Central
& Western NY Outdoors
July 2005
~~~ IN THIS ISSUE ~~~
Outdoor Singles Mingle set for End of July
Camping Made Easy & Fun… In a Yurt
The Family that Goes Out Together, Stays Together
Presentations by Footprint Press
Become the Owner of Beautiful Carpenter Falls
for only $152,000.
Yes, Carpenter Falls (and several other waterfalls on the property) is available for sale along with 10+ acres of land along the west shore of Skaneateles Lake. Here’s your chance to be a hero – buy it and donate it to the
Finger Lakes Land Trust so the waterfalls can be enjoyed by generations to come.
Carpenter Falls is listed in “200 Waterfalls in Central & Western New York – A Finders’ Guide” on page 225.
Property Location: Appletree Point Rd
Niles, NY 13118
MLS# 58827
Lot Size: 10+ Acres
http://www.century21countrysiderealty.com/OurListings.html
Laura DuBois • CENTURY 21 Countryside Realty • 72 South Main Street, Box #27, Earlville, NY
13332-0027
phone (315) 691-2100 • fax (315) 691-2072 • c21earlvil@aol.com
If you like‘em active and outdoors, then go to this event.
Active outdoor single people will be gathering for a wonderful and fun evening. You will share in outdoor activities from mild to wild depending on your outdoor interest in groups with the same activity level. Apart from canoeing, hiking and eating a good meal together, the evening will be structured into activities designed to help you enjoy the people you meet. As you go through the evening you will make acquaintances with others sharing similar interests.
After the event is over you will be mailed names of people who shared a connection with you. Men, register early for a discount. For more information go to
www.thesinglesdatingevent.com. or call 621-9484.
You may be an avid camper or maybe you have never camped before but, have always wanted to give it a try. Did you hesitate, thinking it required lots of equipment and work? Where do you go for the best, most relaxing camping experience? How can you have a positive, unique and relaxing camping experience without lots of work? Try staying in a yurt.
What is a yurt? Yurts originated in Mongolia and Russia and were called gers or yurta. They were used by
herding nomads who needed to move to new pastures with the seasons passing. Today’s yurts are constructed of modern materials and insulation verses animal skins and are unique, circular abodes with
large domed windows to the stars. These circular structures provide a sense of
peace, having no corners, just continuity throughout. Today, many Americans live in yurts year round and utilize them for a variety of uses.
A place in the Adirondacks offers unique backcountry stays in yurts. For a peaceful and easy camping experience, try staying in a Falls Brook Yurt.
Take a scenic hike, for 2/3-mile along cascading waterfalls, to a very private and pristine location where you will find your own private yurt filled with the comforts of home in the backcountry. Just bring your sleeping bag, food and a sense of adventure and leave the rest behind.
Each 20' yurt
has propane heating, lighting and cooking, a fire pit with grill and comfortable mattress bed, bunk and futon sleeping for up to 8 guests.
Marked hiking trails are just outside your yurt door leading to secluded ponds, caves and waterfalls. Hike to a lean-to for lunch, climb Green
Mountain or visit pristine Minerva Lake. Take a dip in a cool, waterfall. At Falls Brook, you’ll be taking the path less traveled where all you’ll hear is the rush of the brook going by, the wind blowing and the birds chirping. Minerva Recreation Center is close by with a beach, snack bar and other vacation amenities for your use. Each
yurt offers a cushy stay and is very private, located in its own separate forest
area. By night, enjoy a bon fire and settle into your yurt for a view through the 5' skylight for the best view of the stars. You’ll find the convenience of a fully equipped kitchen with stove top cooking. No need to carry in lanterns, cooking supplies and sleeping pads, Falls Brook provides it all. Yes, this is camping made easy and your time will be spent relaxing and exploring with family and friends.
Children particularly love Falls Brook and its natural habitat. Quality time away from society without the crowds and only the beauty of the Adirondacks surrounding you is what you’ll experience. The most common comment in the Falls Brook guest log books is… “Falls Brook is heaven on earth, listening to the water flowing by and watching the stars above sets the atmosphere for some great times alone with my family and friends.” “There are few places we can go today where we can truly be alone in nature.” Falls Brook Yurts take pride in providing this. At Falls Brook, take the path less traveled for a unique and comfortable backcountry experience.
Visit www.fallsbrookyurts.com. Falls Brook Yurts are available for rent year round except hunting season for hiking, snowshoeing and backcountry skiing. Call (518) 761-6187 for information and reservations.
It’s summertime. That means kids are out of school and before long the summer chorus will begin. You know, the familiar “Mom, I’m bored” chant that kids sing as summer progresses. Spice up their summer activities by planning some creekwalks.
A creekwalk is literally a walk in the creek. Everyone dons a bathing suit and some old sneakers or secure Teva-type sandals and gets their feet wet walking up a creekbed – in the stream. Not all creekbeds are created equal in terms of creekwalking potential. You don’t want a creekbed filled with deep water, one with fast moving water, or one with muddy banks and bottom. The perfect creekwalking stream has shallow water (in summer) and a flat rock bottom that’s been scoured clean of small rocks and vegetation by spring run-off. This usually means it’s a streambed where the water runs downhill, tumbling over small drops that create waterfalls on its way.
The fun of creekwalking is that you choose a hot summer day and plan to get wet. Start up the creekbed, walking around deep pools and climbing small ledges and waterfalls until you reach a waterfall that’s too high to climb easily. Then turn around and walk back down to your car.
Along the way, take a swim in a deep pool, or sit in a trough of water and let the current wash over you, and, by all means, splash a lot. Take a picnic or snack in a small daypack and have a break partway through your adventure. Kids love this stuff – so do those of us of more advanced age. It’s a suitable activity for school age kids.
Sandy Baker didn’t intend to go creekwalking when she headed to Reynolds Gully for a summer walk with her niece, nephew and grandchildren. But, water rushing over small falls proved to be too much for Alistair, John, Kate, Joe and Alexandra to resist. Even in blue jeans they found creekwalking to be a great way to spend a summer day. It makes the ride home a bit more comfortable if you plan ahead for creekwalking, however.
Finding good creekwalking streams is easy thanks to the guidebook “200 Waterfalls in Central & Western New
York” (www.footprintpress.com, 1-800-431-1579). Locally, Grimes Glen in Naples is a popular creekwalking stream. The water tends to be cold but you walk upstream passing a 60-foot-high falls as a tributary joins Grimes Creek, then reach another 60-foot-high tower of water in Grimes Creek itself. Lesser known in Naples, and more challenging, is Tannery Creek where you climb up several 10 to 20-foot-high falls before reaching a 40-foot-high waterfall. To play in the water in chutes and small slides, and climb smaller waterfalls, head to Keshequa Creek in Sonyea State Forest. A family favorite is Sugar Creek Glen in Dansville with waterfalls so pretty we used them for the cover of the “200 Waterfalls” guidebook. Plan some creekwalks today and have a splashing good time with your kids.
According to research done among 18 family members who traveled together to Costa Rica last April - life is richer, enjoyment is higher and bonding is tighter if they take at least one adventure together each year.
Research activities included zip lines in the jungle, surfing in the ocean, pizza in a wood fired oven, hiking to rainforest waterfalls and other activities. Each activity was scored from zero to 10. Fifteen activities received a rating of 8 or higher the average being 8.71. The lack of cable television, although an initial concern with the teenagers, was not mentioned
in the
follow-up. Subjective comments were collected 2 months post adventure at a reunion scheduled for reinforcement and feedback. The results included scheduling of another research session in the wilderness of the Alaskan Mountains by raft. For more information or to be included as part of the study please see
www.packpaddleski.com.
The Evolution of the Bicycle by Fahrrada Benteuer
Though bicycles seem like a pretty simple form of transport, they haven't been around for all that long - they have a history of less than two hundred years!
The very first version of a bicycle did not have pedals like the bicycles we have today. The cyclist
had to use his
feet to push directly off the ground- more of a run than proper cycling. But this difficulty of operation did not inhibit the popularity of the bicycle in
North America and Western Europe.
There is a controversy over the history of the bicycle. It is argued by many that a student of Leonardo DaVinci sketched a model of the
a bicycle back in 1493. This was the period of the Renaissance during which many new ideas
sprouted in Europe. But like many other ideas from DaVinci's studio, this did not see the light of day and active efforts to pursue it were never made.
The next phase of evolution of the bicycle was a pedaled version. It was a French invention and was called the 'velocipede'. Now for the first time people had the luxury of riding a bicycle without touching the ground. It
had the pedals fixed to the front wheel. The English called it a 'bone shaker' as it used wooden wheels, which transmitted every bump on the road to the rider. In spite of this handicap, it was very popular in Europe and the US in the 1860s. Many schools in the US taught riding the velocipede.
The next model of the bike was created in 1870 and called a Penny Farthing. It looked strange as it had a huge front wheel. Here the makers were more concerned with utility
than aesthetics. They realized that in order to make the bike really useful they had to
increase its speed, and only increasing the size of the wheel could do this. There was no gear, so the rider depended on the ability of every stroke of the pedal to take it further. This
increased the speed and the bikes did fly like rockets, but the jerks and the shakes
also got worse. It was difficult at times to stop the bicycle. One was prone to fall and that too from a great height.
Which is why in the 1880s the first bike to resemble a modern road bike was christened the 'Safety Bike'. It had a chain which allowed the pedals to be placed where they are today, which was better for balance. Towards the end of the decade a man
named Dunlop, who was working as a veterinary surgeon in Scotland, invented the air filled tire. By the
1890s the bicycles would be easily recognizable to today's riders.
The golden age of the bicycle started from the end of the nineteenth century. Owing to great demand from North America and Europe, many factories making items such as sewing machines, started producing bicycles
to meet the burgeoning demand. The last frontier in bicycle design, the gearing system, was
designed in the initial years of the twentieth century. The modern bike was born.
Today, thanks to the advancement in engineering science, bikes are smoother, lighter and more dynamic than the original ones. They might be different but the basic structure remains the same. Designs and requirements keep changing. In
the 1980s the BMX became a craze. In the nineties it was the mountain bike, which took the world by storm. However sophisticated a bike may become it cannot be totally disassociated from the original, invented in the nineteenth century.
Fahrrada Benteuer is the owner and operator of www.bicycleadventure.com bicycle adventure, inc.
For local adventures use Take A Hike - Family rides in the Rochester Area and Take Your Bike - Family Rides in the Finger Lakes Region
July 26, Tuesday, 1 PM, FREE
The Magic of Waterfalls slide show by Rich & Sue Freeman
Fairport Public Library, 1 Village Landing, Fairport
(585) 223-9091
Waterfalls are mesmerizing. A single waterfall can be a thunderous torrent of raw power in spring, a wispy veil by mid-summer, and a shimmering sculpture of ice in winter. Let the Freemans take you on a visual tour of the waterfalls of central and western New York State.
200 Waterfalls in Central & Western New York
August 2, Tuesday, 7 PM, FREE
Cobblestone Quest slide show by Rich & Sue Freeman
Tinker Homestead and Farm Museum
1585 Calkins Road, Henrietta, NY 14467-0999
(585) 359-7042
This is the launch party for the Freemans' newest book “Cobblestone Quest.” Come see a slide show on local cobblestone buildings, tour the Tinker Homestead (a cobblestone museum) and get a book signed by the authors.
“Cobblestone Quest” is a guidebook of 17 self-guided tours for observing the history and diversity of unique cobblestone buildings. Learn why, during a mere 35-year span in the middle of the 19th century, approximately 700 cobblestone structures were erected within a 65-mile radius of Rochester, New York, and no where else. Many have endured the test of time and stand today as monuments to human ingenuity in using available resources. Learn about this creative building technique and about the lives of the early pioneers who developed it. www.footprintpress.com
August 24, Wednesday, 7 PM, FREE
Cobblestone Quest slide show by Rich & Sue Freeman
Wood Library, 134 North Main Street, Canandaigua, NY 14424
585-394-1381
Learn why, during a mere 35-year span in the middle of the 19th century, approximately 700 cobblestone structures were erected within a 65-mile radius of Rochester, New York, and no where else. Many have endured the test of time and stand today as monuments to human ingenuity in using available resources. Learn about this creative building technique, about the structures that were built and about the lives of the early pioneers who built their homes with cobblestones. Rich and Sue will be available to autograph copies of “Cobblestone Quest” their newest guidebook, offering 17 self-guided tours for observing the diversity of unique cobblestone buildings. www.footprintpress.com
