Balsam Swamp is a sprawling state forest that stretches almost 5.5 miles east-west across 4 towns. The area is very rural, and the landscape surrounding the State Forest is predominantly forested. Balsam Swamp State Forest is comprised of a mix of native hardwood forests, hemlock swamps, and conifer plantations. There are no designated recreational trails on the forest, but there is ample opportunity for self-guided day hikes to explore the diversity of habitats represented on this State Forest. Additionally, the western section of Balsam Swamp State Forest is adjacent to Five Streams State Forest to the south.
The main attraction of this forest is Balsam Pond. The impoundment is approximately 152 acres and is a popular destination for fishing and paddle boat sports. Balsam Pond is a warm water fishery that contains a mix of largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, yellow perch, brown bullhead and sunfish. Tiger muskellunge have been stocked in the past with the last stocking occurring in 1995. However, there have been very few reports of anglers catching any of the adult tiger muskies. A shallow gravel boat launch is suitable for launching small fishing boats.
A small rustic camp ground is also located at Balsam Pond. Camping spaces are available at no cost on a first-come, first-serve basis and there is no running water or electricity. A fire ring, outhouse, and picnic table are provided for each camping space. A sign on Balsam-Tyler Road in Pharsalia designates the entrance to the boat launch and camping facility. This is a carry-in carry-out facility. Please do not litter.
This time I was less impressed with the mountains in West Virginia. While certainly bigger than the hills I woke up to this morning camping at Long Pond, they just don’t seem the way they once did in West Virginia.
Maybe it’s because it’s my fifth trip to West Virginia and the scenery isn’t as new and impressive. Visiting Dolly Sods from the much higher base elevation from the West – namely Canaan Valley Wildlife Refuge and Forest Road 80 Freeland Road made the 4,000 summit less impressive. Plus I didn’t get to the real high country – Spruce Knob Mountain area a dozen miles south.
But also looking at Canaan and Backbone Mountain from Olson Firetower made me rethink how impressive the landscape really is. Some of the peaks in that part of West Virginia while maybe high in total elevation are rather flat peaked and modest in elevation gain. I guess if I had been more around the Allegheny Front, North Mountain and Backbone Mountain from Bears Rocks in West Virginia I might have had an alternative take.
I don’t know. But maybe my dreams of the impressive hills and hollows of West Virginia where just that – more myth then reality. The truth is I see a lot of the hilltowns of Albany County or even the hollows of Schoharie County in West Virginia. The people there aren’t much different than the people I grew up knowing. The trailers, junk cars and ramshackle homestead all look familiar. Even much of Dolly Sods and Canaan Mountain remind me of parts of the Taconics and Berkshire Mountains, Canaan Heights, WV has a striking resemblance to Canaan, NY especially if you visit the high point at Harvey Hill State Forest.
Sister counties — these are counties that have most similar land cover by percentage, i.e. similar amounts of urbanization, crop land, hay fields, trees. Often, but not always these counties border each other. Sometimes this is true in both directions but not always. Fun with R.
Albany – Schenectady
Allegany – Cattaraugus
Bronx – Queens
Broome – Tioga
Cattaraugus – Allegany
Cayuga – Seneca
Chautauqua – Oswego
Chemung – Chenango
Chenango – Otsego
Clinton – Fulton
Columbia – Cortland
Cortland – Columbia
Delaware – Cattaraugus
Dutchess – Orange
Erie – Onondaga
Essex – Warren
Franklin – Lewis
Fulton – Clinton
Genesee – Seneca
Greene – Sullivan
Hamilton – Herkimer
Herkimer – St. Lawrence
Jefferson – Chautauqua
Kings – New York
Lewis – St. Lawrence
Livingston – Wyoming
Madison – Oneida
Monroe – Niagara
Montgomery – Tompkins
Nassau – Richmond
New York – Kings
Niagara – Wayne
Oneida – Madison
Onondaga – Ontario
Ontario – Livingston
Orange – Dutchess
Orleans – Niagara
Oswego – Chautauqua
Otsego – Chenango
Putnam – Dutchess
Queens – Bronx
Rensselaer – Schoharie
Richmond – Nassau
Rockland – Westchester
Saratoga – Fulton
Schenectady – Albany
Schoharie – Tioga
Schuyler – Steuben
Seneca – Cayuga
St. Lawrence – Lewis
Steuben – Schuyler
Suffolk – Monroe
Sullivan – Greene
Tioga – Broome
Tompkins – Schuyler
Ulster – Greene
Warren – Essex
Washington – Oneida
Wayne – Niagara
Westchester – Rockland
Wyoming – Livingston
Yates – Livingston
The Zonal Histogram was created in QGIS using the NLCD ’19 data. Here is the R script:
library(tidyverse)
rm(list=ls())
# read exported zonal histogram
hist <- read_csv('Desktop/county.csv')
# calculate rowwise percentages of land use
hist <- hist %>% rowwise() %>% mutate(total = sum(across(contains('HISTO_')))) %>%
mutate(across(contains('HISTO_'), ~(./total)*100 ))
# include only relevant rows -- those in the histogram
hist <- hist %>% select(NAME10, contains('HISTO_'))
# go through each county
for (county in sort(hist$NAME10)) {
searchCounty <- hist %>% filter(NAME10 == county)
# calculate distance between search county and others
# make our searchCounty dataframe the same size as the histogram table
# subtract from histogram dataframe, taking absolute value
# sum rows to calculate the distance from the county
# bind to histogram dataframe
# better explanation: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/55681573/how-can-i-find-the-record-from-a-data-set-that-is-most-similar-to-a-test-record
bd <- cbind(hist, dist=rowSums(abs(hist[,-1] - searchCounty[rep(1, nrow(hist)), -1]))) %>%
arrange(dist)
print(paste(county,'-',bd[2,1]))
}
My relationship with snow is complicated living in the suburbs.
Snow rarely impacts my commuteliving in the suburbs as the busses run whether it’s sunny and 50 or it’s blowing deep snow. They do a good job if clearing the sidewalks where I live so I can’t complain about that either. I do worry sometimes after severe winter storms about losing power, although my apartment is on enough of a main line that the last time I had an extended power outage was during the ice storm over a decade ago. The big issue here is when I loose power there is no heat in the freezing weather.
An off grid cabin wouldn’t risk losing grid power from the snow. With wood heat electric isn’t required, just throw another log on the fire. I would have to keep an eye on the propane though so I wouldn’t run out of hot water for the shower and dish washing though. Digging out the driveway, cleaning off the solar panels and getting wood from the stack outdoors might be work but I could always come back inside, especially on days when I don’t have to work. A generator might have to be fired up to maintain the voltage of the battery on cold snowy dark days but hopefully with enough storage I wouldn’t have to use it much. Going out to the outhouse might not be fun but I guess I could always build a shitter bucket and dump it out when I’m outside.
While I like the security and warmth of living off grid, I don’t really enjoy driving in the snow. I think I’m fairly good at it, and I’m a careful driver but snow driving is a long slow slog as your speeds are greatly reduced. I expect when I own my own land and have to commute to an out of town area – there will be some long trips home – although I still would use public transportation to get to and from the city center to avoid traffic and parking headaches. I would probably get studded snow tires and maybe chains for my truck. Or have an old clunker that I don’t care if it gets beat up in the snow. I could always leave my truck by the town road and take a four wheeler or snowmobile out there.
I’m fine with snow for now as long as I don’t lose power. I’m saving money with my cheap apartment on the bus line. But it would sure be nice to some day have my own land and have a nice wood stove to stay warm along and have the security of an off grid system without fear of losing electric lighting or heat.
ο»ΏI often think Rural America, at least in New York State is getting redder, while the inner suburbs and even some of the outer suburbs are getting bluer. Maybe that observation is antidotal, not based on facts, but I could also see that being true.
Rural areas are undergoing a lot of change, old ways of doing things are being confronted by a new reality of the world that doesnβt work the way it once. Technology continues to replace mechanical labor, automation means more economic output with fewer people working in rural areas. Natural resources are more regulated, but also are managed much more efficiently with greater output.
The problems of cities β pollution, crime, and violence β are spilling over onto the ways of rural life. While most rural areas donβt have a significant issues on this front, urban politicians which tend to be Democratic are pushing for one-size fits all solutions, noting the real problems they face. And that is generating a reaction against their policies in rural areas.
I am thinking about after regular season closes this year, doing another winter camping trip to the Finger Lakes National Forest. I had a lot of fun in 2018, and while it was cold and snowy, it was enjoyable.
It’s kind of fun to be out in the wilderness in the snow, enjoying the cold and colors.
As the snow falls all around.
The sun can be weak but next to heater with a hot cup of coffee, mornings are a lot of fun.
“Old John Robertson he wore a Stetson hat
People everywhere would laugh behind his back
No one cared to take any time to find out
What he was all about, fear kept them out. “
Many computer hackers – that is people who write or hack together their own software don’t have internet at home. That might seem odd but actually that’s not uncommon as many hackers have a real aversion to technology or how it’s used for social control and advertising. Hackers, while benefiting from the internet as a source of knowledge often find things like social media and the internet a distraction from their work, so they are glad to keep their homes internet free.
