grand opening ceremonies this weekend. I am sure this will be a really popular spot.  Congratulations and thank you Open Space Institute. What a fantastic and oh, so interesting day!