The Access Fund Secures the Pinnacle Boulders (Canada Lake Boulders) !!!

https://www.accessfund.org/news-and-events/news/preserve-the-pinnacle-boulders

https://www.accessfund.org/take-action/campaigns/pinnacleboulders

  The Pinnacle Boulders (Canada Lake Boulders) are a collection of glacial erratics that lie just off of the Route 29A/Route 10 corridor in Caroga Lake, New York.  This area is where I began bouldering back in 2004 and has always had a special place in my heart.  Upon initial visits to these boulders, we had always assumed that everything we were climbing was on state land.  While doing more detailed research for the New York:  Adirondack Park Bouldering Guidebook, I realized that the main boulder that we always climbed on was in fact on private property along with a handful of other boulders that we frequently visited.

  After this realization, I was forced to exclude all of the established problems on this 18.5 acre of property from my bouldering guide because it was not on public land.  I was however urged from a local Caroga Lake rock climber to reach out to the land owner.  I was pleasantly surprised to actually receive a very nice and encouraging email response from the land owner, Mrs. Ellen Wood.  She seemed very interested in the recreation that we had been doing on her land over the past decade or so and asked me if I could give her a personal tour of the boulders and climbs that we had established on her property.  The Access Fund sent one of their members, Joe Sambataro to assist in the property tour and to begin discussions with the landowner on the future of the property and the potential to allow rock climbing.

  It was shortly after this initial tour back in April 2015 that Mrs. Wood mentioned that she was actually considering donating the 18.5 acres to the Access Fund so that climbing could continue here without any restrictions.  For the next year and a half, the Access Fund took the lead on this land donation and acquisition and I am now proud to announce that they have secured the property and climbing can continue on these boulders!  All of this would not have been possible without the generosity of Ellen Wood and her family and the research, documentation, and hard work of the Access Fund Team.

  On behalf of all of the Adirondack Park rock climbers...THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!

Please come and join some members of the Access Fund, local Adirondack Park climbers, and me on Saturday September 3, 2016 for a thank you ceremony at the Pinnacle Boulders where we can all recognize and thank Ellen Wood and her family and the Access Fund for all of their efforts.

  We will begin the day at Nine Corner Lake at 9 am to embark on a much needed trail and campsite cleanup day.  My goal is to collect as much trash as possible, do some trail maintenance and cleaning, remove some large dead and down trees that are interfering with boulder problems, etc.  Also, we plan on sneaking in a bouldering session as well!  After the morning and early afternoon at Nine Corner Lake, we are going to head down the road to the Pinnacle (Canada Lake) Boulders to have a short ceremony with the Wood Family.

Also, even though this land acquisition was a donation from a private land owner, the Access Fund invested a size-able amount of money into the entire process and they need the help of our local climbing community to help offset the costs.  Any amount donated back to the Access Fund will go a long way with this project and any future projects within the Adirondack Park!

Here are some videos from the Pinnacle/Canada Lake Boulders...