Adirondack Almanack

No Adirodnack Park Agency Meeting in December

2009-11-21T15:00:00.003-05:00

The Adirondack Park Agency will not hold its December 10-11, 2009 regularly scheduled board meeting. According to an APA press release, "No agency proceedings requiring Board action are necessary before the regularly scheduled January 2010 meeting." APA Chairman Curtis F. Stiles stated (in the release) that “Due to a lack of actionable content for our December meeting, it is in the best economic

Adirondack Tree Identification 102

2009-11-21T06:00:00.001-05:00

Now that we’ve mastered the trees with opposite branching, it’s time to turn our attention to those whose branches alternate from left to right (more or less). There are many species of trees that fit this category, and many of them exist here in the Adirondacks. To write even a quick ID guide for all of them would take more space than we have here, so I’m only going to touch on those that are

Weekly Adirondack Web Highlights

2009-11-20T15:00:00.005-05:00

Wend: Video of Rock Climbers Forming "350" Small Pines, Assignment Adirondacks: The Vacationist USA Luge: Athletes' Press Conference Motion City Soundtrack: Music Video Shot Near Saranac Lake The Landscapist: 1950s Adirondack Cabin Colonies NASA Earth Observatory: Late Fall Adirondack Mountains Preservation in Pink: Lake Champlain Bridge Redtree Times: Adirondack Memories [Logging] Each Friday

Lake George Steamboats Resuming Service to Bolton Landing

2009-11-20T12:05:00.005-05:00

The Lake George Steamboat Company suspended service to Bolton Landing in 2006, citing the poor condition of the town pier as its reason for discontinuing a tradition that began in the nineteenth century. Next summer, though, after a three year hiatus, the steamboats will return.At its monthly meeting in November, the Bolton Town Board voted unanimously to accept a bid of $929,292 from The Dock

This Week's Top Adirondack News Stories

2009-11-20T06:00:00.003-05:00

Two Dead In Newcomb Plane crash Hoffman Un-concedes 23d CD Race Women Ski Jumpers Lose Court Case Sprague Wins Essex County DA Race Lyon Mountain May Become Wild Forest Yearly: Billion Gals. of Sewage Into Hudson Ticonderoga Ferry to Stay Open New Snowmobile Trail Rules Adopted APA Reverses Lows Lake Decision

Adirondack Music Scene:Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad and More

2009-11-19T15:00:00.003-05:00

Saturday night I will be checking out Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad at The Red Square in downtown Albany. I never considered myself a big reggae fan until I met these guys. It was at The Red Square in 2005. A band called Mountain Mojo Authority was playing and the percussionist (Buddy Honeycutt) and keyboard player (Aaron Lipp) were in both bands, both reggae bands from Rochester. Mountain Mojo

Adirondack Bird Research Resources

2009-11-19T12:00:00.023-05:00

It's 4 a.m. on a chilled morning in early June. Still three hours away from sunrise so my weak headlamp casts an eerie and unnatural glow to the trail as I pick my way through rock, stream, and unseen balsam fir branches. I'm heading to the summit of Wright Peak in the Adirondack High Peaks Region. Nearing the summit I must first stop every 250 meters from a predetermined point on my map. Here I

Moby Dick and the Adirondacks

2009-11-19T06:00:00.012-05:00

Long ago there were whales at the edge of the Adirondacks, but it wasn’t till last year that I saw one myself—the same day our trail was blocked by a bull moose, another creature I’ve yet to see here. This wild kingdom was on Gaspe peninsula, Quebec. The whale left a huge impression, as did Moby Dick. I can’t pretend to have read this engrossing however longass 1851 book, but I listened to it on

Adirondack Tree Indentification 101

2009-11-18T15:00:00.003-05:00

I was a Stumpy – a student at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry. While an undergrad, I was enrolled in the Dual Program: Resource Management (forestry) and Environmental and Forest Biology. A required course for forestry majors, as you might well imagine, was dendrology, or the study of trees, and a huge part of dendro was simply learning to identify one species of tree from

A Short Adirondack Hike For Short Days

2009-11-18T12:00:00.006-05:00

November is one of those in-between months, sort of like mud or black-fly season, where your outdoor activities are sort of limited. There's no snow yet (not anymore, not like the old days anyway), it's too cold to paddle unless you're a die-hard and without any leaves the woods certainly don't look terribly appealing. Not to mention the fact that it gets dark only a few hours past noon.Our

A Short History of Adirondack Airplane Crashes

2009-11-18T06:00:00.002-05:00

Yesterday's tragic death of two in the crash of a Piper Cherokee 140 single engine aircraft en route from Saratoga to Malone recalls the sometimes perilous nature of airplane travel in the Adirondacks. While the investigation is still underway, New York State Police have confirmed that Daniel R. Wills, age 48, of North Bangor, and his passenger Ronald E. Rouselle, age 66, of Malone, were killed

Adirondack Family Activities: ADK Leonid Meteor Shower

2009-11-17T15:00:00.010-05:00

My husband and I were up in the pre-dawn morning with probably half the world to essentially watch a fiery burning of debris enter the atmosphere. To then describe to my child a scientific reason for getting out of bed took a bit of research and a chat with an expert. In layman’s terms (that is all I’ve got) the Leonid Meteors got their name from their apparent relationship to the constellation

Cross-Country Ski Centers of the Adirondacks

2009-11-17T12:00:00.012-05:00

These aren't little rascals, they’re good Dewey Mountain kids, helping get their cross-country ski trails ready for winter. The Harrietstown ski area, run by Adirondack Lakes & Trails Outfitters, hosts a volunteer work day 9:30–3:30 Saturday to build a bridge and finish drainage work that’s been ongoing all autumn. (All welcome!) Dewey's just one of many Adirondack ski centers preparing for

A Few Ways Snow Makes Tug Hill Different

2009-11-17T06:00:00.017-05:00

Tug Hill, the 2,100-square-mile uplift west of the Adirondack Park, gets so much snow that camps are said to have entryways on the second floor in case the first floor gets snowed in. Tug Hill gets so much snow that driving through can be like traveling into a snow globe while skies remain clear north and south of the bubble. Tug Hill gets so much snow that plow drivers “plant” ten-foot-tall

Noah Rondeau: A Day in His Woods

2009-11-16T15:00:00.003-05:00

Many an article and book is available describing the life of Noah Rondeau and his hermitage. Interactions with the few hikers who ventured into his area portrayed a favorable gentleman who loved the company of some people as well as his solitude. Pictures are worth a thousand words and attach emotion to the text. A walk to the site of the former hermitage, however, allows a person an even

Exporting The Adirondack Park Model to England

2009-11-16T12:00:00.003-05:00

There's been a lot of discussion in recent months about the exportation of the "Adirondack model" - the sense that the environmental conservation model used here in the Adirondack region can be exported to other places in the world. It's an argument that North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann called "one of the great orthodoxies of Adirondack theory."Recent interviews by former Adirondack Park

The Last Days of John Brown: Southern Fears

2009-11-16T06:00:00.003-05:00

There were about 4 million slaves in the United States at the time of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859. Slavery in the South rested on complex and often convoluted political, social, and economic systems, enforced by violence. Perhaps because forcing people to work for you for free was so dependent on violence, the south was continuously racked with fear - fear that one's

World Cup Bobsled, Skeleton Returns to Lake Placid

2009-11-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

The 2009-10 FIBT World Cup bobsled and skeleton season is underway and some of world’s best bobsledders and skeleton athletes will be coming to the Olympic Sports Complex track in Lake Placid, during the second stop of the seven-race tour November 20-22. Here are the details supplied by the Olympic Regional Development Authority, who manages the Lake Placid Olympic venues:While in Lake Placid,

Lecture: The Klan, Vigilantism in the Adirondacks

2009-11-14T12:00:00.004-05:00

Writer and social historian Amy Godine will be giving a talk about vigilantes and the Ku Klux Klan on Sunday, November 22, at 3 p.m., at 511 Gallery on Main Street in Lake Placid. The lecture, entitled "Have You Seen That Vigilante Man?”, is being sponsored by The Lake Placid Institute.Those interested in local history should be familiar with Godine's work on social and ethnic history of the

Porcupines - Armed and Dangerous

2009-11-14T06:00:00.002-05:00

At the mention of the word “porcupine” most of us conjure in our minds the image of a medium-sized brown animal covered with long quills. But beyond this, I’d be willing to say that the average person knows very little about our second largest rodent, a relatively shy animal with poor eyesight, little muscle tone, and a fondness for salt. So, I thought I’d look into the cultural and natural

Weekly Adirondack Web Highlights

2009-11-13T16:00:00.002-05:00

NCPR Gallery: Mark Kurtz Bridge Photography Adirondack Park Agency: Live and Archived Video High Country News: Confessions of an Off-Road Outlaw MoFYC: Post Star: Don't Let Facts Interfere With Rant Adirondack Lifestyle: Early November Whiteface Ski Kathryn Cramer: Strange Hunt for Icelandic Woman Small Pines: You’ve Been Orchestrated The In Box: The Adk-North Country 4th Estate Paddling.Net: Is

APA Votes to Reverse Lows Lake Wilderness Classification

2009-11-13T14:25:00.004-05:00

All three of Governor David Paterson's representatives on the Adirondack Park Agency board have reversed votes made in September and opposed designation of the waters of Lows Lake as Wilderness, Primitive, or Canoe. By a 6-4 vote the APA had added most of the waters and bed of Lows Lake to the Five Ponds Wilderness in September. The rest of the lake was classified as Primitive, which would have

State Investigators Probing Lake George Officials

2009-11-13T12:00:00.001-05:00

The New York State Comptrollers Office is investigating potentially illegal actions by Town of Lake George officials, a spokesman for the Comptroller’s office said. “An investigation is underway but we cannot comment on its scope or how it was initiated,” said Mark Johnson, a spokesman for Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Lake George supervisor Lou Tessier said he had no knowledge of any

This Week's Top Adirondack News Stories

2009-11-13T06:00:00.002-05:00

15 NNY Dairy Farms Bought-Out DOT: New Bridge Will Cost $67M Emergency Ferry Service May End Comptroller Investigating Lake George Officials Proposed Forest Preserve Addition Hacketts Files for Bankruptcy Champlain Bridge Can't Be Repaired Lewis Legislators Back Rooftop Highway

Adirondack Music Scene:Blues, Bluegrass, Heavy Metal and Jazz

2009-11-12T15:00:00.009-05:00

Quite a variety this week. Country Legend in Glens Falls, Heavy Metal Nightmare in Albany, Bluegrass in Peru, and Jazz in North Creek. Whatever your musical taste, come out and support live music.Thursday, November 12Tonight in Glens Falls, country music great George Jones will perform at the Glens Falls Civic Center. This show is part of a Thanksgiving canned food drive, so bring non-perishable