Day kayaking trips through the high peaks! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uandd1xBFvM

Hiking these ancient giants is like stepping back in time. Your senses awaken to peaks, valleys, lakes and streams, rugged trails and herdpaths; devoid of metropolitan landmarks.

I've not spent nearly as much time in the Adirondack Park as I would have liked to. A 10 year career in the Army as an adult stifled my ability to schedule time to make the trip. However, what I love about the park is the true sense of wilderness that thrives there. Alot of designated camping or hiking locales outside the park have a sterile humanized feel to them. The Adirondack Park has managed to maintain nature's serene indifference to man's presence. It's so easy to shift your focus from the trivial yet overwhelming demands of modern life's obligations, to a state of just being. I think we all need that kind of rest.

Last night I kayaked in a popular central NY lake. There were power boats and cars and loud music playing. I realized how much I missed kayaking on the north branch of the moose river, the quiet, no humans only nature. That is what I love about the adirondacks. being able to find total solitude with only nature as my companion.

I am pleased to be a part of your wonderful organisation. I have for the last 8 years volunteered with the West Virginia Dept. of Natural Resources studying Bald Eagle nesting recovery in WV and Ohio. The Bald Eagle is making a remarkable comeback with the help of Organisations such as The Nature Conservency. Thank you for all the work that you do in WV and the entire US. I will continue my work with the WVDNR and would like to help in any way I can in your efforts in WV also. Thanks again, Jay E. Smith

I am originally from Trenton, New Jersey. I moved up to Lake Placid when I was 22 (I am now 29). I was speechless the first time I saw how beautiful the mountains and lakes were! I lived right on Mirror Lake for awhile then moved to the other end of town. I would go hiking and swimming almost every day in the summer. Camping was definitely an adventure, especially when you get to the campsite and there is a tent in the parking lot that had been torn apart by a bear! I would take my camera with me everywhere I went. I was the caretaker of a camp out on Lake Placid and I would trek through the woods on the property and feel like I was on another planet. It is very important to preserve nature and land, especially the Adirondack Park. The people who were born and raised there, as the generations before them were, take great pride in the place that they live in. Once you visit there, you understand why. I lived there for 6 years and I am only 2 hours south and visit often. Rafting trips on the Hudson were always fun too! It is one of the biggest parks in our nation...and it needs to be protected!

I would appreciate any contacts that you could provide. We are considering becoming a 501-c-3 and would like to join with an existing non-profit with similar goals. Our website...www.theallianceartproject.com..explains our goals to protect the wildlife of the Everglades from the invasion of the Burmese Python and other exotic species. Your response would be greatly appreciated. Kevin McCarthy 954-560-8652. Best Regards!

I've enjoyed hiking and camping in the Adirondacks. My favorite memories include the day we were startled by a hawk which flew from the side of the trail to a nearby branch. We soon realized that he had left his kill behind. We threw the still warm snowshoe hare to the base of the tree. He swooped down, and carried it up, draped it over the branch, and proceeded to feed on it. We camped for two weeks, during which time a chipmunk who lived in the area around our picnic table got fat on scraps which fell from the table. As we ate dinner, we were startled by a loud squeal and a lesser weasel fell to the table with the fat chipmunk and proceeded to carry it off. What unique experiences! I am saddened to see the lakes crystal clear and sterile from acid precipitation- no algae, invertebrates or fish. It would be nice to see a turnaround in pH and healthier lakes.

I am up in age, but use too go to tupper lake every year too fish and hunt. Loved the scenery in the adirondacks , uese too spend a week hunting around horseshoe lake, also camped there, the people in the town, were very good we use too and have a few beers at he y tavern , on moody road, the owner name was augie , never for het him the winters were brutal, but the owners wife use to cook up deer stew , out of this world. When , I fished there, we had the owner greg smith from the bronx and a boat livery, mcdonalds . Miss the adorndacks, when my wife was alive use tell her we have to go up there, but never got around it, she died of cancer. Mybe will get up there this summer, and do some fishing for the pike and bass.Evereybody, should visit the woods sometime or another.

Why are the Adirondacks so important to me? I love to enjoy the nature and tranquility that you can't experience anywhere else in the world. The sunset and sunrise on a lake, or the loon calling in the middle of the night- wouldn't you miss them if they just went away? I know I would. The Adirondacks are the perfect place to get away from it all. People say that their favorite place is the beach- it's nice, but it's nothing compared to the Adirondacks.