Boquet Mountain Boondoggle by Betsy Tisdale is the final story of ten entered in this round of the Champlain Area Trails (CATS) writing contest. Voting ends today, so if you haven’t made your choice you better hurry and vote in the contest!
Hiking before the Champlain Area Trails
In the 1980’s, Bestsy Tisdale was working on a hiking guide to the Eastern Adirondacks for the Adirondack Mountain Club. Soon after finishing the guide she and a friend decided to hike up a trail on South Boquet Mountain.
Unfortunately, the landowner’s son had done some logging in the area and the trail was ruined. Tisdale mourned the decision of having to take that trail out of her guide.
They decided to climb anyway, and eventually reached a summit, but it had taken longer to get there than they realized without a good trail, and it became cloudy. On their trek down the mountain they became turned around without the trail or the sun to act as a directional aide.
Tired, they finally reached a road, but were no where close to where they needed to be. Thankfully they were able to gain a ride from a local living near their exit point.
Tisdale ends her story with a thank you to Champlain Area Trails for all of the organization’s work in creating accessible trails throughout this section of the Champlain Valley.
“Postscript-24 years later, I am so grateful CATS has pioneered an ever-expanding network of trails for all to enjoy in Willsboro, Essex, Westport, and beyond. North and South Boquet Mountains now are laced with several trails! Until CATS was organized, there were very few trails open to the public in Willsboro, Essex, Westport and Port Henry. It was a “skip zone.” Thank you, members of CATS, for all your hard work!” Read the full story!
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