Bookshelf    Trail of the Adirondacks: Hiking America’s Original Wilderness

Trail of the Adirondacks: Hiking America’s Original Wilderness

By Carl Heilman II, foreword by Bill McKibben, text by Neal Burdick, afterword by Neil F. Woodworth, additional essays by Stewart Mesinger and Christine Jerome (Rizzoli, 2019) Buy It Now

So you live in the Hudson Valley, a vacationers’ paradise. Where do you go for a weekend getaway? Head north to the ’Dacks! Though five notable writers appear in its table of contents, the undisputed star of this sumptuous book is photographer Carl Heilman II. Often presented in two-page spreads, his magnificent images showcase the Adirondack Park in every season, time of day, weather, and light. McKibben points out the diversity and resilience of this “second-chance Eden,” a vast tract of ancient mountains, lowland bogs, and boreal forest regrown from Colonial plunder; Burdick explains that “the word ‘hiking’ is a British telescoping of ‘hill’ and ‘walking.’” But it’s Heilman’s photos that make you want to lace up your hiking boots, car-top your canoe, strap on your snowshoes, and get outdoors by any means necessary. Go on. There’s a portable map in the back of the book.