Sara and Dante

This week as the Adirondack semester saga continues the community's agenda was jam packed w/activity. The week started out w/Glenn's Land Use Planning in the Adirondack class where we took a field trip to the nearby towns of Wanakena, Star Lake and Newton Falls to see how early foot cities have evolved throughout the years. Following this the community took a trip into the nearby town of Tupper Lake to visit the local IGA supermarket to find out where our grocery store products are coming from. We came to the conclusion that a lot of the products available are being transported from distant places which adds to the energy crisis. We also found out that some products, while distributed from one area, are actually produced in a completely different area further perpetuating the use of transportation as a means of getting our goods. We were also able to spend a few leisurely hours in town away from our studies in order to wash our clothes so that the community doesn't smell bad and also to catch up on the political race and the nation's news. So remember, according to Bill McKibben and the ADK semester: vote for Obama. Our nation depends on it.

The fun didn't stop here as we headed to the North Pole for Wil River's Ecology and Natural History of the ADK's. We were able to travel through the past (geologically speaking) as we hiked up Whiteface Mountain starting in a deciduous hardwood forest and ending in an alpine zone of a spruce-fir forest. The view from the top was spectacular with a scene of the ADK high peak region panning as far as the eye could see. Psyched! The only view we saw was the fog two feet in front of us and the inside of the Whiteface summit castle with the caretaker, Skip. We trekked down Whiteface in the pouring rain to be pleasantly surprised with a formal sit down dinner of pizza. After gorging ourselves w/pizza and hot chocolate we ended our day at the OP yurt located at the ADK Loj. Anticipating the coming day of climbing everyone slumbered like grizzly bears hibernating. After a successful day of climbing at the Beer Walls with the help of ADK alum Hanzi and climbing guide Becca, the community hit the road and headed back to Arcadia. Stay tuned for the next week of the ADK semester saga.