Adirondack-Lake
We have just spent a week in the Adirondacks, the pristine mountain range in the north of New York that was the setting for Fennimore Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans". Besides scenes, from the movie of the same name, of Daniel Day Lewis running bare-chested through the woods, nothing captures the beauty of the Adirondacks and its forboding wildness like the watercolors of Winslow Homer. Homer spent many summers hunting, fishing and painting water colors of his guides, dogs, fish and deer.
Three-Men-in-a-Canoe
Homer was a New Englander who learnt to paint water colors from his mother and became a commercial illustrator. He disliked his official job and after achieving fame, his advice to younger artists was "Look at nature, work independently, and solve your own problems." He painted the area in the 1880's during the time when Lake George became an attractive destination for wealthy New Yorkers to escape the heat of the city by steaming up the Hudson to spend their summers in Grand Hotels along the Lake.
Canoe-in-the-Rapids
We stayed in a beautiful 3-storey log house belonging to one of the oldest of these hotels, Trout House Resort. The resort itself, which lies on the shore of Lake George has undergone a number of reincarnations over the years and now comprises a series of log cabins nestled in the little town of Hague. Our house, "Seven Gables", was built deeper into the woods by the current owner, Mr. Scott Patchett, and constructed from logs cleared from the site. Mr Patchett's woodmill was down the lane. Perhaps for this reason our daughter one day made the unfortunate mistake of calling him Mr. Hatchet.
Woodchopper-in-the-Adirondacks
Seven Gables was near enough to a Pharaoh Wilderness Preserve for us to find tracks that looked like those of a bear crossing the path from steep woods down to the stream. The dogs, picking up the scent, dragged us into the ditch there every day.
The-Woodcutter
The village of Hague has become very quaint. Twenty years ago the General Store sold wellington boots, flashlights and fish bait. Now it sells artisan loaves and gourmet sandwiches. A superb little organic restaurant advertizing "home-cooked food" has opened up in the old drapery opposite. If I ever wished for a weekend house on a lake this is where I would look for a cottage.
The-Adirondack-Guide
In the past, Hague,was famous for an incident in which Ottawa indians fighting in the French and Indian war captured and cannablized British soldiers at Sabbath Day Point. Later, together with the neighboring town of Ticonderoga, it became famous for its graphite mining and its main street is called Graphite Mountain Road. It was also infamous at the turn of the century for the Lake George Monster. George, as he is known, was a wooden tail- waving fish contraption that could be mechanically activated to leap out of the water and frighten unsuspecting tour groups. This hoax was cooked up by a painter Harry Watrose to scare his fishing rival, Colonel William Mann, owner of a scandalous newspaper. George generated several scandals of his own before being decommisioned and shipped to the Carribbean to perform in street carnivals. However he has recently returned and is installed in the Hague community center.
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