Skip Murray Photography: Visions in Adirondack Park

Canoe Test

Autumn in Adirondack Park

Winter's Delight

The Moon, the Sun & Other Stars

While you are in Adirondack Park, be sure to keep your eye out for moose.

They are bound to be anywhere.

And so, after moose encounter, where to begin? Well, at the end, with a sunset, of course. Speaking of encounters. As a lady standing close by said, "I knew it was going to be a good sunset. I didn't know it was going to be magical.

Close to Whiteface Mountain summit.

Tree Next to a Lake in January.

I am just at the beginning of putting pictures, stories, anecdotes and whatnot into this gallery. I am excited about it. The Adirondacks, its trees, rivers, lakes, mountains, its people. Yes, and what a people. They are straight-forward, genuine, robust and gentle. They meet you eye to eye. They look at you through nature's eyes. They are nature. This is their land. I feel privileged to know them.

Everywhere around here you look you are in the midst of beauty. Every sight amid these natural landscapes is filled with it and the natural wonder of what has taken centuries to come about. What a place.

Lake Flower, Saranac Lake. November. After an early snow surprise.

In this picture we are on a gondola on our way down after visiting the majestic heights of Olympic Mountain, also known as White Face Mountain. Locals call it "Ice Face Mountain" because the wind blows so hard anything up there freezes into ice in short order. If you can ski this mountain, you are good to go anywhere in the world.

Vermontville. Started out just before sunrise one September morning and was rewarded with this dazzling scene.

Here is another of those misty morningers. This is a September sunrise on Lake Flower, Saranac Lake.

With the subject of mist still in the air, here is a January sunrise morning. Don't know what the water temperature was, but the air temperature was minus two. McKenzie Mountain looking like a saddle on the left. Again, Lake Flower. Notice how far to the right, from September to January, the sun rose on this morning.

Adirondack Park was created in 1892 by the State of New York amid concerns for the water and timber resources of the region. Today the Park is the largest publicly protected area in the contiguous United States,

Adirondack Park Land Use and Development Plan Map - click to see larger map

greater in size than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Park combined. It is also larger than the state of Massachusetts. Pretty much along the order of the size of Vermont. The boundary of the Park encompasses approximately 6 million acres, nearly half of which belongs to all the people of New York State and is constitutionally protected to remain “forever wild” forest preserve. The remaining half of the Park is private land which includes settlements, farms, timber lands, businesses, homes, and camps.

A bright, bristling, end of the day day, when the sun is just about to make its way behind the mountains.

Early morning in Lake Placid.

Here we have the Olympic Torch and the ninety and one hundred and twenty meter ski jumps.

Olympic Rings

What do you know, there I am taking pictures of this grandeur.

Great Pines. Great pines are one of the great things about the Adirondack Mountains. Fascinating, seeing them up close. These are not just trees, these are special beings.

Balsam pines alone together, with the stray deciduous.

Lake Flower. Green Boat waiting on Shore. This picture, simple, clean. This boat belongs to a couple of friends, who I made friends with when I showed them this picture I had taken of their boat. Happened to be around one day when they showed up to take it out.

Lake Flower. Late in the day, the sun heading toward sunset.

And here is that sunset on Lake Flower. Same day, just waited around a bit till this sunset came about. One of the local people encouraged me to stay around for the red burst. I did and here it is.