Martha Rebentisch fell sick with the same disease that killed her mother. She dropped out of high school and left home in New York City to fight for her life at sanatoriums, where clean country air was the only hope for survival from tuberculosis, rampant at that time.
More Articles From
Annie Stoltie
Adirondack Field
Ever give in to a “great deal” for clothes online and, when you open the package, you’re hit with a face full of eau de chemical? It’s the price of fast fashion—throwaway pieces that sacrifice quality, workers’ rights and the environment for rock-bottom price tags.
Hermit’s Lair: A Rumored Crash Pad of Woodsman French Louie
Louie had a sprawling network of temporary camps throughout his trapping grounds—one was said to be little more than a hollow log, another might have been Kunjamuk Cave, near the village of Speculator, with its handily situated smoke hole.
Regional Reads 2024: New Books of Local Interest
Lake Placid–based guide James Appleton recounts “The Haunting of Eagle Cave,” “The Five Ponds Bigfoot” and other spooky legends in Adirondack Campfire Stories: Tales and Folklore from Inside the Blue Line.
Light Up the Lodge
“The place is magical during the holidays,” says the Whiteface Lodge’s executive chef Greg Sherman. Festive garlands and twinkling lights dangle from peeled-log beams; miniature mountain villages depict wintry scenes; and shiny wrapped packages ring Christmas trees and are stacked on fireplace mantels.
Bear’s Breakfast: Feuding with a Hungry Neighbor
From a distance, I thought I could see some of the family on the screened-in porch already tucking into blueberry pancakes, bacon and fruit salad. I pushed the screen door and was half a step in when I realized the shape I saw from a distance wasn’t my father but a bear up on its hind legs eating the family breakfast right off the picnic table.
Skanendowa Lodge
In its heyday, Skanendowa Lodge, a family compound of Adirondack cottages on Tupper Lake, drew high-society guests from Washington DC—writers, senators and presidents keen on escaping the sweltering summer in the city for the mountains.
A Massawepie Paddle-Bike Combo
The Massawepie Mire, located near the tiny hamlet of Gale, which lies just east of the tiny hamlet of Childwold, deserves a place on every Adirondack bucket list. The wetland complex includes a 740-acre peatland, the largest in New York State—a remarkable habitat easily accessible by an old railbed. The bog harbors several avian species sought after by birders, including the endangered spruce grouse.
The Birch Store
Ask an Adirondacker about their take on our region’s signature style and you’ll hear all sorts of things: Tree stumps and twigs. Plaids and earth tones. Rough-hewn accents and stuffed animal heads. But Marion Jeffers’s approach is a little different.
Five Ways to Make the Most of Your Adirondack Autumn
Celebrate the harvest or lift a stein to the season at colorful gatherings throughout the park—find a bushel of fall fun at our events calendar.

















