2nd Quarter 2020

NORTH WOODS NEWSTHE QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH WOODS CHAPTER

OF THE ADIRONDACK MOUNTAIN CLUB

CHAPTER OFFICERS and COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS

Chairman: Gretchen GedroizVice Chair: Kathy O’Kane

Secretary: Susan OmohundroTreasurer: Elisabeth Craven

Director - Kathy O’KaneOutings: Carol Edmonds

Conservation: John OmohundroMembership: Elisabeth Craven

Newsletter: Jim EdmondsPrograms: Marilyn Gillespie

From our Chapter Chairperson

Where’s the Schedule?

We need to thank our Outings Committee, and their Volunteer Outings Leaders, for putting together a great Second Quarter Event Schedule. Together, they planned 32 events for the second quarter - that’s about one event every three days. We should all let them know that we appreciate their efforts.

And then … well you all know what happened then. We suddenly had a worldwide “Mud Season”. As a result The Adirondack Mountain Club recommended that all group outings and events be cancelled until further notice. The North Woods Chapter will comply with this recommendation.

If the Adirondack Mountain Club changes its recommendation, we will send you a Schedule for the remainder of the 2nd Quarter.

But there is one exception! For many years, our Chapter has had a very “special” outing event every April 1st. Some have been so cleverly worded that some members have actually tried to sign up for one of these events. So, the following outing will be held.

April 1, ThursdayBicycle Ride and Hike - Whiteface MountainLeader: A. E. Neuman at 518-354-7966 or madmag@gmail.com An early season bicycle ride, to the summit of Whiteface Mountain on the Veterans’ Memorial Highway. At the “Castle” we will dismount and climb the final stretch to the summit, or, those who would rather can spelunk into the mountain and use the elevator shaft stairs. Hopefully, we will be able to enjoy some hot chocolate with the scientists who have been quarantined at the summit weather station. We return the way we came. A helmet and good brakes are required. Tire chains are recommended as we expect to encounter ice and deep snow at the higher elevations.10 mi RT elev. 2300 ft Class C Limit 12

For more detailed information on this Outing, click “HERE”. HERE

You can look forward to a report on the disastrous results of this Expedition in our next newsletter.

Until then, be well and stay safe! Gretchen

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Conservation Report

Crowds in the mountains - On behalf of the chapter I wrote to the High Peaks Working Group offering our advice on dealing with the times of heavy use in the High Peaks area. We emphasized the importance of the use of good data in decision making and our lack of enthusiasm at this time for a permitting system. We suggested educational stewards, shuttles, visitor centers, more parking and restrooms. Pete Nelson, a member of the committee, wrote back a nice reply. If you wish to read what we wrote, let me know.

EPF in state budget - The club has been asking us to write to Gov.Cuomo and state legislators to support the Environmental Protection Fund in the current budget talks. The state is facing large financial shortfalls and the EPF could take a hit. If you didn’t receive an email from ADK providing a simple way to sent in your letter, then you need to get connected! The club sends out regular (but not overwhelming) conservation bulletins to its “action alert” mailing list. You support this club’s mission; you should be on that list. Let me know and I’ll send you a link to sign up.

Growing the conservation group in North Woods- I’d also like to increase the chapter voices on my advisory committee, now numbering about a dozen. I send out a message or call for help about once a month. Once or twice a year we meet to pore over maps, discuss UMPs, or listen to a visitor from a conservation group. Send me your email and I’ll include you.

- John Omohundro, Conservation Chairman omohunjt@northnet.org

The History Cornerby the History Guy

The Tri-Lakes Region in the 1850’s

What did our tri-lakes region look like to a “sport” visiting in the 1850s? I got a vivid sense of that in “A Tramp in the Chateaugay Woods’” by Samuel H. Hammond, the editor of the Albany State Register, who visited in 1854. Hammond’s book was reprinted by Bloated Toe, of Peru NY, in 2014.

Hammond began his tramp at Dannemora, already ten years a prison town, accompanied by his guide Tucker and the dog Shack, who loved to chase deer. They first visited Chazy and Chateaugay Lakes, then headed west to a little round Indian Lake, which you can still find on the map. There they built a “shantee,” a temporary lean-to. Sam found and fondled a fawn. The men built a raft of fir logs for fishing. Throughout this trip they lived mostly on sea biscuit and what they found: venison, trout, rabbit, and grouse. Try that sometime on a chapter outing.

Next, from Meacham Lake, where Sam admired a fisher, the mink’s cousin, they walked south along the Osgood River to Upper St. Regis Lake, where Tucker had stored a canoe. Tucker, or other guides, stashed boats on many ponds, and they all used them for their “sports.” Almost all travel in those days was by water.

They paddled the canoe to Big Clear and Little Clear Ponds, spotting mink and eagles. Sam, like all sports of his time, shot at everything. From the ponds they entered Upper Saranac Lake and found a shantee built by others.

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The History Corner - continued

Except for these occasional shanties and the shoreline canoe caches, Hammond’s Adirondacks were almost trackless. He frequently laments the expected loss of all this to ax and plow.

“Long years hence, … those old primeval trees will be gone. Broad meadows, waving grain, and rich pastures will be there… The wild deer, the moose, the catamount, and the panther will have disappeared. The iron horse will go thundering among those sequestered valleys, dragging his ponderous train…” p 86

Portaging next to Stoney Brook [Stoney Creek] Ponds, our travelers and Shack lodged with a “half breed” host, who sold them a canoe, and his native wife, who baked more sea biscuit. At Third Stoney Pond, they found a small cold stream entering— Ampersand Brook, the mouth of which was teeming with trout.

Sliding into the Raquet (sic) River, Hammond gushed, “One of the most beautiful little rivers in the world.” In such mountains as these, he reflected, you might expect a roaring cascade, but “for fifteen miles above and some fifty below where we entered it, this river, save for a single locality [Raquette Falls], flows along with a deep and steady current..”

He added, “This is a cold, hard region, doubtless… but I selected many a spot where, long years hence, would be beautiful and productive farms. … The interval land along this river will one day be valuable, as it cannot fail to be productive.” p 123. So, does he want farms, or doesn’t he?

Our trampers discovered a moose track in the clay on the Raquette’s bank: “There are but few of these animals left, and they are infinitely shy and cautious. …They have the keenest scent of all the animals of the woods…and the one that made the track we saw may have traversed hundreds of miles since he set his foot in that soft clay..” p 123 The last moose in the region was shot at Low’s Lake about this time.

While camping on Tupper’s Lake, Hammond woke to a distant roaring like waterfall and thunder. In search of the sound, he found trees filled with Passenger Pigeons about half mile inland: “Hundreds of thousands of pigeons had flown away that morning, and yet there were hundreds of thousands, and perhaps many millions, old and young, there yet. It covered acres and acres… every [tree] was loaded with nests…the ground was covered with their offal, and the carcasses of the young in every stage of decay. The great limbs of the trees outside of the brooding place were broken and hanging down, being unable to sustain the weight of the thousands that perched on them…The hawks and carrion birds congregated about. ..Every few minutes would be heard the roar of a flock of the birds as they started from among the trees… two grey foxes were having a good time of it that season among the countless hosts of young pigeons.” p 127

At the south end of Tupper Lake Hammond admired the Bog River Falls: “One of the singularities of the formation of this region of the country… [is] a succession of planes or plateaux rising one above the other, each having its lakes and ponds, the upper discharging its waters down steep declivities, or short rapids, to the next level below, and so on from plain to plain until the drainage of all flows off in a broad river towards [the St. Lawrence and the sea].” p 130

The Bog was the trio’s southernmost point; they returned to Upper Saranac Lake, thence paddled into “Round Lake” (Middle Saranac) and Lower Saranac, where Sam watched a grey squirrel swimming across the lake and speculated as to what made him do it: Love? Territory? Danger? He comments on the Sisters Island and

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The History Corner - continued

Umbrella Island, both of which we paddle by frequently. He enjoyed sights of Ball-Face (Whiteface) from every point in his journey.

From Lower Saranac, a short hike brought them to Coleby’s (Colby) Pond, where they found another canoe and went fishing. Next, down the Saranac to Franklin Falls, where they visited a small hamlet to get a break from eating only venison and trout: “the dinner cooked by the landlady, after the way of civilization, the fresh wheat bread and the sweet milk, was a pleasant thing to sit down to.” By 1854 the hamlet of Franklin Falls was thriving, built around a busy lumber mill capable of sawing forty thousand feet of lumber per day. A large tavern house was just being finished to serve visitors and workers.

Hammond and Tucker and their constant companion Shack concluded their tramp at Ausable Forks before parting. Sam’s adventure is laced with much philosophy and politics that the author has Tucker musing about over the campfire, but I suspect it’s all Sam’s. The real value of this book is reading descriptions of so many places that we know well from chapter outings and imagining them before build-up.

Interesting Websites

Each issue we will try to suggest a few websites which might be of interest to our members. If you have one you would like to recommnd, please send it to adknorthwoodsnews@gmail.com .

NY Department of Environmental Conservation The “DEC” website has a wealth of information about the Adirondack Park. It has information on regulations, the latest news and recommendations for hiking, boating and camping opportunities. Find it here: www.dec.ny.gov

Adirondack.Net This is a “commercial” website that is primarily promoting Adirondack businesses and advertisers - but it does have a lot non-commercial information about the region. A page of hiking guides includes lists of kid-friendly, dog friendly and trail running suggestions.Find it here: www.adirondack.net/hiking/

The Bard of Birch Street is an Adirondack curmudgeon who rarely speaks, but when he does, his every

utterance is in the form of a limerick.

Down to Fundamentals

Can the Covid be spread by a fart?Unsettling thought, it gives this old fart a start.

Guess it’s just one more reasonThis pestilence season,

To always keep six feet apart.

- The Bard of Birch Street, musing on life and . . . art

The Bard of Birch Street

Director’s Report

The March meeting of the ADK Board of Directors was cancelled.

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TRIP REPORTS .... written by the Leaders of last quarter’s Chapter Outings

January 2, Hike: Piney WoodsLeaders: Susan and John Omohundro

The snow was thin over ice, so we wore spikes on this 3-mile trek on trails just outside the Village of Saranac Lake. After viewing the MacKenzie Slough from the railroad bridge, we followed a little-used section of the Jackrabbit Trail (once a snowmobile route) into a plantation of Scots pine punctuated by majestic white pine and the occasional white birch. The understory of young balsam fir was biding its time for the canopy to open. Animal tracks were everywhere in the new snow. We followed the spoor (and the smell) of a fox for quite a way to the trail terminus at Pine Street, then backtracked, taking a couple of short side excursions. We repaired for repast at MacKenzie Grill. Each of the eight participants was asked to announce a New Year’s resolution, which all revolved around tidying up, getting more exercise, or eating better. We then made messes on our table, sitting down, eating French fries. Ah, frail humans!

January 6, Snowshoe: \Kettle Pond - Leader: Carol EdmondsThe adventure (or misadventure) started before we even set foot on the trail. Checking out conditions the day before the outing, we discovered that it was not safe to park on Route 30. Jim Edmonds generously plowed the Hays Brook access road and parking area so we could safely park, although we would have to walk further. Then the leader ended up driving into a ditch, thinking it was the driveway of another hiker she was picking up. At this point I have to say that if you have to get stuck, the Adirondacks is the place to do it. In just a few minutes a couple of different drivers stopped to help, and the car was soon back on the road. Finally we were able to start the hike. We weren’t sure what

the conditions would be, but luckily we all had snowshoes, because they were really necessary. The woods were beautiful with all the tree branches covered with snow. We passed several kettle ponds, some still filled with water, others progressing into bogs. The trail was described by one hiker as “undulating” in an effort to avoid complaining about all the hills. We were taking turns breaking trail, and energy levels began to drop. Open rebellion was only avoided by our arrival at our destination—the final kettle pond, which had become an open meadow. OH NO! The open meadow had grown in, and was rapidly becoming forest. We stopped for

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lunch as I attempted to describe what the view used to look like. The trip back was faster since the trail was broken out, but it started to snow rather heavily. One high point of the return was provided by sharp-eyed Barbara Hollenbeck, who found imprints in the snow that clearly showed a spot where a large predator bird had swooped down and grabbed a small rodent. We made our way back to the cars with only the usual amount of complaining. It had been a nice walk in the woods, but this is not as good an outing as it has been in the past.

January 9, Ski: Tupper Lake Golf Course - Leader: Barbara HollenbeckWhat was planned as a moonlit ski ended up being a sunny afternoon ski. The forecast promised heavy clouds covering the moon, so we changed the outing to earlier in the day. We had a very pleasant ski on perfect snow, exploring the new trail at the Tupper golf course. At one point it was nice to see the elementary kids from the Tupper school having their weekly lesson provided by the town. We finished just after sunset, and saw that clouds were only just beginning to roll in. During the drive home the almost -full moon was a bit misty behind some flimsy cloud cover, but still very visible. Perhaps we should have stayed with the plan for a later evening ski, but it was just as nice to experience the afternoon sunshine.

January 15,, Hike: Hemlock Lean-to - Leader: Barbara HollenbeckWhat we had hoped might be a ski was thwarted by a major thaw followed by a serious freeze. We certainly needed traction devices for our feet. A dusting of new snow the night before was just enough to cover the ice on the trail to Hemlock Hill lean-to. It also provided perfect conditions for tracking small animals who had been recently active near the trail. We identified raccoon, squirrel, and turkey prints along the path. The walk in was pleasant as we noted the beauty of huge glacial erratics on the hills and ice aprons on trees in the low areas. The cloudy sky promised comfortable temperatures warm enough for us to have a leisurely lunch at the lean-to without our getting too chilled. We dispensed with our microspikes on the way out because the damp snow was clinging, creating snowballs underfoot. Moreover, we no longer needed the traction, since the snow had warmed up. As we have noticed during other outings this winter, there was very little bird activity. We heard only one chick-a-dee and spotted none. But we did see people. There were tracks of those who were just a bit in front of us, heading to the Falls, and we had a chat with others going in as we were going out.

January 19, Chapter Potluck Dinner - Organizer: Marilyn GillespieNineteen people enjoyed a leisurely potluck dinner followed by Frank Lescinsky’s presentation on why climbing Mount Marcy on his honeymoon in 1959 was cheaper than going to the Bahamas. Frank also described how he acquired the equipment for the trip and how his equipment has improved over the years. It was interesting to see all the old cars (with fins) in his slides, as well as the old parking area where the trading post used to be. Interesting too to see how much the trails and broader landscape have changed, and how much it has stayed more-or-less the same. Frank’s talk elicited some lively discussion.

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January 20, Ski: The Paul Smith’s VIC - Leader: Gretchen GedroizThe snow at the VIC was perfect for skiing, so the snowshoe trip to Fish Creek Trails that we had planned for the outing was postponed to some time in the future. Those of us signed up for the trip prefer to take advantage of good snow when we have it! With the morning temperature at 0, we let it warm up a bit, met at the VIC at noon to eat lunch in the main lodge, and then headed out on the Woods and Water trail, then proceeded to do a loop on the Heron Marsh trail, Jenkins Mountain trail, and back to the lodge on the Barnum Brook trail. It did warm up into the low double digits. The sun was out, and the sky was a magnificent blue: you need to be outdoors when you have this kind of day in the Adirondacks. The trail conditions were excellent, with enough groomed snow to cover the rocks and roots. We sat inside the lodge afterward, watching the birds at the feeders and remarking what a perfect day it had been. We need as many of these as we can get!

January25, Snowshoe: Massawepie (with the Laurentian Chapter)Leaders: Susan and John OmohundroThe forecast was poor for this outing: a certainty of rain or sleet by 2 p.m. The clouds glowered as we approached the entrance to the Boy Scout reservation at 10. Undaunted, our group of 13, gathered from three Chapters—Laurentian, Black River, and North Woods—strapped on the snowshoes and started south on a large esker paralleling the big Massawepie Lake. A cold breeze clipped our left cheeks. Wind had scalped the snow off the top of the esker, so at times we stumbled over bare ground. After a side trip onto a small esker protruding into charming little Horseshoe Lake we pulled up at a windless spot on the south shore of Massawepie for lunch and a short lecture on the Pleistocene origins of eskers and the Child resort hotel here from 1891 to 1901. We returned north along another trail slabbing the side of an esker so steep that snow falling from the trees created little avalanches. The sleet didn’t start until we were within sight of our cars.

January 30, Snowshoe: Crowfoot Pond - Leader: Elisabeth CravenA beautiful cold but sunny day, warm by lunchtime. Six of us participated in this exploration of an area new to at least one of us. We had hoped to cross-country ski, but the surface was too crunchy (although one of us did give it a try). As there was plenty of snow, we snowshoed. The leader, who had never been to Crowfoot Pond before (!), was surprised by the steady uphill climb all the way to the Pond. The other participants, who had been there in either the spring (wet) or the fall, did not recall that aspect of the trail, but did find the walk much more scenic this time ‘round, with snow covering everything and the sound of the babbling brook half-covered with ice that we followed most of the way up. The trail is narrow

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enough that this ski would be for experts only. We encountered lots of blow-downs, which the leader is reporting to the CAT trailmaster at his request. February 3, Snowshoe: Flume Knob - Leaders: Susan and John Omohundro

Everyone knows Whiteface; some have heard of Bear Den, to its north, but how about Flume Knob, to Bear Den’s north? We hadn’t, not until recently, so we showed it off today to three other folks. The first mile is a piece of cake, but then we climb over 1,000 feet in the second mile. Fortunately, we did not have to break trail. The reward is the scenery: massive pines of various species, rock outcroppings with ice falls, and glimpses of the Ausable River Valley. On the summit one can see Lake Champlain . . . on a clear day. But we had intermittent snow squalls, so no lake. But we did have the excitement of seeing Fearless Leader tumble while

retrieving a pole that the wind blew off the summit rock. He didn’t quite go over the cliff, so this report has a happy ending. Not long ago this trail was maintained informally, witness the fact that every tree sporting a DEC trail marker also has an old painted bottle cap. Wait until the History Guy hears this.

February 5, Snowshoe:the Peavine Swamp TrailLeader: Elisabeth CravenThere has been grumbling about the weather thus far this winter, but no-one among the 11 participants in this outing was heard to grouse about the conditions we were dealt: they were perfect, in fact, with temperatures in the low 20s, brilliant sunshine and blue sky, breezes enough to keep us from getting too hot on the trail, and good snow. We did have to break trail for a fair amount of the trip, but even then we could follow the cavities left by a solitary postholer, and we shared the labor by means of a pace line. We started at the Ranger School in

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Wanakena, and followed the well-trod trail to the first junction, about a mile along. There we split into two groups, one of three folks, who went straight to the lean-to on Cranberry Lake, about a half mile in, and the rest of us, who took a longer loop, which got us to the lean-to about an hour later. We followed the trudge of The Postholer through “new” deciduous woods and stands of splendid older pines over rolling terrain for perhaps two miles, then settled in at the lean-to for lunch and to savor the fire that the earlier arrivals had prepared for us. It seemed a quick hike out to the cars afterwards. Some of us stopped at the Giffords’ camp in Piercefield for refreshments and camaraderie afterwards. Reflecting on the day, we agreed that we should put a Cranberry Lake paddle on the summer outings calendar. Thanks to our intrepid leader for a great day in the woods (that’s right, I am not The Leader—but she has approved this message).

February 12, Snowshoe: Lake Placid Mystery Trails - Leaders: Susan and John OmohundroWe started at the North Country School as if we were climbing Cobble, but soon turned north to follow the shore of Echo Pond into uncharted (at least for us) territory. The branches of the young mixed hardwood-evergreen forest were decorated by the recent heavy snow. Our progress was aided by a ski track from a couple of days before. We were surprised to discover a native guide among us, who had played in this area as a child. She recounted the story of the Whitney Mountain area we were passing. The tracks we were following brought us eventually to the Whitney Mountain Road, about 1.6 miles in, where we declared victory and retreated, via a new route along the banks of Echo Pond outlet and a brief period of lost-ness, to our cars and ultimately the Downtown Diner for poutine.

February 16, Chapter Potluck Dinner - Organizer: Marilyn GillespieEleven people enjoyed a leisurely potluck dine with plenty of time to visit with each other. We had two new members attend, and all of us were able to become acquainted with Karen and her husband Rob. The program was attended by 13 people, and was very interesting and informative. Did you know that giving an injured or abandoned newborn animal cows’ milk will surely kill it? Did you know that an animal attacked by a cat will die because of the germs and bacteria the cat transfers to it? Those two items of information alone should convince you that you missed a great presentation by wildlife rehabilitater and veteran Adirondack guide Shiela Young.

February 19, Snowshoe/ski: Paul Smith’s VIC - Leaders: Linda and Edward RoesnerThe weather forecast was not especially prepossessing, but that did not daunt us, and we were rewarded with a beautiful sunny day, cool but not frigid, quite windy but we were in the lee of the hills most of the time. There were 9 of us, 8 on snowshoes, including a visiting fireman from Fredonia, and a solitary skier who checked in with us at various points along the trail. Our plan had been to have a ski/snowshoe/picnic at Grassy Pond, but the Hayes Brook parking area was blocked by unplowed snow and there was no room for vehicles on the shoulder of Route 30, so that annual event was postponed till late March in favor of the more hospitable parking at the nearby VIC. Two of the snowshoers went off on the Boreal Life Trail for an extended

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bushwhack. The rest of us took Woods and Waters and headed over towards the Black Pond lean-to. We did not quite get there owing to the leisurely pace we adopted to accommodate sundry leg injuries and one impending knee replacement, but we did manage to squeeze out 4 miles of trekking through spectacularly lovely winter woods. We all met up at the VIC afterwards for a late lunch at one of their long tables, relishing the sunshine streaming in the windows and the pleasant conversation.

March 4, Snowshoe: Lower Sargent Pond - Leader: Barbara HollenbeckThe day started with light snow in the air and the temperature at 28. We knew most of the trail would be unbroken and the snow would be soft underfoot. Our snowshoes sank through a few inches with every step. As always, we enjoyed being in the woods, observing the curly bark of the big, old yellow birch trees, and listening to the water gently cascade over small rocks when we were nearby inlet streams. A few of those streams needed to be carefully crossed before we came to Grass Pond, our halfway point. More adventure awaited us! By the time we reached our lunch stop, we had counted eight water crossings, some harder than others, all demanding careful footing. Some had a conveniently fallen tree to balance across. Most didn’t. The most challenging one required rock hopping (wearing snowshoes) over fast moving water. The rocks were covered with deep snow, and, before daring to step, we poked in with our poles to determine the actual size of those rocks. This was after scouting upstream and downstream, looking for the safest possibility for a crossing. The next crossing had what appeared to be a man-made bridge under all that deep snow, giving us a safer feeling. We were tired enough from breaking trail that we decided that, when it got to be a bit after noon, we would stop for lunch at any seating spot we might find. That meant we wouldn't make it to the lean-to on Lower Sargent Pond, our original destination. It ended up that we had a very pleasant lunch spot, sitting on a good-sized tree that had fallen across the trail in an area that was rather open. A ridge behind us protected us from the strong wind overhead. We noticed that the sky had brightened, and that there were clear patches. On the return trip we could actually see our shadows! And several blue jays announced our presence in their territory. We had hoped that the hiking conditions would be easier as we retraced out steps, but, alas, the snow had softened, and it was like walking in deep sand. There were a few places where our snowshoes made knee-deep holes. Back at the car we learned that the temperature had gone up to 36, contributing to conditions for post holes. We were satisfied with ourselves for having covered 3.8 measured miles in that soft snow. We had almost reached the lean-to on the shore of Lower Sargent Pond! That might sound like an pleasant enough distance on a summer sidewalk, but for us three older participants the conditions made it challenging and tiring. Everyone's feet stayed safely dry during those water crossings, and all agreed it was an enjoyable day keeping company in our beloved woods. Is "beloved" too mushy? But we DO love the woods!