Indholdsfortegnelse for May/June 2024 i Adirondack Life

BROADCAST NEWS I enjoyed reading “The Dew Drop” (April 2024). Your story mentioned local radio stations broadcasting the runs at Mt. Van Hoevenberg and I wanted to add that my dad, Johnny Garwood, worked for WNBZ in Saranac Lake at that time. I remember going to the bob run with him while he was broadcasting—“approaching ZigZag, Zigging, Zagging, through ZigZag.” I would be somewhere along the run, usually at “Shady,” watching the bobsleds fly down. I also remember going to Dew Drop’s and sitting at the bar listening to Dad and Dew tell stories about bobsledding. I’m glad to hear that the place is getting another chance. Thanks for your article. It brought back some great memories. Craig Garwood Charlottesville, VA STUFF OF LEGEND I had the pleasure of knowing…

Make no mistake; I do my share of swatting during spring bug season. However, as a biologist, I do it with a touch of respect. While blackflies can be bothersome, spread disease, and repel tourists who support our local economies, they are also remarkably diverse, courageous, ecologically important and just plain cool. The term “blackfly” refers to more than 2,000 species worldwide, and roughly 90 percent of the North American species never bite humans. Surveys conducted in the Adirondacks alone have identified more than a dozen species belonging to at least four genera. Most of our “hominoxious” ones belong to the genera Simulium and Prosimulium, although some of those species are more likely to bite than others. For instance, S. jenningsi and S. fibrinflatum may swarm you for a sniff,…

No. 1 ½ oz. of oil of pennyroyal poured into 3 oz. of melted mutton tallow. Lard is sometimes used, but it is too soft and is not as healing. No. 2 6 oz. mutton tallow, 2 oz. camphor, 2 oz. penny-royal, ½ oz. creosote (or carbolic acid solution). No. 3 4 oz. glycerine, 2½ drs. oil of peppermint, 4 drs. spirits of turpentine. Common petroleum is said to be perfectly efficacious … but we fear the “remedy would be worse than the disease,” as the odor is as offensive to man as to insects. It is applied by dropping it on a piece of cotton, which is squeezed out as dry as possible and then rubbed over the face and hands. —From Wallace’s Descriptive Guide to the Adirondacks, 1887…

A handful of us showed up, ready to help with the burn. Our friend had dragged piles of branches, sticks and stumps into formidable piles, the goal being to clear her backyard, a slope framed by woods, the High Peaks poking above. (This was before the start of the state’s mid-March through mid-June burn ban.) Meanwhile, our friend’s boys played in the woods, their little potato-shaped dog running circles around them. Showing up to help a friend or neighbor is very Adirondack. Chances are, when the work is finished, cold beer will appear—for us that day, in an ice-filled plastic sled. What’s also Adirondack is our friend’s approach to her property: attend to the land, deal with the house later. She terraced part of the yard so her tomatoes, elephant garlic…

According to Anne LaBastille, in “The Black Fly” (Summer 1974), “At the present time, the best relief from blackflies may be accomplished by staying out of the Adirondacks during blackfly season.” LaBastille also recommended locating campsites in airy, open, high areas, and dressing to minimize exposure—“avoid bikinis,” she wrote, “and fish-net T-shirts.” George Washington Sears, aka “Nessmuk,” had his own 19th-century defense system, as he explained in Forest and Stream: “As for myself—even on Brown’s Inlet—they pass me by as if I were a hot griddle. On starting in I established a good, substantial glaze, which I am not fool enough to destroy by any weak leaning to soap and towels.” His recipe for insects: “three oz. pure tar, two oz. castor oil, one oz. oil pennyroyal. Simmer together thoroughly, apply…

After sitting vacant for a decade, Bolton Landing’s former Sagamore Pub had lost whatever luster it once possessed. But on their visits to Lake George, Paty and Richard Boccato—who have launched successful businesses on both coasts—saw it as a diamond in the rough. Situated at the intersection where guests leaving the swanky Sagamore Resort turn onto Lake Shore Drive, the empty building “seemed so wrong in this cute little town,” says Paty. In 2020, the Boccatos partnered with Kristan Keck and Kirby Farmer, proprietors of the Hudson restaurant and guesthouse Wm. Farmer & Sons, to buy it at bankruptcy auction. Two years and much polishing later, they opened The Gem, a smokehouse and cocktail bar named for one of the hundreds of islands dotting Lake George. (Sister business Little Gem, a…

SURVEY SAYS 43 species and variations that have been identified by The Adirondack Orchid Survey—a citizen-scientist project founded to establish the number and locations of orchids in the park—since it was launched in 2017. Orchids are a protected plant in New York State. Pink lady’s slipper (Cypripedium acaule): The most observed species in the survey, a late-May to mid-June bloomer spotted throughout the region. Second place goes to the sweet-smelling rose pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides). 1 The number of sightings of Pringle’s autumn coralroot (Corallorhiza odontorhiza var. pringlei), one of the park’s rarest orchids. To learn more or to volunteer for the survey visit www.inaturalist.org/projects/adirondackorchid-survey. MOM STARS OF THE ADIRONDACKS Black bear (Ursus americanus) mothers are tops for staying power: they give birth in January or February to an average of two to…

Upper Sargent Pond Family-friendly outing to a scenic campsite Hiking Distance: 1.2 miles Elevation Change: Relatively level Sometimes the best getaways are the easiest ones, and the outing to Upper Sargent Pond from North Point Road is so easy it is almost unbelievable such places exist. This is a straightforward hike to a beautiful campsite. Getting There From NY 30 south of Long Lake, turn southwest onto North Point Road, following the signs for Buttermilk Falls and the Forked Lake Campground. Drive past both those landmarks (stopping for the quick walk to Buttermilk Falls on the Raquette River if time and inclination allow) to the Upper Sargent Pond trailhead at 6.2 miles, located on the left. The Trail There is really little to say about this trail; it leads south…

Just as late winter melts into chilly, muddy spring, Andrea Malik will bushwhack through miles of deep woods in Colton, on the northwestern edge of the Adirondack Park. She’ll slog through frigid marshes, up slippery ridges, and across beaver dams. All to deliver one naturally occurring soil bacteria, Bti—Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis—to every body of moving water she can find. Malik is part of a small crew that treats, by hand, thousands of miles of Adirondack streams with Bti to reduce the clouds of blackflies in early summer. A couple dozen towns in the Adirondack North Country region have Bti application programs. Malik is 61 and an athletic five-foot-three. She’s been doing this for 38 years now. Her nicknames around Colton include “Wild Wolf,” “Crazy Wolf” and the “Black Fly Diva.”…

“Its bite is not severe, nor is it ordinarily poisonous … beside the bite of the mosquito it is comparatively mild and harmless. … I regard it as one of the most harmless and least vexatious of the insect family. … The blackfly, … like the Gorgon of old, is a myth, —a monster existing only in men’s feverish imaginations.”—W. H. H. Murray Adventures in the Wilderness I love that I have come back to the Adirondacks, now with a place of my own at the edge of the wilderness. I grew up and attended high school not far from here, in the then “smallest incorporated village in New York State,” Galway, about two hours from the High Peaks. I later attended St. Lawrence University, in Canton, about two hours…

BIG MOOSE LAKE, EAGLE BAY, NY 13331 The Waldheim. Seventeen cottages with fireplaces overlooking scenic Big Moose Lake. Established in 1904, The Waldheim has changed little since. Rates include three delicious meals served daily in a central dining room. Unstructured opportunities allow guests to relax, recreate or be with family. 315-357-2353. www.thewaldheim.com. BLUE MOUNTAIN LAKE, NY 12812  The Hedges on Blue Mountain Lake welcomes guests from early June until mid October. Situated on 12 acres of woods with 1600 feet of waterfront, there’s 31 lodging options (14 lakeside and non lakeside cabins, 5 lodge suites, 12 lodge rooms); full-service dining room serving breakfast and dinner; and boats, docks, beach, tennis court, activities pavilion, game room and gift shop. The gift shop is open to the public, and advance reservations for…