The NCMC has completed the 90-Miler! Day Three was cancelled due to high winds and low temperatures, a recipe for hypothermia. Jack, Morgan, Mel and Seth in the C4 did the first day in 7:13 and the second day in 5:45! Congrats to Mel’s Marauders, including Seth and Mel, the newest members of the NCMC. Jack now has 29 Adirondack Canoe Classics under his belt.

Jack is in Old Forge today for the start of the 90-Miler, his 29th Adirondack Canoe Classic. He will be in the C4 with Morgan, Mel and Seth, the team that did the Round the Mountain last May. We are waiting to see what the race shirts look like this year. Jack’s race partners over the years have been Tom, Bill, John, Jay, Dylan, Paul, Andy, Morgan and Jenn. Mel and Seth will give him a total of 11 paddlers. Mel is the second female racer. This will be Jack’s 12th race in a C4. He had paddled 16 times in a tandem, and once in John’s Minnesota III. Good luck to the racers!

Tom, Jan, Matt and Jack skied at Sun Valley for the first time. The resort lodge has old photos of Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Ernest Hemingway and other notables who have visited the resort that Averell Harriman built in Idaho in the 1930s to attract passengers on his railroad. Sun Valley had the first chairlift in the world, designed and built by Harriman’s railroad engineers.

Tom and Jan camped for three nights at Acadia just before Memorial Day. They love the B Loop in the Blackwoods Campground, which does not allow generators and is tent only. They climbed Cadillac Mountain, a 7.5-mile round trip with about a 1,300-foot ascent, and also rented e-bikes to ride on 28 miles of the carriage road network in the park. The trip marked the debut of their new Eureka Jade Canyon 4 car camping tent, which worked out fine.

Smugmug Gallery: https://ncmc.smugmug.com/Camping-and-Hiking/Acadia-2023/

While the cross-country skiing World Championships were taking place in Slovenia, Bill and Jack were writing their own history at the Lake Placid Loppet at storied Mt. Van Hoevenberg, site of the 1980 Winter Olympics. Perhaps almost as improbably as the hockey Miracle on Ice from those 1980 games, the NCMERs each triumphed in their age group in the difficult 12-Kilometer Challenge. Despite wearing heavy backcountry touring skis and boots, the two wily sliders used their well-honed classic strides to complete the course in a little over one hour and 36 minutes. Bill nicked Jack by a few seconds. Bill easily beat the other dude in the 60-69 age group, and Jack was unopposed in the 70+ class, but would no doubt have demolished any other septuagenarians who might have dared to race. The backstory of the race is that Jack, due to lack of snow and the need to recover from various accidents and illnesses, had skied exactly once before the race. Nor had Bill put in his usual miles on the white stuff. Next year they will no doubt both compete in the 70+ categrory. Perhaps on true skinny ski racing gear? Stay tuned.

Happy Birthday to NCMC co-founder Jack Semler, who turned the big 7-0 today. Pilot, ocean yachtsman, accomplished backcountry skier and winter camper, alpine skier of the Utah Canyons and Tetons, sea kayaker, wilderness paddler, Gold Canoe veteran of countless 90-Milers in tandems and fours, MSR stove repairman, EV owner, caretaker and co-owner with NCMCer Mary of the NCMC clubhouse on Upper Sar, road and off-road cyclist, audiophile and vinyl proponent, hero to all with motility issues, loyal fan of the cup-less Sabres and “wide right” Bills, Colorado rock climber, Augustus McCrae act-alike, former high school baller, boon to orthopedists and cardiologists, and owner of more shells than the rest of the NCMC combined.

May he stay upright on his bike, always take his keys along on a ski or a paddle when his car has been left at the other end of the waterway or trail, have many, many more years of adventures and misadventures, and wear out several pairs of red Alaska boots.

Report from Jack:

Day Three in the books.
Time of 4:04:59. Compares favorably to 2021 at 4:15. Relief at finishing another one. Looks like 27 for me and 23 for Bill.

Something prompted a reread of the NCMC 90 miler history reported by the “editor” after the ‘99 version. Perhaps it was a text from Tommy as he is referred to by the editor. It’s worth a revisit despite its length which was necessary to record the multiple self-inflicted mishaps experienced by the team that year.

This year’s version of mishap was limited to a stolen watch that hours were spent searching for in a motel room in Old Forge leading to the conclusion the proprietor of the hotel stole the watch when he swapped out our TV, which would not turn on so we could watch the Bills. It was warm this year in Old Forge so the door was propped open for air and after the watch magically reappeared in the morning on the floor next to the bed nightstand it was concluded guilt prompted the proprietor to return it quietly in the middle of the night while we paddlers slept. This is the same group who banned Matukituki from their premises, so clearly not to be trusted.

Pit crew duties were admirably manned by Mary despite observing, ”This isn’t exactly like watching football seeing you guys paddle.” And even the meal tickets made to to the finish.
The finish was hopping with biggest crowd observed in years. The meal tent was moved to the extreme western end of the gathering requiring a 30-minute search to locate. Racing pictures where dutifully purchased and recorded our paddles actually planted in the water for the first time in memory, proving we actually do paddle. We complimented the photographer (is it Kurtz?) who chuckled at the observation and asked if we had any other tips to offer. We noted a beaver dam in the background and he said if you look back 10 years you’ll see it’s been there a long time.

Bill set off in the my car for Buffalo after a quick shower with a 7:30 a.m. tee time scheduled at Cazenovia for a best ball masters’ tournament. I waited for our C4 (which was rented out) to arrive at the finish, inspected for damages and returned damage deposit. The boat was paddled by a group from Tully, Utica and Boston. And they expressed much appreciation for the use of the boat.

An accounting of the remains of the rental fee will have to wait until heads clear from post-race celebrations. Some of it was spent on daily race food supplies and the new yoke, but much remains a mystery the editor will undoubtably call an audit for.

Time: 7:15/5:44/4:05/17:05

Time was 17:03 in 2021 and 17:15 in 2019.

Day Two report from Jack Semler:

Better day today. Time of 5:45 compares with 5:41 last year when river was very high.
Long Lake was a sheet of glass from end to end and we maintained 5.5 mph for entire length.

Yoke worked great on portage. No need for wheels after Day One.
Also made executive decision to leave spare paddle behind.
Very happy with boat and portaging.

(It should be noted that The Editor recommended they not bring the wheels on Day Two.)

The Adirondack Canoe Classic

90 miles.

3 days.

Old Forge to Saranac Lake.

Paddle through history on the original “Highway of the Adirondacks.”