Sketching Plans for My Thru-Hike of the Northville-Placid Trail

In about two weeks, I’ll be attempting a thru-hike of the 138-mile Northville-Placid Trail, which stretches through some of the most remote wilderness areas within the Adirondacks of New York State. My plan is to hike the trail in 9 days, meaning I’ll average a little more than 15 miles per day.

My number one goal for the hike is making it back home safely to my wife and our dog, Wiley. Number two? Finishing the trail.

This is going to be a challenging hike, both physically and mentally. Outside of the other hikers I meet on the trail and the people I encounter in the two small towns I’ll be passing through to collect my resupply boxes, I’ll be alone out there. If I had to put sketching on my list of goals, it would be a distant third.

That said, I will have the opportunity to sketch in some of the most beautiful parts of the state. I’ll be sleeping in a hammock near backcountry lakes and ponds, hiking through dense forests and across babbling streams, and experiencing sunrise and sunset to the call of the loon.

Because of the circumstances, however, I think it’s important that I seriously lower my expectations. Hiking 15 miles per day along with breaks, meals, and camp chores, is a full-time job, and an exhausting one at that—which is why I decided to keep my sketching kit very minimal.

Instead of my usual Hahnemuhle watercolor sketchbook, I’ll be bringing a small (5”x5”) Royal Talens sketchbook (which will also serve as my journal), and I’ll be swapping out my watercolor palette for a single Tombow marker (#992). Also, instead of my Sailor de Mannen fude pen, I’ll be bringing a Uniball Vision rollerball pen. The Uniball is fairly juicy, it’s filled with waterproof ink, and, unlike a fountain pen, it requires zero maintenance and is highly unlikely to leak or clog. Actually, I’m going to be bringing two of these just in case the first one runs out of ink.

I was a little concerned with changing up my materials so drastically, but I think the odds of me pulling out my sketchbook is much higher when I’m dealing with cheaper paper and tools that require basically no drying time. This way, if I get the urge to draw on a short lunch break, I can count on being able to sketch quickly, lay down some mid-tones with my marker, close the sketchbook, and be on my merry way.

Still, these combination of materials is fairly new to me, so I’ve been practicing with them in preparation for my hike. Transitioning from a large A4 landscape sketchbook down to this 5”x5” square is a bit of a shock to the system, and relying on ink and a single marker changes the style of my sketches quite a lot. I’m focusing on being expressive with scribbly lines, using the black ink for my darkest values and the Tombow for the mid-tones.

I’ll continue to practice with these materials over the next couple of weeks, but I’m already feeling a little more confident in my ability to simplify wilderness scenes. I’m really liking the woodsy vibe that the Tombow marker gives these sketches!

For more hiking-specific content, feel free to check out my author page at The Trek, where I’ll be posting a detailed day-by-day blog of my thru-hike.

As always, thanks for reading, and happy sketching!

-James