June 23rd, 2010 · News
The latest DEC Forest Ranger Activity Report just arrived, and there’s a distinct pattern to the incidents. Here are some highlights, full release after the jump:
- Hiking with a group of friends and reportedly had had nothing to eat or drink all day.
- 60 year old male from Canada whose eye had been impaled by a tree branch.
- Seizure from potential dehydration
- Fishing buddies “abandon” friend
- “pale and dizzy” – reportedly had been drinking water but had not eaten all day.
- Lost with kids
- More abandoned hiking friends
- No flashlights
[Read more →]
Tags: accident·dec·essex county·high peaks·hike·warren county·washington county
“Across the lake from Hotel Champlain, Lake Champlain, N.Y.”
Circa 1904 – About this item
“Lake Champlain from back-lawn of Clinton Community College”
Circa 2009 – Pano
Tags: clinton county·heritage·lake champlain
The rich diversity of natural life in the Adirondacks never ceases to fascinate me. Dr. Janet Mihuc at Paul Smiths College is leading an effort to inventory the Giant Silkmoths of the Adirondacks. She’s hoping that volunteer citizen-scientists will help by submitting sightings. Sightings will become part of the Adirondack All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) database and will be used to construct occurrence maps for each silkmoth species. It’s thought that the numbers of these moths are on the decline and this data help establish a baseline for future studies.
Uh, these really are “Giant” moths:
Hyalophora cecropia (Robin Moth) (by Anita363)
Volunteer sightings are needed from all parts of Northern New York. Could be a really fun thing to do.
The survey runs through July 30, 2010. www.projectsilkmoth.org
Tags: paul smiths·wildlife
May 28th, 2010 · News
We have big “Parks” and little “parks”. In case you haven’t heard, New York State is having a bit of a fiscal issue. While the rest of our “system” languishes in a limbo of budget-extenders, Department of Environmental Conservation and Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation fought their own battle and “won” a small victory.
Every organization with a stake in state budget negotiations is doing the same with mixed results. You could say that I’m one of those “mixed results”. And like most things in life, there are two sides of the coin.
Update: Mountain Visions recognizes this game.
Legislature Successfully Defends Paterson’s Assualt On EPF
Paterson tossed a grenade into the assembly and senate chambers and waited for someone to dive on it. Of course there probably isn’t one upstanding human being in the legislature, so they did the only thing they could, they tossed the EPF on it to save themselves.
Tags: economic development·new york·politics·taxes
“Git up Thar”
The Adirondacks are the paradise of the stagecoach driver. A peculiar genius is this Adirondack driver, as a rule. He does not at all suggest the immortal older Weller. If ever there was a distinctly American type, it is he ; but he belongs to his coach as much as Sandy in the old song belonged to his mill. He is essentially a product of the region. There is nothing conventional either in his speech or his appearance. The only concession he is known to make to the generally accepted social decalogue is in the matter of smoking. 
An Adirondack stage-driver smokes continually, but he never appears on the roof of his coach with a pipe in his mouth ; that would be beneath his dignity. He smokes cigars, and he smokes them from the time he gets up in the morning until he goes to bed at night. In all other respects he has contempt for the dictates of fashion. His topboots and big straw hat are picturesque, but they do not convey any impression that their owner is oppressed with ideas of order ; in fact, they look hot and uncomfortable. Moreover, he drives in his shirt-sleeves, — a proceeding which would have horrified the older generation of English mail-coachmen… (Link)
Stages through the ages
BY COACH AND BUCKBOARD TO BLUE MOUNTAIN LAKE.
TWO HIGHWAYMEN ROB AN ADIRONDACK COACH
“The Great Stagecoach Robbery”
Stage Coach in Hamilton county, 1910 (jpg)
Stage Coach in Hamilton county, 1910 up close (jpg)
Tags: crime·heritage·transportation
Lake Placid NY, circa 1911. “Stevens House and Mirror Lake, Whiteface Mountain seen in distance nearest house”
About this item – Big View – Large (2.13 Mb)
Tags: essex county·heritage·lake placid·lodging
May 6th, 2010 · News
Too lazy and slightly shocked to copy, paste and spiff-up the press release. Brian already posted most of the details over at The In Box.
Funny thing, I’m not sure this is really a bad thing. No motorized access to the Moose River Plains? Doesn’t really bum me out too much.
Adirondack Road Density
Here’s more:
Tags: dec·forest preserve·new york·taxes
