The most recent New York State Forest Rangers Report includes efforts to rescue more than a half dozen hikers lost or with knee or lower leg injuries in the Adirondacks and Catskills. [Read more…] about Rangers Report Multiple Rescues of Lost, Injured Hikers
Raquette Lake
Alvah Dunning: The Guide Behind the Adirondack Hermit
In March 1902, eighty-five-year-old Alvah Dunning traveled from the Adirondacks to New York City for a sportsmen’s exhibition. By then, photographs and newspaper profiles had made his white beard and weathered face familiar. Visitors were not meeting an unknown woodsman.
They were being introduced to “Uncle Alvah,” a man presented as one of the last survivors of the Adirondacks before railroads, hotels and private preserves changed the region. [Read more…] about Alvah Dunning: The Guide Behind the Adirondack Hermit
Rare and Fragile Floating Bogs and Fens
New York State is home to several rare and fragile floating bogs and fens. These unique ecosystems feature mats of sphagnum moss and vegetation that actually float over water.
Bogs and fens are both peatlands (wetlands that build up deposits of dead plant matter called peat). The primary difference is their water source: bogs are largely by nutrient-poor rainwater, making them highly acidic. Fens are fed by mineral-rich groundwater, making them alkaline or neutral. [Read more…] about Rare and Fragile Floating Bogs and Fens
Rangers Battle Wildfires; Rescue Numerous Hikers; High Tor Fall Victim; Recover Teen at Kaaterskill Creek
Wildfires remain a concern across New York State. Checking the weather before hiking. The temperature and conditions at the top of a mountain are often very different from those at the trailhead.
It’s Mud Season, wildland stewards advise that recreationists should stick to drier lower elevation areas to avoid damaging trails and fragile higher elevation ecosystems.
The following are recent missions carried out by New York State Forest Rangers: [Read more…] about Rangers Battle Wildfires; Rescue Numerous Hikers; High Tor Fall Victim; Recover Teen at Kaaterskill Creek
Rangers Rescue Hiker, Recover Body, Respond to Snowmobile Incidents
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents throughout New York State locating and extracting lost, injured or distressed people and policing state lands.
This report of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers was prepared by DEC: [Read more…] about Rangers Rescue Hiker, Recover Body, Respond to Snowmobile Incidents
Forest Rangers Conduct Multiple Search & Rescue Missions
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents throughout New York State locating and extracting lost, injured or distressed people and policing state lands.
This report of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers was prepared by DEC: [Read more…] about Forest Rangers Conduct Multiple Search & Rescue Missions
Great Camp Sagamore: The Gilded Age Meets the Great Outdoors
The latest episode of the ADK Talks podcast uncovers the rich history of the iconic Adirondack Great Camp Sagamore, once the private getaway of the Vanderbilt family in Raquette Lake, and explores the intriguing blend of luxury and nature, shaping a unique legacy of rustic elegance in Upstate New York. [Read more…] about Great Camp Sagamore: The Gilded Age Meets the Great Outdoors
An 1840s Adirondack Travelogue: Speculator to Long Lake
What follows is an excerpt from The Hunter-Naturalist. Romance of Sporting; or, Wild Scenes and Wild Hunters (ca. 1851) by journalist and explorer Charles Wilkins Webber (1819-1856). In 1855 Webber went to Central America where he joined the filibuster William Walker in Nicaragua to fight in the Filibuster War and was killed in the Second Battle of Rivas on April 11, 1856.
A summer’s journey of sporting adventure towards the North, dating at a much later period in my life than those previously given as personal, included a sojourn amongst that linked and wonderful cluster of Lakes, extending from Hamilton County, in the west of New York, north to Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence. Something of the “Wild Scenes” and characteristic incidents amidst the haughty solitudes of those rugged hemlock-bristled Adirondacks, and their chaste, cold, glistening Lakes, I must give in a fragmentary way. [Read more…] about An 1840s Adirondack Travelogue: Speculator to Long Lake
Michael Wilson: A River Ran Through Him
People know when they connect easily. So, on meeting him I knew I had some manner of soul friend in Michael Wilson. I must have met him at Great Camp Sagamore, the great camp in Raquette Lake, where he and his Beverly Bridger served as associate and executive directors respectively from 1989 to 2013.
Michael died this winter, and I will remember him with much affection and admiration. I remember his laugh, and his eyes lit up when we met. I remember Michael investigating the social, cultural, and class dimensions of Adirondack wilderness, conservation, architecture, and other histories all around Sagamore. [Read more…] about Michael Wilson: A River Ran Through Him
Northern New York Railroad News, 1880-1895
In 1895, railroad travel through the Champlain Valley got a service upgrade. “Vestibule dining room cars will be run on three of the Delaware and Hudson trains beginning July 1,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported on June 29, 1895. “Train No. 102’s dining car will run from Plattsburg to Whitehall, No. 101 from Whitehall to Rouses Point, and Train No. 8 will serve supper from Rouses Point to Plattsburg.”
In other 19th century railroad news collected from Northern New York historic newspapers: [Read more…] about Northern New York Railroad News, 1880-1895
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
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
Adirondack Park Land Reclassified To Allow More Motorized Access
Governor Kathy Hochul has approved the 2023-24 Adirondack Park State Land classification package. The action includes 36 state land classifications and changes in classification totaling about 6,250 acres. The majority of these lands are now classified to allow motor vehicle access, including Forest Preserve lands (state lands in the Adirondack Park) formerly classified as Wilderness. [Read more…] about Adirondack Park Land Reclassified To Allow More Motorized Access
A Short History of Logging Whitney Preserve in the Adirondacks
Nehasane, Brandreth and Whitney Preserves were three private parks in the Adirondacks that included logging railroads built to extract large stands of virgin timber in the late 19th century.
The illustrious career of William Collins Whitney (1841-1904) was chronicled in a New York City social diary titled “The Gilded Age Billionaires”: “His political star rose right along with his business ventures … and he eventually entered national politics through Grover Cleveland’s Administration where he was Secretary of the Navy.” [Read more…] about A Short History of Logging Whitney Preserve in the Adirondacks
Rollins Pond, Golden Beach Campground Comments Sought
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) are holding joint public comment periods to solicit comments for the Rollins Pond and Golden Beach Campground and Day Use Area Unit Management Plans (UMPs). The public is invited to submit input on the draft plans, which will guide future management of the facilities over the next five years and their conformance to the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan. Comments will be accepted until September 18, 2023. [Read more…] about Rollins Pond, Golden Beach Campground Comments Sought
Rangers Make Rescues in Indian Lake, Long Lake, Newcomb, Cortland County, Kaaterskill Creek
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.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers. [Read more…] about Rangers Make Rescues in Indian Lake, Long Lake, Newcomb, Cortland County, Kaaterskill Creek
Child Hit by Boat Propeller on Adirondack Lake
On Thursday, July 6 at about 3 pm, New York State Police and Forest Rangers responded to a report of a child with a significant leg injury after being hit by a boat propeller on Raquette Lake in the Adirondacks. [Read more…] about Child Hit by Boat Propeller on Adirondack Lake
New Partnership Aims to Protect Raquette Headwaters
The Headwaters Campaign is an effort to address the unique challenges faced by lake associations in the headwaters of the St. Lawrence River, which includes the Raquette River watershed, as they strive to stop the spread of invasive species and meet other critical stewardship needs. [Read more…] about New Partnership Aims to Protect Raquette Headwaters
A Nordic Ski Adventure in Raquette Lake
With the return of winter and a decent snowpack in the Adirondack backcountry, this is the perfect time to explore a new trail or area that you have never experienced before.
For this outing I chose the Powerhouse and Cascades Trails in the Historic Great Camps Special Management Area, which is part of the Blue Ridge Wilderness located in Raquette Lake, in Hamilton County, NY. [Read more…] about A Nordic Ski Adventure in Raquette Lake
Bodies Recovered After Fall Into Niagara Falls Gorge, Snowmobile Accident
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers recovered two bodies in separate incidents in Upstate New York on Monday, February 13th. In the first, a woman’s body was recovered from Niagara Falls Gorge.
Several hours later Rangers recovered the body of a snowmobilier killed when his sled hit a tree in the Adirondacks. [Read more…] about Bodies Recovered After Fall Into Niagara Falls Gorge, Snowmobile Accident