Follensby Pond and its Indigenous roots

A paddling adventure with rich history.

By Tim Rowland

Feasting our eyes on miles of unspoiled shoreline, we would have seen Follensby Pond this July much as the famed 19th century intellectuals who unintentionally gave this place the name of the Philosophers’ Camp.

The forest is materially different. The old growth is gone, replaced by evergreens, yellow birch and such things that pop up following generations of logging. But at arm’s length, the forest greens are green, the mountain blues are blue, the skies were blessedly smoke free and the rippling waters are as always. The imagination doesn’t have to do any heavy lifting to see things as they were in 1858. That’s when 10 thinkers of deep thoughts set up camp on its shores to cheer on nature for nature’s sake.

“Camp” in the Adirondacks has come to represent un-camplike architecture. Disappointment awaits those who assume that the site will manifest today as an assemblage of antler-festooned log walls and great stone fireplaces. 

There is nothing left of the camp, and even its exact location is not known with total certainty.

To read the article in its entirety on the Adirondack Explorer website, click HERE.