June 1946. World War II has ended, the economy is rebounding, and life in America looks sunny.
In the Adirondacks, Troop 1 of the Boy Scouts of America from Paoli, Pennsylvania, is on its traditional 15-day canoe outing, mostly on what is today known as the “90-Miler” route, from Old Forge to Saranac Lake. On one of those days, the Scouts stow their canoes and hike the Northville-Placid Trail upstream along the Cold River. After 12 hot, buggy miles, split by a night at Seward lean-to, they arrive at the über-rustic compound of iconic hermit Noah John Rondeau, who, though known to be irascible, welcomes and “confabs” loquaciously with them.
It’s a moment the 16 awestruck boys, all certified or aspiring Eagle Scouts, will remember for
