2013 Year In Review

What a season it was!  We still enjoyed boating on the lake especially with visiting friends and relatives but spending the whole summer at the camp allowed us to do a lot more exploring and to engagein  a greater variety of activities.

Ager's Falls

We found more waterfalls to visit, including a new favorite, Ager's Falls in Lyons Falls, Crandall Falls on the Black River and Cascade Falls in the Adirondacks.





 We explored more of the Adirondacks. We enjoyed the hikes t oCascade Lake, and to the summits of Rocky Mountain (relatively easy) and Black Bear Mountain (moderate to hard).  The views from the rocky summits will undoubtedly lead us to return.  We discovered plant species we've never seen before at Ferd's Bog.

Nearby Rome provided a variety of attractions- historical (Fort Stanwix), cultural (Manson-Williams Museum o)f Art, natural (Sand Plains) and man-made wonders (Delta Lake).


We visited the botanical garden  in Oriskany and a religious shrine (St. Marianne's) in Utica.


 


For the first time, we were able to attend the Woodmen's Field Days.








 We even had time to mine for Herkimer Diamonds.







But now that the hummingbirds are long gone, the days are getting colder, the leaves starting to fall,  it's time to close shop and count the days to the next season.

Rocky Mountain

Rocky Mountain in the Adirondacks Park can be reached from a parking lot on Route 28, just south of downtown Inlet, NY.  When we hiked Black Bear Mountain which started from the same parking lot, there was a lot of people coming from and going to Rocky Mountain.

We returned early in the fall season to see what seems to be such a popular destination. We wanted to sign the registry but the book was full attesting to the popularity of the trail



 



The hike was only 0.5miles but unrelentingly steep, with an elevation gain of 448 feet, going over rocks and gnarled roots of the towering trees.









The view at the summit was, however, magnificent - the best view of the area for the amount of effort to get there.

Ferd's Bog

Thousands of years ago, in what is known as a Wisconsonian glacial retreat,  a large block of ice was cut off from the retreating glacier and settled in what became Ferd's bog. The ice eventually melted, creating an inland body of water. In the absence of oxygen to support decomposing bacteria or fungus, the water became more shallow as organic matter gradually accumulated which  lead to the growth of sphagnum moss, its dense root creating a mat over the remaining layer of water.  This mat supports many bog plants like labrador tea, leatherleaf bog rosemary , bog cranberry, larch (tamarack) and the carnivorous pitcher plant and sundews.  There is still a large open area of water in the middle of the mat.

This wetland was discovered in the 1970's by Ferdinand LaFrance, a hunter and avid birder from Syracuse who had a camp on Uncas Road.  According to an old article published by the Onondaga Audubon Society, friends of LaFrance who were brought to this place for its many boreal birds called it "the bog up near Ferd's camp" which later evolved to "Ferd's Bog". It now covers a 50-acre bog, stream and pond surrounded by 50 acres of boreal forest. According to the DEC, the american black-backed and three-toed woodpeckers,  wood warblers, gray jays, Lincoln's sparrows, great blue herons and eartern bluebirds are among the boreal birds that are seen in the bog.



We had our first glimpse of Ferd's Bog from the top of Black Bear Mountain. It was too late to see the bog after that hike so we had to do it on another day.



To reach Ferd's Bog from Kayuta Lake we headed down on Route28 towards the Adirondack Park and turned left on Uncas Road which is about 35miles from the Forestport bridge, in Eagle Bay, just before the border of Inlet. At around 3.2 miles, 1.6 miles of which are unpaved, there is a small parking lot on the left side with a DEC sign marking the trailhead.


  The trail goes mostly downhill surrounded by a dense forest. At around 0.3 miles, we reached the plastic boardwalk that goes through the bog.

The birds were mostly gone even though it was still early in the fall but we saw some interesting bog plants. The sphagnum moss had what appears to be sprouting pitcher plants (can't be absolutely sure since we've never seen them before).  A bug is seen trapped inside the carnivorous pitcher.

Sphagnum Moss

Pitcher Plant

The bog rosemary was still abundant while the larch trees, being deciduous conifers, are starting to change into their fall colors.

Tamarack (Eastern Larch Tree)

Just finding all these uncommon plants made the trip to Ferd's bog a truly worthwhile experience.  Hopefully, we'll find the time to return in the spring or the summer to look for all the boreal birds that make this a birder's paradise.

Black Bear Mountain

Black Bear Mountain, 2448 ft. in elevation and 1.7miles east of Fourth Lake promises excellent views of the mountains. The trailhead is at an expansive parking area off Route 28 just south of downtown Inlet which is also the lot for the Rocky Mountain trail. We were directed to the trail to Black Mountain by a sign at the SE end of the parking lot, the end that's closest to town

The trail goes in to the forest and initially runs alongside a small creek. After a barely perceptible descent, the trail gently ascends.  There was a long muddy section of about 0.2 miles. At 0.7mile, we reached a fork where the two trails to the summit intersect.  The right (Blue) trail is shorter (1.9miles to the summit) and steeper, while the left (Yellow) trail appears to be less traveled is supposedly not as steep but longer (3.1miles) and more muddy.  We chose steeper 

The trail still had some muddy sections as it gradually made its ascent.  Then, it became narrower, steeper, more rocky.  Some scrambling was necessary.

 Then came the 10-12 foot cliff. Fortunately, just to the right, we were able to find a narrow trail that bypassed the cliff.

We reached the rocky summit, (ascent - 728 ft) and were treated to a great view of Fourth Lake and surrounding area.

But that was not the end of the hike.  After a quick picnic lunch, we continued northeast towards the back of the mountain where we were treated to a panoramic view of the distant high peaks.

After getting our fill of the wonderful views, we headed back down.  This time, we made it down that formidable cliff.  Next time,. we'll try to go up that way. 

References:
Guide to Adirondack Trails: West-Central Region. The Adirondack Mountain Club

Hiking in the Adirondack Park
Black Bear Mountain. CNY Hiking.coom

Rome Sand Plains

The Rome Sand Plains is one of only a few inland pine barrens in the nation, (see list here).  Fine grain sands  had accumulated in the shallow areas of the eastern shore of the ancient Lake Iroquois, wide swaths of which were later exposed in Rome, NY when the glaciers receded,  The west wind then blew them into high sand dunes while the low areas became peat bogs.  There are still some exposed sand dunes with pine barrens,wetlands, and northern hard woods interspersed with transitional meadow with unique birds, butterflies and plants.

The Rome Sand Plains is owned and managed by a consortium of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Izaak Walton League, Oneida County, the City of Rome and private landowners.  More than 4000 of the 16,000 acres of the Rome Sand Plains are protected.


An exposed sand dune is easily seen from this trailhead parking on Hogsback Road.  We followed a foot trail that went to the top of the dune and exited to the road.  This turned out to be Bog Trail.

At another parking lot, we followed a trail which lead to another exposed sand dune. This appears to be a popular target shooting area based on the remnants of targets on the dune, spent shells and other garbage on the ground.  What a shame to do this damage to a natural wonder.  The first sand dune we saw also had some spent shells and casings on the ground in spite of the clear warning against target shooting in the area.


As we headed back to the parking lot, we saw another trail on the left which lead to a gently sloping sandy hill bordered by pitch pines with new growth close to the trail.  There was even a bench at the edge of the trail, at a large open area.  Could this be the Sand Dune Trail?  We did not find any sign and could not find this on any trail map.

As we continued, we ended up at the trailhead for Wood Creek Trail.  The informational signs describe the geologic history of the sand plains and the navigational significance of Wood Creek.

We signed the registry then proceeded along the 0.6 mile trail along the crest of a dune.  There are tall white pine, hemlocks and oaks with moss and lichens covering some of the barren areas.  The trail narrows as it approaches the banks of Wood Creek.  We turned around and followed the trail back to the parking lot.

Wood Creek

 We were a little disappointed for not seeing any blue lupine or frosted elfin butterfly and the litter around the exposed dunes left a sour note to the hike.  It was nevertheless interesting to walk on the sand dunes and discover the vegetation they support.  Maybe we'll come back next time to walk the slightly longer Blue Trail.

Lumberjill Championship at the Woodsmen's Field Days

The Woodmen's Field Days that is held in Boonvile every third weekend in August is one of the country's predominant lumberjack contests. Founded in 1948 by the Rev. Frank Reed, the primary goal of this nonprofit organization is the "promotion of the forest industry in general, and the lumberjack in particular, a vanishing breed."  This year's event in supposedly the biggest yet, with more than 250 concession stands.

Two-women Cross Cut

We had a chance to attend the event last Saturday. We passed by the industry displays and headed straight for the grandstand where the World's Open Lumberjill Championship Contest was being held.  This is claimed to be the premier lumberjill contest in the country and participation is by invitation only.

Log Roll

The log roll is a timed competition where two partners roll a log to a point between 2 stakes using their own peaveys (instrument with a wooden shaft with a metal point and a hinged hook near the end, used to handle logs). At the other end,  the log should rest between the stakes with wood visible on both ends.  Otherwise, they have to move the wood into position  And does that log look heavy! Then, they have to roll it back to the starting point.

One-woman Cross Cut

In the single cross cut, the competitor uses a huge saw to cut a piece off a piece of wood.  We learned that the cross-cut saws used by competitors are hand-made, extremely sharp and quite expensive, averaging $1500 each.

Jack & Jill Cross Cut

A two-person cross cut competition followed, with a man and a woman team(Jack and Jill) and later with 2-women team.  Cross-cut sawing relies not just on strength but on proper technique.

Bow-saw competition

In the bow-saw competition, the competitor has to make two cuts through the shorter end of the log.

Chain Saw competition

There were two chain-saw competitions.  In the first, the women used the same stock chain saw provided by the contest organizers.  They had to make several cuts (can't remember if it was 2 or 3) within a 6inch section of the log.  In the second set, the competitors used their own chain saws which they have modified to improve their performance.  These saws looked like nothing we've seen before. Using non-standard fuel (could be aviation fuel), they had huge mufflers which looked like rocket launchers. And were they noisy.



In the vertical log chop, the competitor uses an axe to chop a log in half.  Because of the danger of this sport, the competitor is supposed to start with an upward chop to prevent hitting their foot in case of a miss.  The event also has a two-minute time limit to prevent injury due to exhaustion.

Vertical Chop

Horizontal Log Chop

In the horizontal log chop or underhand chop, the competitor stands on the log which has to be chopped in half within a 2 1/2 minute time limit. If it looks dangerous, it surely is.  According to another  blogger, some years ago, a competitor supposedly chopped off 3/4 of her big toe during this event but went on to finish the chore and win the event before heading off to the hospital.

We were not able to see the axe-throwing competition which was held at another (probably safer) site.



The competition was so exciting that we did not notice that it lasted more than 3 hours.  Even the clean-up and setting up between the events by the volunteer crew was interesting.  We were not able to wait for the announcement of the winners but in our minds, all these ladies were.