Despite a very long winter that has not yet left this area, spring is now gracing us all with the presence of dirty snow banks and ice. It is those ugly snowbanks that are a harbinger that spring’s Free Range Shopping is coming soon.
What is Free Range Shopping? It is a means of freely foraging nutritious and delicious food. By mid to late April, as top layers of soil are visible and warmed by the sun, delicious morsels will be offered. » Continue Reading.
During Rhoda Fox’s efforts on behalf of the Republican Party from 1918 through 1923, there was plenty of praise for her in the media and no criticism, but she was a non-office holder. When she decided in 1924 to run for an Assembly seat, anti-woman resistance was evident, gently discouraging the idea by praising her activism but insisting the job was best done by a man. When she surprised most people and won, the anti-woman factions maintained their stance but were forced to grudgingly accepted her.
Now, with the announcement of a run for the Senate, the kid gloves were off. The party split, evidenced by the strong support she received from the Watertown Daily Times and the virulent attacks emanating from Ogdensburg, especially in the Republican-Journal, when Rhoda’s opening salvo went right to the heart of the matter. » Continue Reading.
There is a forest that
I can’t get away from.
A forest of tombs still
as tree trunks. There
is a forest. The smell
of red pine needles-
the pathways of my
ancestors. There is
a forest. When I am
not alive like I usually
am. There is a forest.
When I step in mink
tracks, I know these
tracks in my tendons.
I know this forest. It
pounds into the shale,
like a crumbling ravine
of hunger. I know this
forest. Returning from
vanished glaciers. A
ghost in the temperature.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. 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 from the Adirondack backcountry.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers in the Adirondacks. » Continue Reading.
AdkAction is set to offer Sustainable Winter Road Maintenance Training Workshops for Departments of Public Works and Highway Departments in Clinton, Essex and Franklin Counties during the week of April 8-12, 2019 as part of their ongoing Road Salt Reduction Project.
Registration is required and open to town, county, and state road maintenance crews and there is no fee to register. Lunch and coffee will also be provided free of charge. » Continue Reading.
On a moonlit night two hundred years ago, a dog-shaped shadow slipped through the Vermont woods. The large, shaggy canid emerged onto a hilltop pasture, raised its muzzle, and howled – a deep, throaty howl that reverberated through the hills. A chorus of wolves responded.
Wolves were common in the Northeast and most of the U.S. when European settlers arrived. And it didn’t take long for the settlers, who were steeped in folklore that portrayed wolves as evil, to wage war. Towns enacted bounties, to which livestock owners were legally bound to contribute, for every dead wolf brought in. In 1657, New Haven, Connecticut, offered five pounds to anyone who could kill “one great black woolfe of a more than ordinaire bigness which is like to be more feirce and bould than the rest, and so occasions more hurt.” » Continue Reading.
This weekly report of outdoor recreation conditions in the Adirondacks is compiled each Thursday afternoon and fully updated by Friday afternoon.
Contribute Your Knowledge: Add a comment below, or send your observations, corrections, updates, and suggestions to adkalmanack@gmail.com.
Learn and practice the seven Leave No Trace principles. Carry out what you have carried in. Do not leave gear, food, or other items at lean-tos and campsites. Do not litter. Take the free online Leave No Trace course here.
BE PREPARED! Start slow, gain experience. Carry proper safety equipment and weather protection and bring plenty of water, lights and a map. When on the trail: keep the group together, watch the time, and be prepared to turn back. Accidents happen to the most experienced people. Be prepared to spend an unplanned night in the woods in freezing temperatures. Always carry food, a space blanket, emergency whistle, first aid kit, fire making tools, extra clothing layers and socks, and a map and compass. Inform someone of your itinerary and just before entering the backcountry or launching a boat check the National Weather Service watches, warnings, and advisories here. Follow Adirondack weather forecasts at Burlington and Albany and consult the High Elevation, Recreation, or Lake Champlain forecasts.
It is snowing at my house and making it a bit challenging to get into my springtime mindset. The skiing is still fantastic, but I look at my seedlings and plant cuttings and wonder when I’ll be able to finally put them in the ground.
Spring fever is running rampant and one way to cure those blues is to look for spring in other corners of the Adirondacks. » Continue Reading.
The Depot Theatre has announced the details of its 2019 Boquet River Theatre Festival (BRTF) Youth Theatre Program. The 2019 Junior program production (ages 8-12), will be The Lion King Jr. Rehearsals begin July 15, with performances on August 2, 3 and 4.
The 2019 Senior program production (ages 12 and up) will be Little Shop of Horrors. Rehearsals begin July 29, with performances on August 9, 10 and 11. » Continue Reading.
Paul Smith’s College is set to hold a day-long festival of music, art and TED-style science talks on Saturday, April 27, from 10 am to 5 pm at the Paul Smith’s VIC.
The Science Art Music Festival, or SAM Fest, is now in its sixth year. It will feature performances by North Country musicians, science-oriented talks by faculty, students, and guest speakers, exhibits of works by local artists organized by PSC biologist Lee Ann Sporn, and a showing of A Matter of Degrees, a documentary by The Wild Center about the unexpectedly strong power of global warming. The theme of this year’s event is “The Unexpected.” » Continue Reading.
Pint-size pets were practical, once upon a time. A hunter using a wolf-like dog to ferret out game would bring home less bacon than one who used a terrier for the same tracking services.
Presumably, small hunting dogs mating with dust-mops is what gave rise to Shih Tzus and other foofy mini-dogs, which sadly are no longer in high demand now that Roombas can do the same job for cheaper. » Continue Reading.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Warren County Cornell Cooperative Extension are set to host a workshop on hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) on April 11, at the DEC Region 5 Office in Warrensburg, NY, from 5 to 8 pm.
The hemlock woolly adelgid, a tiny insect from East Asia first discovered in New York in 1985, attacks forest and ornamental hemlock trees. It feeds on young twigs, causing needles to dry out and drop prematurely and causing branch dieback. Hemlock decline and mortality typically occur within four to 10 years of infestation in the insect’s northern range. » Continue Reading.
Champlain Area Trails (CATS) has announced the route for the 2019 Grand Hike on May 11 which includes revisions to last years route. For the last few years, the final stretch of the 14-mile Grand Hike from Westport to Essex included a three-mile walk along Route 22.
This year, though, the route leaves the highway for all but 500 feet and instead crosses scenic pastures and forests before connecting with Blockhouse Road into Essex. » Continue Reading.
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