Central
& Western NY Outdoors
January
2006
Happy 2006 !!
~~~ IN THIS ISSUE ~~~
Low Cost Winter Housing You Can Build, The Igloo
Code of Conduct for Outdoor Enthusiasts
Trails in Penfield Continue to Grow
Snow Depth Information For Trip Planning
For winter fun and for a place to camp in the snow,
here is how to build an igloo:
1) Wearing
snowshoes or skis, stomp in the area where you’ll quarry the snow blocks.
Start with a depth of at least 18 inches of snow.
Depending on snow quality and temperature you will have to let the
snow settle about 1 hour after stomping until it is set up hard.
2) If
you don’t have a snow saw, use a carpenter saw and saw a straight line
at the edge of the quarry.
3) Trench
the snow away from the line until you have a straight edge with about a 3
foot trench.
4) Saw
under the snow between the snow and the ground.
5) Cut your blocks by measuring consistent lengths
about 2 feet by 1 foot by the depth of the snow.
6) As
you cut under the blocks, they will fall down if cut all the way.
7) Carry
to igloo building area. Be
careful of your back.
8) Scribe a circle using a rope and a ski pole as a
center point about 5 foot in diameter.
This will look small but the difficulty increases with the
diameter.
9) Center the block on the circle.
10) Set
blocks all the way around the circle, cutting block angles from center
like the spoke angle of a wheel.
11) Here’s the saddest part. Now, you create a spiral ramp by cutting off snow from the blocks on the ground, increasing the height of the blocks gradually until the last block in the spiral is one block high against the start of the spiral or ramp you have created.
12) Add
blocks on top of this spiral, making sure you have three points of contact
between the top and bottom blocks until you finish the igloo.
13) You
will need two people to be inside to be the builders. As the blocks go up,
they can become more trapezoidal in shape.
Don’t worry about the triangle shaped holes between blocks.
14) At
the end, cut a small entrance hole and let your builders out and the
outsiders in.
Hints
-
Once you start spiraling the blocks up, the word to remember
is “lean.” Be sure to
lean each block in more and more. Be
not afraid, ye of faint heart. It
is in the lean that we gain the height and shape.
-
Be sure to always keep the circle shape or risk wall
collapse.
-
Make the blocks the same height.
-
If you have trouble, make the height less and the length
more.
-
It is in the shape of the block, not in the packing of the
snow that we gain strength.
-
It takes practice and skill to shape the blocks.
-
Start with a small igloo to learn the techniques.
-
This whole process will take maybe 4 hours for 4 people the
first time. Once you are
practiced, two people can build one in about 2 hours.
-
Do not build a fire in your igloo or install any electrical
outlets.
Start with this and see what
happens. There are many more
tricks and different types of snow shelters.
But you will have to wait until next issue for those. In January, see “The Collapse of Nome.
To learn igloo building from the experts, sign up for Nanook and You with www.packpaddleski.com.
My favorite outdoor related quote comes from John Muir, the father of our national park
system and founder of the Sierra Club. He said,
“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” This quote means more to me today than it did twenty years ago and will undoubtedly mean more to me still as I spend an increasing amount of time out of doors. Muir is telling us something of great importance - we are attached to nature too. Therefore, how we think and act while visiting wild places today will ultimately determine the amount of enjoyment by outdoor enthusiasts for ever more. So how should we think and act?
A code of conduct exists for outdoor enthusiasts. It is called the Principles of Leave No Trace. This set of best practices was designed specifically to ensure our outdoor recreational activities are sustainable over long periods of time. Leave No Trace is an organization dedicated to educating people on how to minimize their impacts while enjoying the outdoors. Here are their seven principles.
1. Plan Ahead and Prepare
2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
3. Dispose of Waste Properly
4. Leave What You Find
5. Minimize Campfire Impacts
6. Respect Wildlife
7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors
BackCountry Toys is a supporter of Leave No Trace and we encourage all outdoor enthusiasts to do likewise. To learn how to put these principles into action, you may find more information on their website at
www.lnt.org or on our website as well.
Over the years, I have tugged on countless things in nature. I have found out they are indeed attached to everything else - including me. As outdoor enthusiasts we understand the importance of our relationship with the backcountry and we are keenly aware of how our attitudes and our actions determine the long term viability of these wild places. Here is another of my favorite quotes. This one is by Michel Montaigne.
“Let us permit Nature to take her own way; she better understands her own affairs than we." Use this information and you’ll Get It Right The First Time. Get Outdoors!
About The Author
Chuck Fitzgerald is the owner of Arizona based BackCountry Toys, an online specialty store with the “Best Gear Out There” and dedicated to helping outdoor enthusiasts to “Get It Right The First Time” with timely educational information. Please visit http://www.BackCountryToys.com to find great gear and to receive the Fact & Tips e-newsletter, "FreshAir.” (800) 316-9055. chuck@backcountrytoys.com
In Take A Hike – Family Walks in the Rochester Area, second edition you’ll find a map and description for The Falls Trail in Penfield on pages
162-165 or view the map on-line. The Penfield Trails Committee calls this Irondequoit Creek Trail but we had to differentiate it from the Irondequoit Creek Trail in Powder Mills Park, Bushnells Basin. Anyway, a lot of good changes have occurred in the
years since we published Take A Hike.
1. Linear Park was renamed Channing H. Philbrick Park in honor of the man who was Penfield’s Town Supervisor for many years.
2. A few years ago the Honey Creek Trail was added, linking the Irondequoit Creek Trail in Channing Philbrick Park to the four corners of Penfield at the end of Motts Lane and Five Mile Line Road.
3. In November 2005, the Town of Penfield held the grand opening for a new multi-use northern extension to the Irondequoit Creek Trail. The new crushed-gravel trail is suitable for hiking, biking and wheelchair use. It extends north from Channing Philbrick Park on the east bank of Irondequoit Creek and travels underneath Penfield Road (Route 441) and Panorama Trail South, behind Panorama Plaza and ends at the confluence of Irondequoit Creek and Allens Creek.
Southbound from Channing Philbrick Park also saw recent improvements with the building of a new boardwalk and a massive beam bridge spanning a side creek.
Strap on your snowshoes and go explore this new network of trails. Parking is available at Channing Philbrick Park (old Linear Park) off Route 441 (Penfield Road) and behind Home Depot at 750 Panorama Trail South.
Thanks to David Lentz for providing this information.
Yeah, up North in the ice and snow, the
streets close, the canals freeze and thousands of people take to the
streets.
The annual Ottawa Winter Festival is a nearby
winter-lovers delight. Ice
sculpture contest, canal events, music, races and much more merriment is
only 5 hour drive from Rochester, NY.
Not only is the festival itself delightful
and full of fun, but to the North lies miles of world-class skiing and
snowshoeing. Add in the charm
of small Quebec villages and you have a winter destination like none
other. Thursday, February 16 - Sunday, February 19,
2006.
Enjoy Winter Festival with the camaraderie of others on a Pack, Paddle Ski trip
Planning a ski or snowshoe trip to the Adirondacks or maybe to Tug Hill?
Here's data that may be helpful in determining where to head this winter. Don't forget to re-center and then zoom for more detail.
NOAA
web site
Thanks to
Jackson Thomas for providing this information.
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