Lake Vanare, New York: Bunyan Muffler Man: One Arm

Our local muffler man has been spruced up a bit! Still missing his right arm, though.

Some good news on the Lake Vanare (or Adirondack Memories Campground) Muffler Man. After years of neglect, storms and missing body parts, this Bunyan is almost all back together again. I was pleasantly surprised on my visit to the Lake George area to find him repainted and restored near the entrance to the campground on a hillside by the road. They have cleared the area around him so he no longer is in the woods but stands at the edge of it next to half a tree that one can assume he cut down with that saw of his. His head has also been returned and reattached and he is looking much better these days. He is now just missing a foot and his right arm.

My brother David and I have recently purchased the campground formerly known as Swiss Trail (now Adirondack Memories Campground). We have resurrected the headless Muffler Man. We call him Paul Bunyan.

We are hoping to find the head and restore him to his full glory. We would be forever grateful for any tips to the whereabouts of his head!

The poor condition of the campsite Muffler Man in Lake Luzurne, a few miles from Lake George has further degenerated. Driving past it just three nights ago I realized that the head of the "Paul Bunyan" muffler man had been removed. The figure still stands with a "Campsite" sign propped against the tree, but he is now headless, casting a gloomy impression down upon the road as you drive by.

Some background on the "Swiss Trail" muffler man near Lake George, NY... My parents owned the campground where the Paul Bunyan stands from 1976 to 1985. He was there when we bought the property, then called "Swiss Campsites." We revamped the name to "Swiss Trail Campsites" and had the shirt painted to reflect the new name. I was only 11, so I have no memory of how we got the painting done. Your spotters are good if they found him way up on the rocks in the trees like that. I used to play up there with my sister.

I contacted the current owner of the Swiss Trail Muffler Man (now "Adirondack Memories Campground") last night and he said the man was tragically damaged in a storm last fall (2002). His head actually came off. He moved the head aside, and later, when he was mowing, he noticed that it had been stolen. After that he received three calls inquiring about the headless man. He figured it was whoever had taken the head wanting to get the rest. In his own words, "I was too stubborn for that." I still hope to visit this summer and see the headless and one-armed man marking the entrance to what I used to call home.

Could this be the most tattered M-Man on record?