Day: January 8, 2026

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Mountain Bike Trail

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Walking along a narrow part of the mountain bike trail that runs up to Tassell Hill. Most of the trail would be good for cross-country skiing but maybe not this very narrow section.

Monday January 16, 2023 — Alfred J Woodford State Forest

Nigger Hill in Prattsville

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Many people don't realize as late the 1950s, there was a Nigger Hill outside of Prattsville, NY - as seen on this 1945 Prattsville Topographic Map. Department of Interior Secretary, Stewart Udall started a campaign in 1962 to rename all places named Nigger Hill to Negro Hill, the change took place in 1963. However, New York State must have petitioned to change the name somewhat earlier, as this 1960 reprint of the 1945 Prattsville Topographic map already has the change.

There are five Negro Hills across New York, three of them (those in Clinton, Wayne, Delaware) appear on old federal topographic maps as Nigger or Niger Hill according to GNIS.

President Obama urged GNIS to change the naming Negro-named place to less offensive names. However, renaming a landmark involves a lengthy local process, including historical research to justify the change. It was relatively easy to swap out Nigger Hill for Negro Hill, but if you are going to have unique local names, then they would have justify each new name.

A little more then a month before I can ride both ways to work 🚴‍♂️🌇

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You know that makes me as a happy as a pig in shit.

But seriously, a day when can ride both ways to work sure beats taking the bus. Usually on a clear day if the bike trail is free snow, by around Valentines Day, I can eek my home on the bike path with enough daylight to make it to the town roads for riding before dusk. Sometimes this is pushing it, obviously this depends on the trail conditions and how cloudy it is. By Presidents Day, if the trail is snow free and the weather is good for riding, then I’m golden.

Not only do I get home feeling all pumped from riding up that hill and enjoying the scenic beauty, I’ll get home 15-20 minutes earlier then if I took the bus. All without the inconvenience and cost of riding the bus. Then I get home, have dinner, and retire to bed. Already it’s great – it’s not pitch black when I leave the office on my bike at 5:15 PM in the evening.