Mt. McGregor NY

Where: Mt. McGregor, Wilton NY
When: July 1974
With: Saddle Lake summer camp staff

I first recall taking swimming lessons when I was in elementary school in the mid-1960s, and by the summer of 1974 I had my Red Cross Water Safety Instructor certification. My mother ran a day care center for the Salvation Army in Albany NY, and heard about an opening for a life guard at the Army's summer camp in the Adirondacks, so at 16, I got my first "real" job.


The camp was located in a bowl on the backside of Mt. McGregor, the easternmost Adirondack peak. Rough trails led from the camp up to the top of the ridge, and part of the orientation process for the camp staff involved an overnight hike up those trails. I'd been in Scouting for several years, and had done a lot of hiking & camping. I'd even gone to the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. So I was pretty comfortable in the woods.

I only recall a handful of things from the hike. The first is an odd recollection that we had no tents. Perhaps I'm remembering incorrectly, and there were some tents, or maybe it was just a sleep-under-the-stars event. In any case, I wound up making a lean-to with my poncho, and folks seemed impressed with my backwoods skills. I think it may have rained overnight.

The second memory is of a campfire sing-along.  The group began singing Kumbaya with real fervor, and I made some joking comments about the revival tent atmosphere. Now remember, this was a Salvation Army camp. Most, if not all of the staff got their jobs through some connection with the Army. Many came from SA families, and there was a solid base of faith within the group, which I didn't pick up on at first. I quickly quieted down when I noticed the odd looks I was getting.

My final memory is just a vague recollection of descending a small rock face on the return the second day. 

I was a lifeguard, and eventually the Waterfront Director at the camp for four summers, and I explored the trails a few other times, though as day hikes, not overnights. The Hudson River makes a sharp turn on the other side of the ridge, and trails up there (part of Moreau Lake State Park) provide views of the river and the Spier Falls dam from the ridge top.

The camp, and even the lake it contained, is now gone. The land was sold for private houses, and the lake was drained (liability concerns, perhaps). I've looked for maps showing the trails from the camp's location, but haven't found any. Looking at satellite photos though, I can still spot some of the routes.

Location: 65 Mggregor Wilton Rd, Gansevoort, NY 12831, USA

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