LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 35 Big crowds. Loud concerts. Screaming-fast roller coasters. Robin Denault and her good friend, Jim Patterson, passed up Lake George, where such sights and sounds are standard fare for the tiny Johnsburg hamlet of Bakers Mills. It is here where they found one of the region's most unique attractions, the Asa Adirondack Labyrinth, a space that draws people from around the world in search of something entirely different. "As you walk the paths you can reflect on your own life in a peaceful, meditative way," said Denault, a non-profit agency social worker. "I think you come out of it feeling very calm and serene and leaving a lot of cares of the world behind. It's phenomenal. It definite- ly is worth it." The labyrinth, built and owned by Christine and Larry Powers, is on their pristine 105-acre property at the end of Bartman Road, off Route 8, just west of Wevertown. But in many ways, it belongs to the dozens of vol- unteers, some from as far as Europe and Mexico, who contributed thousands of man-hours to bring the labyrinth to life. There are an estimated 6,000 labyrinths around the world, but the Powers's is one of only 10 sanctioned by the Denver-based, international Labyrinth Project. It is an exact replica of one built in 1203 at Chartres Cathedral in France. But at 70 feet in diameter, Asa Adirondack Labyrinth is 28 feet wider. The Chartres Labyrinth became famous through- out Europe because it symbolized the long, difficult pilgrimage to the Holy Land that many people couldn't make during the Crusades. "They couldn't go to Je- rusalem because it was too dangerous, so they used a labyrinth as a means of making that pilgrimage in a safe way," Denault said. "I think we can consider it our own pilgrimage to Jerusalem." "But labyrinths aren't tied to any religion or partic- ular culture," Christine Powers said. "They go back in our history globally, 4,000 years. The first indication of a labyrinth-style walking garden showed up in India. They've also found early labyrinth designs in places such as Siberia, South America and in our country among the Hopis in the Southwest." The modern labyrinth movement began during the 1990s in San Francisco as a response to the Aids crisis; begun by the Rev. Lauren Artress who felt people needed a place to find peace, comfort, and accep- tance. Christine was introduced to the concept by Susan Howard, the owner of Mary's Labyrinth, a Legacy Lab- yrinth at Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan. "We had always been looking for a way to bring people to our property," she said. "The moment I saw it I knew I had to build one here. It was an almost struck-by- lightning moment." One of the biggest hurdles was convincing Larry, her husband, to go along with the idea. "It took me six months," Christine said, smiling. But just like their marriage, it was a match made in heaven because he's a professional builder, with years of experience in the construction industry. "There's 250,000 pounds of foundation stone un- derneath," she said. "Every single boulder is from our land. Larry did all the movement with excavators, skid steers and tractors." Working with world-renowned labyrinth designer Tony Christie, of Ireland, the project took two years to build and was dedicated on August 1, 2023. Precise- ly measured paths, from the entrance to the center point, are lined with 1.1 miles of black plastic land- scape edging material. "Ours is considered a Medieval classic, 11-circuit labyrinth," Christine said. "If you think about the rings of a tree, each circuit is a ring. So there's 11 layers into the labyrinth's center." "We told Legacy Labyrinth officials how important this would be for the Adirondacks," she said. "Especial- ly as society is becoming more divisive we felt it was really important to have a place where people could drop their labels and just be. It's not religious. It's safe and welcoming for all." "One of our intentions for doing the labyrinth was to give back to the community," Larry said. "What I'm The Asa Adirondack Labyrinth: A Sanctuary of Stones By Paul Post

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