Central
& Western NY Outdoors
October 2007
~~~ IN THIS ISSUE ~~~
Footprint Press Gets With the Times
A Ballad to Save Hemlock and Canadice Lakes
New York Outdoors Blog
Go Outside & Play in New York State
Newsletters are so 20th century. This newsletter has served us well, and we hope you’ve enjoyed it. But, it’s time for us to go kicking and screaming into the 21st century. The good news is that you won’t have to go without your outdoor fix from us – you’ll just have to receive it a bit differently.
December, 2007 will be the last issue of the Central and Western New York Outdoors Newsletter. We’re converting it to a BLOG. In fact, the blog is already live and includes articles you’ll find in the newsletter between now and December. Plus it contains much more. We try to add an article or interesting link each day.
New York Outdoors Blog can be found at http://www.newyorkoutdoors.wordpress.com.
Between now and December you’ll need to take a simple action to continue receiving outdoors news from us. You’ll have a few choices. The sooner you convert, the better since the blog will include all articles from the newsletter between now and year end.Option #1: Receive the Blog via Email (just like you receive the newsletter now, only the email will arrive daily, rather than monthly). And, just like the email message you receive now, you will have to click on the email message to actually go to the blog where full articles with links and photos will be found.
Step 1: Click on http://www.newyorkoutdoors.wordpress.com or copy and past it into your internet browser to open New York Outdoors Blog.
Step 2: Locate the top grey box on the right that says “Subscribe to New York Outdoors Blog by Email” and click on it.
Step 3: Enter your email address. Then type the text you see above the grey box into the grey box and press “Complete Subscription Request.”
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Of course, you can just as easily unsubscribe at any time.
Option #2: Subscribe to a Reader
Step 1: Got to http://www.newyorkoutdoors.wordpress.com. Toward the upper right you’ll see an orange icon in a grey box. By clicking on it you can choose from Yahoo, Google, Myaol, Newsgator, Rojo, Bloglines, Netvibes or Pageflakes.
Step 2: I don’t pretend to know or understand most of these (I told you I was kicking & screaming into the 21st century.) For years I’ve had Google as my default page when I log into the internet. I selected the option under Google that adds the blog to my Google home page. Now every day when I access the internet, the Google page pops up with a box on it for New York Outdoors Blog, showing the titles of the latest 3 posts. I can click on any of them to go to the blog.
Hopefully most of you are more RSS Reader savy than me and select an option that suits your preferences.
I, along with many other native Finger Lakeians (that must be a new word!), have enjoyed the natural pleasures of Canadice and Hemlock Lakes. I’ve marveled at the way they were saved from development hell by being preserved as a pristine water source for Rochester to their north. I’ve paddled, hiked, and biked them and written guidebooks to direct others to their trails and waters.
Many others appreciate their beauty also. Click here (http://www.mpnnow.com/news/x428360222) to read an article about folk singer Joe Crookston and his Ballad to Elliot Spitzer. Then be sure to listen to his song (at the end of the Messenger Post article).
Footprint Press guidebooks that cover Hemlock and Canadice Lakes include:
-Take A Hike - Family Walks in New York’s Finger Lakes Region
-Take Your Bike - Family Rides in New York’s Finger Lakes Region-Take A Paddle - Finger Lakes, New York Quiet Water for Canoes & Kayaks
How about visiting a bog? The treasure of Urbana State Forest, between Pratttsburg and Hammondsport, is high elevation Huckleberry Bog. Bogs such as this one began their life as glaciers retreated from the area. They left depressions, called glacial ponds, which filled with water from melting snow or rain. With no inlet or outflow of fresh water, the ponds then relied on rainwater for replenishment. Due to the low mineral content of melted ice and rainwater, these ponds were not attractive to the usual microscopic flora such as bacteria and fungi. Instead, the ponds were colonized by sphagnum mosses and heaths such as leatherleaf. The sphagnum moss consumed what minerals existed and excreted acids, producing acidic water. Over long periods of time, the moss built layers upon itself. The compressed moss formed a quaking mat over the water and became peat. In a mature bog, the moss may cover almost all the water and become so thick that it can even support a person’s weight. Walking on a bog is like walking on a wet sponge.
Because the bog pond is replenished only by rainwater, it is low in oxygen. Add this to the low mineral content and acidity and you have a unique environment, one that is not enticing to most wildlife and one that supports rare species of plants. Bogs are home to carnivorous plants that trap and eat insects. These include the pitcher plant, sundew, and butterwort. They are also home to flowering orchids, water willow (a loosestrife), leatherleaf (an evergreen in the heath family), and wild cranberry plants. Most trees dislike the acidic conditions of the bog. The exception is the tamarack or larch, which can be found along the edges of the bog.
The peat from bogs was a precious commodity in years gone by. For centuries, northern Europeans dried the peat and burned it as fuel. It has twice the heating value of wood and two-thirds the heating value of coal. In World War I peat was used to wrap wounds because of its anti-bacterial properties and absorbency. It has also been used as diapers. Today people add sphagnum moss (peat) to soil for potting houseplants and landscape gardening because of its water retention properties.
Huckleberry Bog supports high bush and low bush blueberries, and sphagnum moss, but no huckleberries. Huckleberry Bog is a misnomer that got applied to this area and stuck. High bush blueberries are the 4 to 5 foot tall bushes that surround the observation deck overlooking the bog. Their berries are small but tasty. The less than one-foot tall bushes that carpet the forest are low bush blueberries. These berries are tasty too, but even smaller.
Huckleberry Bog is one of several bogs you can hike to or paddle in Central & Western new York State. Footprint Press guidebooks give you plenty of options. Huckleberry Bog can be found in Take A Hike - Family Walks in New York’s Finger Lakes Region.
A new trail, called The Moody Trail, is being built in Ontario County. The mile-long rail-trail will connect Gorham and Rushville when completed. It's being cleared now, but work on bridges must be completed before the trail is ready for use. Read more in this article from Messenger Post Newspapers:
http://www.mpnnow.com/homepage/x225117922
Meanwhile, for maps and information on all the other rail-trails in the Finger Lakes Region, check out the guidebook "Take Your Bike - Family Rides in New York's Finger Lakes Region".
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