Lake Placid seen from the summit of Little Whiteface. (Daniel Case/Wikimedia Photo)

Lake Placid seen from the summit of Little Whiteface. (Daniel Case/Wikimedia Photo)

Adirondack Mountain Club staff say they were overwhelmed by unusually large crowds of hikers on Labor Day weekend – the most they’ve ever seen, according to an article on LakePlacidNews.com.

The club’s land near Lake Placid, tucked in the heart of the High Peaks Wilderness Area, has long been New York’s most popular trailhead, and Labor Day weekend has long been one of its busiest times of year. But the holiday traffic is now too much to handle, Executive Director Neil Woodworth said Friday, Sept. 9.

Among the problems the crowds bring, club officials say, are trampling of fragile vegetation on summits, erosion of trails and a proliferation of human fecal waste, left unburied.

Read about the growing popularity of hiking straining the peaks of the Adirondacks.