Central & Western NY Outdoors
~~~ IN THIS ISSUE ~~~
You Might Be An Ultralight Backpacker If...
Corridor Sale Affects Trail in North Buffalo
Survival Clothing For Outdoor Emergencies
Public Hearings for NY State Open Space Plan
You Might Be An Ultralight Backpacker If...by Steve Gillman
If you you find yourself saying "Hey, that's a good idea," to more than one of the following, you might be an ultralight backpacker. They are collected from various lightweight backpacking forums. For those of you that don't share our passion for ultralight backpacking, let me explain that these are funny, but also mostly true stories.
You Just Might Be An Ultralight Backpacker If...
- Your wife's purse holds more stuff than your backpack.
- You pack light for a family trip to Grandma's house.
- You use the fruit scales in Walmart to determine the weight of a possible new piece of gear.
- At home you use just 4 toilet paper squares, to "practice".
- You read that last one and say, "toilet paper?"
- You have no idea what the title, scale or contour interval of your map is because.... you cut away all of the margins to save weight.
- You sleep at home with the temps turned down while in the buff just to get used to the cold so you can take an even lighter sleeping bag.
- The thought of 1000 fill-power down gives you a little shiver down your spine.
- You're glad you're going bald.
- You're wondering if your compass would still work OK without all that heavy liquid.
- Your woman says, "Go down baby!" and you hop out of bed hootin and hollering
and order a Western Mountaineering Highlite!
- You no longer have tags on any clothing you wear.
- Your mailman is trying to figure out why people send you empty boxes all the time.
- You eat with $40 titanium chopsticks instead of a plastic fork because they weigh .01 ounces less.
- You walk through the grocery store thinking "saltines have 1760 calories per pound, but mixed nuts have 2720 calories per pound".
- Your waterproof/breathable rain jacket cost more than your best suit.
- You shave ALL the hair off your body to save a few ounces on your "from the skin out" weight!
- Your trail runners weigh more than your multi day pack.
- You know the weight of your backpack, and not your wife.
- You have to take your tent down to use your combination spork/toothbrush because you used it as a stake.
- You compulsively weigh things you have absolutely NO intention of ever taking backpacking, just because.
- You take laxatives before a trip, just to "lighten the load."
A Note To Backpackers: You might be an ultralight backpacker if you can easily come up with more of these from your own experience.
About The Author
Steve Gillman is a long-time backpacker, and advocate of lightweight backpacking. More of "You Might Be An Ultralight Backpacker," plus advice and stories can be found at
http://www.The-Ultralight-Site.com.
Just because the snow will soon be flying here up north, that’s no reason to hole up like a hibernating bear. You can still enjoy the great outdoors through numerous winter activities. But where the snow is deep, toboggans and skis aren’t much fun when they sink right in. Centuries ago snow-dwelling animals conquered the problem of walking in deep snow by developing wide paws to distribute their body weight evenly over a large area. This might have been the inspiration for the invention of the snowshoe.
Originally snowshoes were used to extend the hunting
season in the Arctic regions. Now they are used in more recreational
pursuits and it’s the fastest growing winter sport in the US. As opposed
to downhill skiing or snowboarding, with snowshoes you can really take your
time and really enjoy the winter wonderland around you.
If you’re new to the sport, you might be able to rent
snowshoes by the hour at a local park. Once you’re hooked, buying your own
pair is fairly affordable. When you’re looking to apply your snowshoe
skills on an adventure, Pack Paddle
Ski has several events you should look into. Check out their upcoming
snowshoe trips at: http://www.packpaddleski.com/complete.htm#snowshoe
In 2001, the City of Buffalo and Erie County received federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) funding to construct a nine-mile greenway on a former rail line that connects North Buffalo with the suburb of Kenmore, the City and Town of Tonawanda, and the Erie Canalway Trail. If developed according to the plan submitted in the original CMAQ funding application, the greenway has the ability to encourage more cycling, jogging, and walking; provide an alternative off-road route for shopping, errands, and commuting; greatly improve the connectivity of current off-road paths; and positively impact land values. The greenway would also intersect nine Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) bus routes and a light rail metro station and provide safe access to multiple city, county and town parks, the Amherst bicycle path, Erie Canalway Trail, and Buffalo's Riverwalk.
In North Buffalo,
groups and individuals are rallying behind the greenway as the best option
for the property's maintenance and preservation. Despite the best efforts
from citizens, the property's current lack of care and seclusion make it
ripe for underage drinking and drug use, arson, loitering, illegal dumping
and noise. While development of a greenway has the potential to act as a
catalyst to clean up and preserve this rare remaining parcel of urban open
space, there are many challenges that have yet to be overcome.
Some residents are concerned about crime, loss of privacy, and continued maintenance of a greenway located in a fiscally troubled county and city. In addition, NFTA has sold a portion of the east-west spur in North Buffalo. A 30-foot easement was retained for the greenway and future light rail, but the easement does not include the former rail bed so the trail will need to be moved to a new location much closer to adjacent homes. Trail advocates are frustrated and neighboring residents are concerned, but both hope to have the opportunity to work with the city and their consultant in designing the re-aligned trail section.
From Parks & Trails E-News (Nov-Dec 2005 Issue) www.ptny.org
Maybe you don't need to learn about survival clothing. Maybe you always hike with a spare jacket. Perhaps you never go out into the wilderness overnight, but just for day hikes. Or you bring lots of warm clothing when you do go backpacking.
Nonetheless, hundreds of people die or come close to dying every year from exposure. They thought they were prepared. They didn't expect their clothes to get wet from falling in a stream, they didn't think they'd be out there for the night, or they get lost for days.
Coming down from Mount Whitney I met several young men in t-shirts on their way up, determined to get to the top. They had no gear, and not enough time, but they probably made it there by sunset anyhow. They also certainly didn't make it the eleven miles back to their car before dark. It was below freezing that night, so I imagine they were uncomfortable at best.
Quick Survival Clothing
What survival clothing could they have made in that situation? One of them did have a light jacket. He could have used his t-shirt as a hat (a lot of heat is lost through the head) and filled
his jacket with the fluff from the cattail seedheads for insulation. (Cattail down was once used to fill those old orange life preservers.)
Insulation is the important principle here. You can stuff a jacket, shirt, sweater or pants with dry leaves, milkweed down, bracken ferns or almost anything that creates a lot of "dead air space." It's better if you have two layers to sandwich it between, but being itchy is better than being frozen in any case.
In a jam, you can also use the flat leaves of cattail plants to weave a vest that will block the wind and some rain. Two bread bags full of milkweed down or other silky plant fibers make warm mittens (tie them at the wrists). A plastic bag full of the same could be tied onto your head as a hat.
Usually, you'll do better to look first at what you have, before looking to kill animals for their skins, or weave grass skirts. If you have a sleeping bag, it can double as a coat - just wrap it around you. Socks can be mittens, and garbage bags can be made into snow pants.
A garbage bag can also be a raincoat. Otherwise, tie bunches of grass tightly together along a string or strip of cloth, and then wrap it around your shoulders. This will repel a light rain. You can fashion a rain hood of birchbark as well.
In the desert you can make a sun-hat of large leaves, like those from a fan palm. String some together to wrap around your shoulders to prevent sunburn.
You'll probably never have to use animal skins for survival clothing. You might never lose your shoes and need to glue tree bark to your feet with pine sap, for hiking. Still, knowing how to improvise a few basic pieces of survival clothing can make you more comfortable, and possibly save your life.
About The Author
Steve Gillman is a long-time advocate of lightweight backpacking. For more on survival clothing, plus tips, photos, stories and a new Wilderness Survival Guide, visit The
Ultralight Backpacking
Site
Offer Your Feedback on the
Department of Environmental Conservation's
2005 Draft Open Space Conservation Plan
Public hearings
scheduled across the state
November 29-December 1, 2005
Written comments accepted until January 18, 2006
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) has
released its 2005 Draft Open Space Conservation Plan for public review and
comment. The Open Space Plan serves as the blueprint for the State's land
conservation efforts. A number of parkland and trail and greenway projects
are included in the list of priority conservation projects developed by the
nine Regional Advisory Committees. This is your opportunity to provide input
on the projects selected as well as strategies recommended for protecting
private and public open space lands for the future. The full document and
additional information can be found at: http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dlf/opensp/
Since the first State Open Space Plan was completed in 1992, New York has
conserved more than 924,000 acres of land across the State with an
investment of more than $586 million in State land acquisition funding.
Please Pass This Alert On To Others Who Care About Parks & Trails In New
York.
Parks & Trails In New York
29 Elk Street Albany, N.Y. 12207
518-434-1583
www.ptny.org
ptny@ptny.org
Hike to Feed the Chickadees by Sue Freeman
Many birds migrate south when winter blows its chill across the Rochester area. But, a few hardy species stick around and become frequent visitors to our backyard bird feeders. One of these is the Black-capped Chickadee – a small, active bird with a black cap, white cheeks, and a black bib.
A flock of these inquisitive year-round residents now dwells in Mendon Ponds Park where they’ve become accustomed to getting hand outs from hikers. “Accustomed” may be a term that’s too mild – these chickadees demand food! Hike the trails near Quaker Pond in the southern section of Mendon Ponds Park and these pretty little birds will swoop down, almost in dive-bombing mode, looking for a meal. Stop along the trail and they may even land on your head, especially if it’s capped. Best of all, place some sunflower seeds in your hand, then stretch it out with the palm facing toward the sky and before long a chickadee will land on your hand to grab his prize.
Children giggle from the tickling sensation as the tiny bird feet light on their skin. Feeding chickadees is an activity that’s fun for all ages. The biggest challenge is not to flinch as the bird lights, and scare it away.
The best time to go is in winter when the chickadees’ food supply is limited. Sunflower seeds are their favorite food. Think of it as a Powerbar for birds. As you hike, listen for "chick-a-dee-dee-dee," their distinguishing call. It’s one of the most complex vocalizations in the animal kingdom. Depending on slight variations in the phrases, the call can act as a contact call or as an alarm call. Chickadees also use their call to relay information about an individual's identity or to indicate that they recognize a particular flock. I think there’s even a variation that means, “here comes a hiker – chows on!”
The Grasslands Trail in the southern end of Mendon Ponds Park is in a lesser-used area of undulating glacial hills covered in grasses – or snow in winter. Several long and short loops are available for cross-country skiing or snowshoeing. Or, circumnavigate Quaker Pond on the 2.5-mile Quaker Pond Trail. For a short, easy walk, follow the 1.1-mile looped Birdsong Trail. Chickadees lay in wait in the entire region. Maps and trail descriptions are available in the guidebook “Take A Hike – Family Walks in the Rochester
Area.”
