Life With Noah:
Stories and Adventures of
Richard Smith with
Noah John Rondeau
By William J. O’Hern
Noah John Rondeau, an old-style mountain hermit lived alone in a small log, board, and canvas hut for 37 years. “Red” Smith, a young woodsman, was one of Rondeau’s true friends. In both, stubborn endurance and hard work prevailed. At ease with isolation and wild animals, the brave men looked stern reality in the face unflinchingly, took what their surroundings had to offer to conquer hunger, deep snow, cold, and brutal storms. Both possessed a sensitivity to see the poetry of nature behind the life of hardship – making the men interesting people. The spirit (and lives) of these two Cold River backcountry adventurers yield clues to the mysterious, fascinating pull the Adirondack Mountains has always had for so many people. Read about them and profit from them.
“Mayor of Cold River” Adirondack hermit, Noah John Rondeau lived in this hut for more than 30 years. During that time he befriended Richard Smith and shared his shelter with Smith. Smith recalled: “Trampling through the rustling leaves in a forest now bleak and barren of green, I could hardly contain my joy and excitement, for not only was I back in the
wilds of the Seward and Santanoni Mountain ranges that I loved so well, but I was about to embark on another deer hunt with my friend Noah Rondeau.”
288 pages