William J. O'Hern

In June 1946, a troop of Boy Scouts from Wayne, Pennsylvanian began planning a canoe paddle that none would ever forget. Paoli Troop 1’s route took them on what is today the Adirondack Ninety-mile Canoe Classic from Old Forge to Saranac Lake. This is also the first section of today’s Northern Forest Canoe Trail, considered the waterway equivalent of the Appalachian Trail, which extends via rivers, streams, lakes, and carries to Fort Kent, Maine. Three of the scouts, Herb “Hobey” Henderson, George Aman, and Bill McClear compiled the photo journal and dedicated it to future scouts who might read it. Hobey kept the log and the memories of the fifteen scouts’ experiences in a bureau drawer for decades, finally presenting it in 2011 to Paoli Troop 1 on its 100th anniversary. It seems somewhat of a miracle that Author William J. O’Hern discovered the journal, with the help of Dick and Hobey Henderson, and realized that its publication would be especially meaningful to those who enjoy canoeing and hiking in the same area today. Readers can only imagine how much the boys in the journal – now elderly men – enjoy reliving the adventure that was carefully preserved in words and photographs by their fellow scouts and now will be further preserved for later generations in this small publication.

This history of the men and women who manage the vast Northern Forest with an eye on conservation, sustainability and the logging industry takes the reader on a journey that visits the development of timber cruising, logging, forestry, and our relationship to our physical environment.

One day in 2007, the author asked his wife, Bette, if she'd like to learn more about the hermit, Noah John Rondeau, by backpacking into the Adirondacks with him. She agreed, and the trip itself provided a delightful Cold River memory-- repeated with even greater enthusiasm each spring and fall as they backpack in to their adopted lean-tos at Calkins Brook. Following the trails we learn more and more about the Cold River country, the Adirondack Park, the "forever wild" Forest Preserve and those who have called them home.

Originally published in 1997, this Adirondack classic features Richard Smith's story as he told it to William J. O'Hern in his home, on the trail, at his rustic camp called Singing Pines, and wherever they chanced to get together. Life With Noah describes a vanished way of life and tells of the friendship between Richard and the Adirondacks' last hermit, Noah John Rondeau. Through the reminiscences of Richard and his friends, O'Hern has reconstructed Smith's life in the Cold River-Duck Hole Country where he went to trap, hunt, fish, and live in his own way.