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Please WAIT! Then SCROLL DOWN for ADIRONDACK Getaway VACATION VALUE.   [ Are you in this picture? ]
What do YOU Value in a getaway vacation?   CLICK & GO!  (On this page.)   Looking for privacy and seclusion?  Would you like to live with authentic Adirondack furnishings?  Do you relish a wilderness experience?   Do you mean a real Adirondack vacation?  Or just a place to hang your hat?  Another way to decide: What can you afford to pay?   Discount prices and Fourpeaks for free.   Guest Notes:  "your cabins . . . were enthralled with their magical decor . . . . whimsical yet functional works of art."   "I hope I can come back in the summer sometime as finances allow."   "3. The price was a little more than I would have liked to pay . . ."   "Your prices are upscale. Why is that?"(An Email Exchange.)   (On the next page.)   A guided tour of all 7 of our backcountry camps.   Your Secluded Cabin. (The Seclusion Index)   Fourpeaks Camps: What they're like! & What they're NOT LIKE.  
Privacy. Fourpeaks offers a high degree of privacy and secluded backcountry settings with views.
 700 acres with four 2,000-foot mountains on them.
 That's over 100 acres of private land for each Fourpeaks accommodation, plus the scenic AuSable River (right at the bottom of the hill) for quiet river swimming with no crowds.
 Enabling the visiting vacationer gets a firsthand sense of the natural beauty in our High Peaks mountains and valleys.
 No tourist junk or development for miles around.
 Exploring 20 miles of private hiking/walking/skiing trails with views. No crowds. Maybe nobody there but you.

Furnishings. Fourpeaks places are distinctly personal, completely different from commercial tourist accommodations.
 Fourpeaks buildings are homemade Adirondack architecture made with real forest materials.
 They are imaginatively decorated with handcrafted Adirondack furniture (some made by local craftsmen), genuine Northcountry antiques and colorful wool rugs.
 Complete kitchens with all dishes and utensils.
 Fireplace/woodstoves with firewood supplied.
 Working hand pumps (in the camps).
 Real plumbed in gas lighting like the Old West movies (the standard of lighting at the turn of the century).

Wilderness. Surrounded by thousands of acres of uninhabited forest land, Fourpeaks is big, beautiful and quiet.
 Exciting mountain views: The Jay range from New Camp, High Peaks from the Ridge, Whiteface from Wolf's Nest and The Lookout, and (close by) our own 2,000-foot Bassett, Wainwright, Ebenezer and Rattlesnake Knob from every open field and meadow.
 A country sky over open meadows. The moon, Venus and the stars. Their brightness on a clear night will amaze. Northern lights.
 Animal sounds: bear, coyote.
 Birds: Chickadee and a lone osprey year round, bluebird, marten, sparrow, grackle, yellowfinch, purple finch, blue herson, humming bird and robin in season.

"Do you mean a real Adirondack vacation?" 
If you place a value on a high degree of privacy in the place you stay, authentic Adirondack furnishings, exciting mountain views (and maybe a wilderness experience), Fourpeaks is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience the natural beauty of our region without ugly commercialism or tourist junk.

"Or just a place to hang your hat?"  If you plan to be out every day taking in the many tourist attractions in our area--and you're just looking for a roof over your head or a place to hang your hat--there are places to stay that offer better value. They all have phones right in the rooms, hot showers, TV (many with cable!) and lots of folks for you to visit with. You won't mind the road noise. Or the feeling of other people close by in the next room, cabin or cottage. Check out our page of High Peaks vacation places we network with and our special list of Adirondack cabins. Tell 'em we sent you!

What can you afford to pay?  (This may be another way to help you decide.)  You like Fourpeaks. But you're comfortable paying $350/day or more for your vacation lodgings. Fourpeaks will be too much "roughing it" for you! No maid service and no other folks to show off to, etc. We reccommend The Wawbeek at Upper Saranac and the Lake Placid Lodge, both listed along with other upscale places and broker resources at our Alternative Accommodations.
 You like Fourpeaks. But $80/day is the limit on what you can spend (and you prefer to pay less) for your vacation lodgings. Fourpeaks will seem overpriced--a rip-off, really. Just think of spending all that money without daily maid service or a phone or TV, etc. We reccommend Pioneer Cabins and Sherwood Forest Motor Inn near Lake Placid, both listed along with other economical roadside cabin places at our Alternative Accommodations.

Discount Prices. We love to see guests come back. To make it easier, guests earn Frequent Flyers Points they can use toward Year-round Discounts. CLICK HERE to see our Reduced Rate Plans for Returning Guests.   Fourpeaks (almost) for free. Work here part-time on the trails or cleaning to pay your way. CLICK HERE  to learn about our Fourpeaks Work-Stay Program. Fourpeaks for free. Have a home or apartment in New York City? Plan your ideal Fourpeaks getaway and let us know what you have to offer in exchange. CLICK HERE to learn about a Fourpeaks Home Exchange.

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"Your prices are upscale. Why is that?" (An Email Exchange.)

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Subject: Re: June 26 High Peaks getaway: very private, very pretty-
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 1999 22:04:37 -0400
From: "bh" |*****@acsu.*******.edu|
To: Martin Schwalbaum |YourAdirondackGuide@4peaks.com|

Considering that some of the cabins that you recommended do not come with running water and are not accessable by car, your prices are very upscale.
Why is that?

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Subject: Re: June 26 High Peaks getaway: very private, very pretty-
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 1999 23:20:42 -0400
From: Martin Schwalbaum |YourAdirondackGuide@4peaks.com|
To: "bh" |*****@acsu.*******.edu|

Hey Bruce--

Are you kidding?
The cheapest places to stay are accessible by car--you hardly have to pull off the road more than a few feet to get inside the door. Roadside motels and cabin colonies. They have running water--and TV, too.

Some people pay lots of money hiring wilderness guides to take them off the beaten track--no running water or roads there!
I guess they're dumb.

See http://4peaks.com/fcampdav.htm and other similar pages where we try to explain the kind of vacation Fourpeaks offers.
Not for everybody.

Best wishes.
Martin

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Subject: Re: June 26 High Peaks getaway: very private, very pretty-
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 23:06:54 -0400
From: "bh" |*****@acsu.*******.edu|
To: Martin Schwalbaum |YourAdirondackGuide@4peaks.com|

It appears as though you spent too many years living in the Big Apple.

Best wishes to you.

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Subject: Re: June 26 High Peaks getaway: very private, very pretty-
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 23:09:24 -0400
From: "bh" |*****@acsu.*******.edu|
To: Martin Schwalbaum |YourAdirondackGuide@4peaks.com|

By the way, my son and I have decided on a canoe trip in the St. Regis Canoe Area.
No running water or roads there either.

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Subject: Re: June 26 High Peaks getaway: very private, very pretty-
Date: Fri, 25 Jun 1999 18:32:27 -0400
From: Martin Schwalbaum |YourAdirondackGuide@4peaks.com|
To: "bh" |*****@acsu.*******.edu|

Bruce--
Thanks for your response(s). The feedback is useful.

Sorry--my first reply was a little too brashy NYC.

Here's a more studied answer to your question.
Your point is well taken. Why should a place like ours have--as you say--upscale pricing? And cost more than, say, a nice roadside motel--one that has all the modern conveniences. It has to do with operating costs. Maintenance costs, energy costs and, yes--even taxes.

Wilderness On Your Own. When you go out with your son for a canoe trip on the St. Regis your costs will be close to nothing, unless you rent a canoe. I hope you have a good time. And you should.
Unless you run into a horde of beer drinking college kids out on a hoot--which can happen in any public wilderness area. You don't have an exclusive right to the space. It's open to everybody. The other folks may spoil your pristine nature experience, but you have to accept that risk. Share a lean-to. Listen to a partying racket when you'd rather hear the loons. It happens.

Wilderness With a Guide. Outdoor guides will take you to wilderness places you couldn't find on your own or are too difficult to provision. On two occasions I've taken the North Rim from Kaibab Forest into the Grand Canyon.
Both times I successfully avoided contact with the tourist crowd that go in on donkeys to Spooky Ranch (just below the parking lots with the 25-cent binoculars). I also missed the boat-float folks that find the nice sandy beaches along the way from where they park their cars to the air-conditioned bus ride at the other end. I figure it was worth the extra expense for the guide. We spent some time at Deer Creek Canyon. No running water and not accessible by car. Pricing definitely upscale.

Wilderness in a Backcountry Camp. Here in the Northcountry there's a tradition of getting away to a wilderness "camp." A camp can be anything from a simple cabin or hunting lodge to a m/billionaire's "Great Camp." As long as it's far away and is as hard to get to as possible. There are backcountry places in Eastern Quebec offered by the regional government. Many miles from highways. And in the Rockies above the tree line. Fourpeaks Adirondack Camps shares in this "camp" tradition.
Backcountry places are expensive to build and maintain. And the ones like ours that do without electric power are even more so. Our backcountry camps are for people looking for something quite different from the traditional "see everything--do everything" typical American vacation--a retreat into beautiful natural surroundings, maybe a wilderness adventure. They're also sought after by backcountry hikers who crave privacy and the luxury of resting in a pretty place on a really good bed very far away from it all.

Fourpeaks backcountry camps have not only good beds, but complete kitchens, authentic Adirondack furnishings (much of it handmade or antique), fireplaces, screened porches and many other comforts, all in secluded natural settings (an old farmsite, a faraway meadow or a mountain perch). While we can't sell this as cheaply as a motel room or a cabin-in-a-row, we strive to provide good vacation value.
In the few short years that we've offered Fourpeaks to the public we've had some satisfied visitors. But it's not for everybody.

Best wishes,
Martin
P.S. Thanks for taking the time to let us know your thoughts. We're sending you a $100 Gift Certificate in appreciation.

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Subject: Re: June 26 High Peaks getaway: very private, very pretty-
Date: Sun, 27 Jun 1999 00:12:07 -0400
From: "bh" |*****@acsu.*******.edu|
To: Martin Schwalbaum |YourAdirondackGuide@4peaks.com|

Dear Martin,
I appreciate your answer. It is actually what I was looking for when I posed the original question. There will come a time when I will be looking for a camp in the High Peaks area. I promise to look you up.

Sincerely,
"B.H."

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CLICK HERE for more Fourpeaks Email Exchanges. Verbatim email exchanges with guests and prospective guests. Many of them informative. All of them good clean fun, even those about very serious subjects. Great if you like to read other people's mail.
Adirondack Great Camps. "Adventures in the Wilderness."
Renewed interest in the Adirondacks has resulted in an estimated 10 million visitors during the past several years.The vision of a "wilderness retreat" seems to have the same fascination for twenty-first-century vacationers as it did a century ago. (Inspired by "Great Camping," a magazine article about the Great Camps and Fourpeaks is in it along with the biggies.)

Fourpeaks offers lots more than just lodgings. Browse our 10 activity pages for 20 miles of private hiking/skiing trails, an unequalled nature experience with no people. River swimming, floating, wilderness canoeing, fishing at the famed AuSable River nearby. And just R&R in our accessible wilderness. [CLICK HERE for Fourpeaks Adirondack Activities.]

Dear Visitor,    Backcountry vacation/getaways on 700 acres with 4 mountains! I'd like to help make your web visit functional, and fast. (1) For an extended, fully informative experience CLICK HERE to Explore Fourpeaks. Use our navigation sidebar to get around. (2) For a one-page guided tour CLICK HERE  for a quick look at our 7 Backcountry Camps. (3) Just got a minute to spare? Tell me about the Vacation/Getaway you dream about. CLICK HERE for our Easy Inquiry Form. I'll respond with a Fourpeaks offer well suited to the season, your experience, budget and vacation preferences--together with activity suggestions, photos, maps and more. Sincerely yours,  Martin (Your Adirondack Guide)

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#1919 "your cabins . . . were enthralled with their magical decor . . . . whimsical yet functional works of art."

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Subject: Our Thanksgiving
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000
From: ROB*****@aol.com
To: fourpeaks@whiteface.net
Dear Martin,
We want you to know that we had a wonderful holiday at 4Peaks this year. The
atmosphere was relaxed, the countryside beautiful, the hiking - complete with
critter tracks and beautiful vistas from Ridge Camp and the lookout near
Bassett Mt, and the warming fire at the end of each day. We did
sneak peaks into some of your cabins and were enthralled with their magical
decor. You obviously enjoy transforming them into a whimsical yet functional
work of art.
Again, thanks for your hospitality. We did take your advice and returned to VT via Grand Isle ferry.
Sincerely, Bob and Christine

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#0055 "I hope I can come back in the summer sometime as finances allow."

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Guest Book Entry:
Date: 3/24/2004
Name: don wie***
Email: donw***@fltg.net
Location: phelps ny
Comments: Chris and I stayed at The Cabin a couple of years ago and loved it. It was January, but not a real hard winter. I live the Adirondaks and lived 4 Peaks. I have camped in the 'Daks before so having a roof over my head was something new. I loved the coyotes. The area was grand and I would and have recommended it to friends. I hope I can come back in the summer sometime as finances allow.
Sincerely, Don W****
A footnote from Your Fourpeaks Host.
I wrote Don back and reminded him about the discounts available to returning guests at http://4peaks.com/fgift.htm Plus I told him I make every reasonable allowance to find solutions to budget limitations. Student, Senior, Unemployed are just a few among the many special rate plans in effect at Fourpeaks for appreciative guests. Need I say more?

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#0459 "3. The price was a little more than I would have liked to pay . . ."

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Subject: RE: Your Fourpeaks visit 08/25/03 to Sugar Camp
Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2003
From: LFLORES@P****.ORG>
To: VisitUs@4peaks.com
Hi Martin, Our stay at Sugar camp was very enjoyable, there were only three
things that stood out in my mind, but they did not adversely affect our
stay, 1.The pump in the kitchen did not work, but the alternative was ok,
2.realizing of course that an outhouse is an outhouse, you may however
consider just sprucing it up a bit, I'm sure your female guests would
appreciate that too, 3. the price was a little more than I would have liked
to pay, but in this instance my need to " Get Away " was greater than the
need to save a few bucks, other than that I wanted to tell you that I will
reccomend your place to friends, and that I'm already planning next years
trip, thank you for all your help and for allowing us to stay in your
beautiful and peaceful little corner of the world, I really hated to leave
so soon. Thanks! P.S. I'm getting pictures developed, if I think any are
worthy, Ill forward them.
More about this. (Keep reading.)
Subject: Re: Your Fourpeaks visit 08/25/03 to Sugar Camp
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003
From: Martin@4peaks.com
To: Flores, Luis E. LFLORES@P****.ORG
Lou--
Thanks for your email. You were a very good guest and I'm glad you had a
good time. Please send the photos when you get them. Send a lot. (I can
return the prints to you when I'm done scanning them.) I'm good at
sorting and fixing them and I would make a nice webpage for you to
remember.
Sorry the pump wasn't working. But the well ran dry mid-August and that
happens sometimes with these old hand-dug wells. The water I brought you
in the containers was from the well at Camp Barn--or The Cabin, I
forget--both of which are new machine dug really big (3 ft. diameter)
wells that have never run dry. Sorry about the inconvenience.
From what you say, I'm not sure what was wrong with the privy
(outhouse). If it was the smell, putting some hydrated lime in will
control the odor. There's a can by each privy for that purpose. This
hydrated lime really works. It's the same stuff farmers use in their
barnyards for the cow and chicken smells. It's a white powder,
non-toxic, perfectly safe to use, except it's a bit caustic and you
should wash your hands after dispensing it. But then most folks wash
their hands anyhow when they get back from using the privy.
I have something new to offer about the outhouse. Just got a portable
chemical toilet and will offer that to guests who come here for a
vacation but just can't get by the outhouse (especially in the summer).
I plan to offer it for $5 for a week. That's if they empty it themselves
when they're done with it. If they want me to empty it (that's ok,
because I'm used to cleaning privies, anyway) but the price goes up to
$25 for the extra labor. Of course, folks who know how to read my
Fourpeaks webpapge good and don't like to use privies, just don't come
here even though they like the idea of all the quiet and seclusion,
because they just will not use any toilet but a real nice sanitary flush
toilet.
The prices I charge are a little high for just a backcountry cabin, but
then my expenses are high because the Fourpeaks property is so big, and
I just can't do anything about that. That's why I offer discounts for
returning guests like you--15 to 20% off the price! I hope that makes it
better. If not, I'm always happy to make suggestions about cheaper
backcountry vacations. The leanto's at Taylor Pond, for example, are
only $10 a night (maybe today it's $12). A lot different than Fourpeaks,
but it's quiet, on a big lake, and I don't think you can beat the price.
Ask me for help on this and I'll tell you more. Some of alternate places
I suggest are really cheap. They all listed at
http://4peaks.com/folove.htm (the TaylorPond leanto's aren't there. I
just thought of that one.)
Thanks again for your email. I hope to have you visit again. And please
don't forget to send the photos.
Best wishes, Martin
. 
Are you in this picture? Fourpeaks hosts now welcome paying guests to a 700-acre rest and playground for vacations in the Adirondack Great Camp tradition. Couples appreciate Fourpeaks secluded settings. Adventure families have fun exploring our accessible wilderness. Folks with dogs enjoy the open spaces to run their pets. A private nature retreat, a place for restoring personal energies. Are you in this picture?  CLICK HERE to find out!    [More about this at Frequently Asked Questions.]

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