NYS Forest Rangers had a busy July 4th weekend in which they recovered the body of a paddler; rescued two people on an inflatable kayak from rapids they didn’t know existed on the Saranac River; assisted with an overturned sailboat on Lake Champlain; rescued someone from the rapids in the Siamese Ponds Wilderness; and two teens hiding from a black bear near Lake George. [Read more…] about Rangers Recover Paddler’s Body, Make Multiple Rescues July 4th Weekend
Fulton Chain
Grace Brown, Her Murderer Chester Gillette & Old Herkimer Jailhouse
In 1906, the murder of the pregnant Grace Brown by her boyfriend Chester Gillette at Big Moose Lake in northern Herkimer County became one of New York State’s most widely followed criminal cases.
The two met at Gillette’s uncle’s skirt factory in Cortland, NY, where they became involved and Brown became pregnant. Refusing to accept responsibility, he made arrangements for a trip to the Adirondacks. [Read more…] about Grace Brown, Her Murderer Chester Gillette & Old Herkimer Jailhouse
Twitchell Lake: Wilderness, Survey and Settlement
Twitchell Lake is an Adirondack gem that has been protected over time by its remote location. Originally carved out by the last glacier, it drains northwestward into Beaver River, which exits the Adirondacks into Lewis County’s Black River, finally meandering its way into Lake Ontario. Twitchell’s location is starred on this unique watershed map. [Read more…] about Twitchell Lake: Wilderness, Survey and Settlement
Horrendous Old Adirondack Roads and Buck Boards
The Adirondacks’ earliest highways — and by far its smoothest — were its major waterways. Until well into the 1900s, its roads navigating the land were memorable, but for all the wrong reasons. Early travel writers who otherwise loved the Adirondacks despised its roads.
In 1881 Nessmuk (George Washington Sears), wrote this about the first half of the “Old Road” from Boonville to Arnold’s Hotel and the nearby Fulton Chain of Lakes: “The route was not pleasant. Hills, hollows, sand up to the hubs, boulders, and six miles of corduroy road. Such was the first twelve miles … to Moose River.” [Read more…] about Horrendous Old Adirondack Roads and Buck Boards
Massive Storm Damage on Northville-Placid Trail Cleared
During the summer, several tornados and microbursts touched down in Hamilton, Fulton, and Saratoga counties. Significant damage occurred to the Northville- Placid Trail in the Adirondacks south of Piseco, making the trail difficult to navigate and largely impassable in places. [Read more…] about Massive Storm Damage on Northville-Placid Trail Cleared
Rangers Respond: Several Late Night Rescues, Campground Fire
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents throughout New York State. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people and engage in policing on New York State Lands.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers. [Read more…] about Rangers Respond: Several Late Night Rescues, Campground Fire
EPA Researchers Develop Forecasting for Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms
Freshwater cyanobacteria are found in all lakes and reservoirs, are naturally occurring, and are important to water ecosystems; however, excessive growth of some cyanobacteria can result in harmful cyanobacterial blooms (HCBs, also called cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms or HABs).
These blooms can cause unsightly scums that smell like rotting eggs or septic. Toxins from HCBs can negatively impact people, animals, and the environment. [Read more…] about EPA Researchers Develop Forecasting for Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms
19th Century Railroad News from Northern New York
It was high-speed rail – a little too high speed for some passengers’ comfort level. “The fastest time on the new railroad was made yesterday by the accommodation freight train, which ran from this place [Glens Falls] to Lake George in eleven minutes,” the Glen’s Falls Messenger reported on June 23, 1882. [Read more…] about 19th Century Railroad News from Northern New York
Big Moose Tract in Herkimer County Recreation Plan Released
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released the final recreation management plan (RMP) for the Big Moose Tract Conservation Easement in the town of Webb, Herkimer County. The RMP guides public recreation management on the 23,850-acre property, consistent with the encumbering conservation easement. [Read more…] about Big Moose Tract in Herkimer County Recreation Plan Released
Adirondacks’ Big Moose Tract Comments Sought
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is seeking public comment on the draft Recreation Management Plan (RMP) for the Big Moose Tract Conservation Easement in the town of Webb, Herkimer County, NY. [Read more…] about Adirondacks’ Big Moose Tract Comments Sought
1900 Adirondack Steamboat Tuscarora Restoration Project Underway
A group of Adirondack residents and boat experts is outlining a future for the 123-year-old steamboat Tuscarora.
In 1900 William West Durant — known for great camps and grand schemes — commissioned A. C. Brown, of Staten Island, to build a coal-fired passenger steamboat on the shore of Blue Mountain Lake. [Read more…] about 1900 Adirondack Steamboat Tuscarora Restoration Project Underway
Eagle Bay in the Adirondacks: A Primer
Eagle Bay lies in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains of New York State at an elevation of 1,720 feet above sea level.
Situated just north of 4th Lake and about ten miles east of Old Forge the small hamlet (one of 94 in the Adirondacks) has seasonal activity consisting of winter snowmobiling, cross country skiing, and snowshoeing. Summer events focus on the various surrounding lakes, ponds, mountains, and hiking trails. [Read more…] about Eagle Bay in the Adirondacks: A Primer
Along The Mohawk & Malone: Forest Fires & Logging South of Big Moose (1900-1920)
Born in England, John Gerald Fitzgerald (1850-1925) attended seminary in Troy, NY, accepting his first assignment as a priest in the Diocese of Ogdensburg. Following pastorates in upstate New York, Father Fitz – as he was affectionately called – was given the daunting challenge of establishing a parish in Old Forge, in the Adirondacks.
In 1896, Northern Herkimer County was a heavily forested region dotted by tiny hamlets, scattered lumber camps, and remote railroad stations along the Mohawk & Malone Railroad. For the next twenty-nine years, he got off the Mohawk & Malone at stations like McKeever, Carter, Big Moose, Beaver River, Brandreth, Keepewa, Nehasane, and Horseshoe Lake, carrying his bible and sacraments from these stops to remote lumber camps on snowshoes, wearing his trademark coonskin cap and woolen mittens. His parish stretched over a 200 square-mile area. [Read more…] about Along The Mohawk & Malone: Forest Fires & Logging South of Big Moose (1900-1920)
Adirondack Conservation News: 5 Things You Should Know
Schumer visits Lake Placid to talk Inflation Reduction Act
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer visited Lake Placid at the end of August to tout the economic and climate benefits of the recently signed-into-law Inflation Reduction Act. Schumer was joined by Adirondack Mountain Club Executive Director Michael Barrett and Adirondack Council Executive Director Willie Janeway, who praised the act as “historic” in its scope and benefits to the Adirondack Park. [Read more…] about Adirondack Conservation News: 5 Things You Should Know
Through The Fulton Chain of Lakes in 1877
The adventure began with an exchange of letters in the spring of 1877 between a sportsman in Syracuse, NY, and Byron P. Graves of Boonville, a town on the western border of the Adirondacks. The purpose of this correspondence was to hire a guide and transportation for a two-week hunting and fishing trip into the Fulton Chain of Lakes for the man and his 11-year-old son Ned.
The sportsman was Ansel Judd Northrup, a 43-year-old attorney who would later write the book, Camps and Tramps in the Adirondacks (1882), where this story was first told. The final communication from Northrup, in the form of a telegraph, simply read, “Engage Brinckerhoff, will reach Boonville, morning train, July 5th.” [Read more…] about Through The Fulton Chain of Lakes in 1877
An Adirondack Surveyor’s Basecamp At Twitchell Lake
As Frank Tweedy approached the end of his four-year stint with forest surveyor Squire Snell on Verplanck Colvin’s Adirondack Survey, Southwest Division, he was no longer a tenderfoot, but a veteran surveyor and topographer, with many miles of survey work in the Beaver River basin and six expertly drawn maps to his credit.
His southern trek to finish the Totten and Crossfield Tract boundary line necessitated a new base camp well south of Beaver River. Twitchell Lake in Big Moose was the perfect location. [Read more…] about An Adirondack Surveyor’s Basecamp At Twitchell Lake
A Short History Of Eagle Bay In The Adirondacks
Eagle Bay lies in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains of New York State at an elevation of 1,720 feet. Situated just north of 4th Lake on the Fulton Chain, and about ten miles east of Old Forge, the small hamlet (one of 94 designated hamlets in the Adirondacks) has seasonal activity consisting of winter snowmobiling, cross country skiing, and snowshoeing. Summer events focus on the various surrounding lakes, ponds, mountains, and hiking trails. [Read more…] about A Short History Of Eagle Bay In The Adirondacks
An Abandoned Canal Hides Deep In The Adirondack Woods
Farrand Benedict, surveyor and professor of mathematics and engineering at the University of Vermont in Burlington, wrote a proposal for a canal across the Adirondacks in 1846.
His plan was to use the Black River Canal with its connection to the Erie Canal at Rome and build a railroad from Boonville, on the Black River Canal, to Old Forge. He was then going to utilize the Fulton Chain of Lakes, Raquette Lake, Long Lake, the Raquette River and the Saranac Lakes with various lock systems, dams, and inclines to the Saranac River for canal boat traffic. [Read more…] about An Abandoned Canal Hides Deep In The Adirondack Woods
The Crego Family: Three Generations of Adirondack Guides
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, three generations of the Crego family worked as wilderness guides in the Western Adirondacks. Along the way, they raised families, worked for prominent employers, adapted to new forms of transportation, and helped lay the groundwork for the conservation movement in New York State. [Read more…] about The Crego Family: Three Generations of Adirondack Guides
A New History of the Fulton Chain
A new history covering the Fulton Chain of Lakes region from Moose River Settlement to its boundary west of Raquette Lake is now available.
Regular contributor to the Weekly Adirondack of Old Forge Charles E. Herr’s new book, The Fulton Chain: Early Settlement, Roads, Steamboats, Railroads and Hotels, documents the story of the stalwart folk whose lives shaped the Fulton Chain.
The book represents the first general history of the Fulton Chain region in almost seventy years.
[Read more…] about A New History of the Fulton Chain