Elizabeth Point: An Easy One on Garnet Hill
Little Thirteenth Mountain from Elizabeth Point
Even if you've been following our posts only intermittently, you're probably aware that our big project here at the First Wilderness Story Collaboration is the development of what we're calling the First Wilderness Story Cloud. That’s been our focus over the last few weeks. Along with the black flies, which experts confirm have been especially bad this year, that has kept us out of the woods for the last few weeks.
Downloading to your phone an app offered by STQRY, you'll be able to listen to stories we'll narrate for you as you drive around western Warren County. We're GPS-triggering "points of interest" that we encourage you and other heritage tourists to explore.
In our first demonstration of what this app can do, we're showcasing the Warren County section of the Central Adirondack Trail that the New York State Department of Transportation spotlights in its Scenic Byways program. In its entirety, this is the 140-mile route that connects Glens Falls and Rome via North Creek, Indian Lake and Blue Mountain Lake.
Our audio tour will begin as you enter Warren County at Big Bend. It will end near Warren County's border with Essex County, where you arrive in North River and the attractions you'll find if you take a left on Garnet Hill Road.
We'll integrate our Story Cloud with the Warren County Recreation Mapper so that you'll be able to easily access trail descriptions. For the trail to Elizabeth Point, you'll click Number 17 and find this description:
This is an easy hike along the flat 11th Mt to Old Farm Rd trail, turning off after about 6/10ths of a mile to head down a gradual descent to Thirteenth Lake. The yellow marked Elizabeth Point trail is a bit rocky and muddy in spots. Views of surrounding mountains, shallow water, a sandy beach, and a picnic table and fire ring make this a great destination for a picnic and swim, or overnight camp. and fire ring make this a great destination for a picnic and swim, or overnight camp.
The lake is about 2 miles long. All but a few hundred feet of its shoreline is New York State "Forever Wild." And it's surprisingly deep, hosting an abundance of Lake Trout, Bass and Yellow Perch.
When I recently made this short 1.8-mile hike, the trail was muddy but not impassable. The black flies were tolerable. The views were great. I found two campers who had made their way by canoe.
Thirteenth Lake was originally known as Thirteenth Pond, given its location within Township Thirteen as laid out and numbered by Joseph Totten and Stephen Crossfield on their purchase of one million acres from the Iroquois in 1771. Totten & Crossfield were working as agents for a consortium of wealthy New Yorkers that included Johnsburg's founder, John Thurman.Our audio tour will also include triggers for Hooper Mine and Garnet Hill Lodge. There's a whole lot of history here and we look forward to spatializing it. Our "beta” is scheduled for delivery in the fall.
Hooper Mine
The remnant of Hooper Mine
We all know garnet as a beautiful red gemstone. When fragmented, it also makes a great abrasive, and that's why the garnet that has been hauled out of these mountains since 1878. That's when Henry H. Barton arrived and started the North Creek "garnet-rush."
Frank Hooper was part of it. He came to North Creek 15 years later, bringing with him the remarkable contraption he and his brother George called the Hooper Vanning Jig. It promised to change the economics of garnet mining by separating 95 percent of the garnet from crushed garnet ore. He and George, who knew a lot about mining as manager of the Dixon Graphite Plant in Hague, deployed it first on the northeast side of Ruby Mountain. In 1905, Frank brought the jig to a new mine he established 800 acres near Thirteenth Lake. He ran it for 13 years before exhausting the commercially viable garnet and merging its operation with Barton Mine. At its peak, the mine produced 5,000 tons of garnet ore annually.
At 2,600 feet above sea level, the community of Hooper's Mine was the highest self-sufficient community in New York State. It had its own water supply and produced its own electricity. There was fire protection with exterior hydrants, sprinkler systems throughout the buildings, automatic fire alarms, and a modern fire engine. It had a store, a schoolhouse, a blacksmith, a large boarding house, and many private homes, the sum of which totaled 55 buildings.
During World War I, Hooper faced a labor shortage as men went off to fight. He heard that German prisoners of war were being held in ships in New York Harbor and were allowed to contract out for work. Hooper signed up many.
When the war was over and internment ended, all of the former POWs chose to remain rather than return to war-torn Germany. Many eventually married local women or sent for their wives back home.
Garnet Hill Lodge
Thirteenth Lake from Garnet Hill Lodge
In addition to leaving future generations a great old mine to explore, Frank Hooper left two classic Adirondack lodges with spectacular views of Thirteenth Lake.
First there was "Big Shanty," which Hooper built in 1909 as a home for himself and his family.
Then there was the Log House, or what we today call "Garnet Hill Lodge." Hooper built the original log cabin that stood on this site in 1936. Guests today can enjoy many of the original features of that building, including the impressive stone fireplace that dominates the guest lounge and provides a focal point for quiet evenings beside the fire.
