Is this legal?

I'd like to drop straight down from Mt. Blake to Upper Ausable Lake some time this winter and then hike out along Upper & Lower Ausable lakes to the road. Is this legal?

Neil,

Yes and no. As long as you stay above 2,500', you're on NYS land. Drop down to the lake and the last 600' puts you on Ausable Club property and where bushwacking is technically not allowed.

Upper Ausable Lake ski

Is XC skiing across the (frozen) Upper Ausable Lake to the Carry Trail considered trespassing on the AMR's private property?

I would guess not legal, since you can't swim or canoe/boat across in summer.

Went across the lake on snow shoes last year to the Carry. We were passed by several snowmobiles none of which stopped to say we couldn't be there.

Rik said:

Went across the lake on snow shoes last year to the Carry. We were passed by several snowmobiles none of which stopped to say we couldn't be there.

Click to expand...

It's only illegal for the snowmobilers to pick up the shivering hikers, or for the hikers to actually accept a ride...

If you decide to climb up this trail, I would try and do it earlier in the season, before there is too much snow. That way that down escalator won't be on at full speed. Right Doc McPeak.

A bunch of us from the Albany Chapter did Blake that way a few years ago. There were enough lawyers in the group to start a chapter of the ABA, and they swore it was a legal route! And it definitely beat going up and over Colvin twice.

That trail down from the col to the lake is a nice glissade in winter! We skied to/from there to save time - it wasn't a bad trip.

Did the lawyers say it was legal cuz thanks to the snow you weren't, technically speaking, ON the lake?

We did a private trip up from the lake to Blake and then back down the same way. DEEP, all-day trailbreaking and quite steep. It would have been an easier trip down if we hadn't been toast from the trailbreaking.

Don't remember the specifics, but my impression was that it was legal because the Ausable Club permitted it, not because of some narrow techicality that they had no control over.

Who'd be mostly likely to know is Tony Goodwin, executive director of the Adirondack Ski Touring Council, since he's been involved with ATIS, the Ausable Club, and so much else up there for so long, as well as being the editor of the Guide to Adirondack Trails for the High Peaks region. You can email him at [email protected].

Legal vs. permitted?

Access to AMR property is granted via the easements established in 1978 when NYS bought the summits.

The only "legal" access are the trails that are specified in in DEC regs Section 190.82

The legal trails are the foot trails - i.e. the Lake Road, the trail up Colvin and Blake from the Carry Trail. Hiking the private trails around the Lake and bushwhacking aren't allowed. The legal restrictions don't speak to seasonal access in the winter.

I guess the question is under what conditions the AMR allows, or will continue to allow access to skiers and hikers (snowshoers) on the frozen Lake. It's up to the private landowner. I know I've skied Lower Ausable Lake in the past with lots of others!

In Classic Adirondack Ski Tours, Tony G lists a trip to Lower Ausable Lake and doesn't say that skiing it isn't permitted.

Beverly,

I think you've summarized this perfectly. In the days before hiking boards and instant communication with anyone, winter skiing and and hiking up the road and onto the Lakes was never an issue. First, 'cause relatively few folks did it, and second, not many folks were even aware of it.

Neil did nothing wrong by asking the question. But by asking Tony to take an official position on inviting-in who-knows how many people who read the Board, the risk is that it becomes a "formal NO".
Speaking just for myself, I kind of wish we weren't soliciting an answer in such public place. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the reply is the the AMR really doesn't mind, but am concerned.

PB

A couple of years a go I did Blake by skiing across lower lake and going up the Carry Trail. I told the ranger on duty what the plan was, and all he said was to be careful of thin ice at the south end of the lake. Plus a bunch of other people did the same thing at the same time. So my guess is that it is legal as long as you stay on the Carry Trail.

Calling the Ausable Club today, they said, "that it is not legal, only designated trails only." What a bummer. I never had a problem there, doing it before, but they have gotten stricter with hikers, as years pass.