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Gorging on Gorges, An Adventure, Day 1

About a month ago, I took a trip I gave the name “Gorging on Gorges”. As the name would suggest, most of the trip involved visiting various gorges, taking photographs of them, and otherwise exploring them. About half of them I had previously been to, while the rest were new. I also visited several other state parks, state forests, and national forests – and did something I haven’t done in a long time – camped one night in a developed campground.

I started out my trip from Albany, taking US Route 20 West from I-88. I really wanted to avoid expressways for the bulk of my trip, is my general view is that expressways are the best way to get across America without really seeing anything. It’s more then a philosophical argument for me – what’s the purpose of a vacation if your rushing from point “A” to point “B”.

The first part of the trip, I drove to Chittenango Falls State Park via Nelson and beautiful farm country so high above. I walked down into the gorge, and up and around the falls. The color was somewhat muted, but it still was quite pretty. Then I headed off, taking some side roads as recommended by my GPS’s most direct route, and ended up passing a few miles from Labrador Hollow and the beautiful Labrador Pond, and said, heck, I got to stop on by there.

I drove down to Labrador Pond parking area, and hiked down to the pond. The colors were still not fully-turned on Jones Hill, but on Labrador Mountain were well past peak. Despite the crowds of fall foliage peepers from Syracuse, crowding the area, there were adequate opportunities for solitude. I walked down to the lake, snapped a few photos, then hiked the nature trail/boardwalk. It was nice. It also was great to see the boardwalk being used by a disabled man – he could get out and enjoy nature, despite his difficulties he had walking. One of the large dairies in the area was spreading something on fields nearby, and it sure stunk – it seemed nastier then fermented grain, although that’s probably what it was. Didn’t stick around too long, as I had places to go.

Drove down through Prebles, another deep, rich agricultural valley, dotted by large dairies that take advantage of the area’s rich soils for producing many bushels of corn on each acre. Got held up for about 5 minutes during a paving job, where they had the road restricted to one lane, for what had to been a half mile or so. Noticed how most of remaining trash burning barrels had disappeared from the landscape, that might have only been there 3 or 4 years ago.

Then it was off to Homer, where I passed a moose, made out of welded scrap metal along the road. It was kind of a neat roadside attraction, and I really should have stopped and got a picture, but I had a tight schedule and was burning daylight. I would come to later regret not getting that picture, but heck, I figure I can probably find a picture of it on the Internet using Google Images or Flickr. If not, it will certainly be there, the next time I find myself going through this roadside wilderness.

I got lost on my way to Moravia. Not really lost, because I was following the GPS, but because I had programmed the “most direct route” rather then “fastest route”, the GPS.decided to take me up a rough dirt road through Hewitt State Forest. I declined, and eventually the GPS found a new route, that happened to take me past Milton Fillmore’s birthplace. There is now a picnic pavilion and a some landscaping in that location. I turned around, snapped a few pictures, and explored it briefly. I wanted to a get a picture for dad for his historical markers collection.

Then it was off to Fillmore Glen. I was running a bit late at this point, but it’s a pleasant drive down to Filmore. The landscape is pretty rural until you drop, rather quickly into Moravia. Moravia is a pretty, small rural town; the glen is located at far southernly end of the town. There was a bridge being replaced in town, and you had to wait, for what seemed like an eternity for the light to green on the on-one lane bridge.

Finally, I got to the park entrance. The older guy there, grumbled when I said I had an Empire Pass. He was like “where is it – I can’t see it”. The rear window on my truck where the Empire Pass is tinted, but not that dark. I was slightly annoyed that the park entrance guy wasn’t friendly, and I forgot to ask for a map. I was kind of rushing. Got parked, and there was a big wedding going on, complete with horse drawn carriage. Crossed the “Dry Creek” and started up the trail, first to the Cow Shed falls, then decided to take the Northern Rim Trail. It wasn’t apparent at first that it was the rim trail, but I didn’t have a map. I actually printed up a map, and had it my truck, but I of course forgot it.

The Northern Rim climbs a fair bit, then runs along the rim, with very limited and occasional views. It crosses a pretty little creek that tumbles down the gorge, and eventually leads to a path down to the gorge trail, three-quarters the way up the gorge. I decided to hike down to the gorge trail, and then head back down the gorge towards the parking area. I missed a bit of the gorge trail, and the overlook, but so be it, time was tight.

The Gorge trail was scenic, but certainly not the most scenic of gorges. There were several small waterfalls, and some stairs and bridges, although most of the trail was gravel along the edge. The “Dry Creek” had plenty of water, but in general, the gorges was smaller then other Finger Lake gorges. There were several glens of interest, but the most beautiful portion of the glen was the Cow Sheds in the button of the gorge. Cow Sheds falls, are the wider portion of the gorge, where at one time, historically, cows would gather for shelter in severe or cold weather.

Snapped a few more pictures of Fillmore Glen, and it was off to Ithaca. I made pretty good time to Ithaca, although I admit I certainly wasn’t poking along. I really should have stopped more places, but I wanted to get to the Finger Lakes National Forest relatively early so I could set up camp and/or make alternative plans should my desired campsite on Chicken Coop Road be unavailable. Passed a giant bull statue on a farm, along NY 38, a few miles south of Moravia. I really should have stopped for a picture, but I was burning daylight, and the Finger Lakes National Forest, was over an hour away. I think this is the one, that the farmer paid like $10,000 to haul from an abandoned Steakhouse in Binghamton to the farm. I am sure the bull will be there for a long time – in case anybody forgot what is raised on farms.

Then it was down to Freeville.. The only thing real remarkable about that town, was the pine barrens and swamps, consisting of heading into it. When you think of the Finger Lakes, you tend to think open landscapes and farms, at least until you get mostly south of them of them, or in the highest points to the west. But not here. The Finger Lakes Trust owns some land, on the north side, where it the land is mostly the backwaters of the Oswaco Inlet.

Finally made it to Ithaca by 4:45 PM. I was lucky at this hour that traffic wasn’t too much of a slog by Ithaca standards, then I was off heading up Trumansberg Road. It seemed like an endless drive. Finally made it to Perry City, and then to the Finger Lakes National Forest. There was no sign of the government closure when I got there, but a bit disappointed, my favorite campsite on Chicken Coop Road was already taken. It was off to campsite on Potamac Road, just past the hunting camp.

I wasn’t thrilled by campsite, a big field campsite, but it had some trees along one edge for hanging the flag and lights. It was pretty good site for observing the stars, although there was a hunting camp down the road a little ways, so I had to keep the music down. I really don’t want to piss off the hunters. I gathered up some firewood from the woods, and got a fire started. The sun was fading fast, but so be it. I wired up my lights, some Christmas lights, and got the spot light on the flag.

It got dark, and I tuned into the Ithaca Progressive Radio Station, and gazed on the stars for a couple of hours. Nibbled on some snacks, cracked open a beer or two. Tossed some more wood on fire, and was happy to finally be on vacation.

It was a good first day… more adventures to come.

Abandoning Existing Roads in Essex Chain Tract Makes No Sense

There are some wilderness advocates in our state that are calling for abandoning of existing roads in the Essex Chain tract to create an expanded Hudson Gorge Wilderness-area. Their argument is that by closing off these roads to all uses except foot traffic, it’s an opportunity to create yet another wilderness area in the Adirondacks – as if there was a shortage of wilderness areas.

The Proposals.

Here is the vision of the towns, where they propose to keep most of the existing roads open for low-speed motor vehicle travel.

The DEC in contrast is proposing to limit most of the existing dirt roads to hiking, mountain bikes, and snowmobiles, but also preserves access to the Hudson River, Cedar River, and Essex Tract within a 1/4 mile buffer. The buffer is designed so that people on the lakes can’t hear or see motor vehicles, which could compromise their experience.

This is the proposal that the wilderness advocates. Not much access to the lakes, and a banning of mountain bikes and snowmobiles from existing roads.

Why It’s Important to Protect Public Access.

Low-speed motor vehicle roads are an important to making the back-country accessible and widely available. The reality is relatively few people use our public wild spaces, with most people preferring to staying within the comfort of the cities and suburbs, with cable television, high speed internet, wash tubs, and flush toilets. It’s important to encourage public use of our lands, to create a constituency to protect these lands for future use.

Nobody is arguing for a widening or expansion of the Essex Chain tract roads. This would be constitutionally prohibited, and could detract from these wonderful lands. Nobody is arguing for blacktop pavement, flush toilets, water fountains, or developed campsites. In contrast, any use of these of these lands would be primitive, with facilities limited to dirt seasonal-use roads, outhouses, and designated campsites that have only natural-stone fireplaces. Even so-called roadside campsites, would have little more then a place to park a vehicle, a fire ring made of local stone and maybe an outhouse. Picnic tables are generally not allowed in wild forest areas.

Even with the existing dirt roads, the only people who would drive miles back into the woods would be people who don’t mind getting dirty, and want to go canoe, fish, hike, hunt, or camp in a wild setting. Fears of overuse are well overblown, because there are many other wild forest areas – with roads, campsites, trails, and minimal development – that get light use at best.

Camping on McCarthy Hill Road

Last November, I spent two rather cold nights right before southern zone hunting season camping on McCarthy Hill Road near Ellicotville in Cattaraugus County. Located about 1/2 mile from Little Rock City, a popular place for hiking and exploring various “buildings” which are actually just very large, square rocks, left from the glaciers.

The campsites near Little Rock City have little pavilions.

The campsites along McCarthy Hill Road are simple roadside sites, with little more then stone campfire rings and a “Camp Here” sign nailed to the trees.

Up here, you are camping on a mountain, or at least a fairly large hill, so it’s pretty cold especially on the first day of southern zoning hunting season.

But some nice warm coffee can help things out a lot, even when the themometer in your pickup truck says it’s only 19 degrees. Plus a good breakfast made on the campstove.

15 miles to the south is Allegany State Park. 40 miles will get you to the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania. Likewise, Jamestown is about 40 miles to the west. I’ve heard it’s popular in the summer. 15 miles to the north is Zoar Valley Unique Area, a great gorge where the Cattaragus Creek runs, and 50 miles northeast is Letchworth State Park.

View Larger Map

There is good cell service and 4G wireless internet service. Bring your own electricity.

Here’s a map.

Finger Lakes, Southern Tier, Western NY Trip to Offer New and Old Experiences

Next week, Columbus Day Weekend and the days following it, I will be taking a trip out to the Finger Lakes, then out to Western NY and the Southern Tier, then to Chautauqua County, then dip down into Pennsylvania, and come back along US 6. Many of these destinations I’ve been to before, but also there are many other destinations I want to explore, anew.

I will probably start the first part of the week at the Finger Lakes National Forest and/or Sugar Hill State Forest. I would like to check out many of the gorge parks in fall, especially Robert Treman State Park. I also am interested in seeing Fillmore Glen, possibly on the way out there, as that is the only gorge I have not been to in the various Finger Lakes State Parks.

Later on the week, I want to visit Harriet Hollister Spencer Recreation Area, then Letchworth State Park. Possibly stay over night at the campground, depending on the weather. Then at some point, I want to check out the Allegheny County State Forests, and I may be able to camp at Bully Hill State Forest. The Bully Hill website says that hunters are allowed to camp at the various gravel pull offs at that state forest. It is after all, small game hunting season.

Then I hope to visit the ever so special Zoar Valley gorge. I bet you that gorge is filled with color this time of year. It certainly was spectacular, last November, at least when it wasn’t dropping wet snow.

From there, probably visit Little Rock City, then progress west through Chautauqua County to the Chautauqua Gorge. There are campsites there, and I might spend a night there, until heading south to Allegheny National Forest for a day or two. Visit Kinzua Bridge State Park – which surprisingly I have never been to.

From there, probably take a southernly route, e.g. State College and Jersey Shore, before eventually coming across the Pennsylvania wilds into Endless Mountain Country, and ultimately returning back to New York.

At least that’s the tentative plans. Things don’t always work out the way they first appear, and it’s possible that for the Allegheny leg, in particular, that some of the roads and overlooks will be gated off for the government shutdown, assuming it’s not resolved in the next few days.

When the Rain Stopped for a While at Moose River Plains

Nobody will kid you about it being a rainy summer. But it seems like no place has been rainier in the past year then Moose Plains. For the past three weekends I spent at Moose Plains it rained. That was Moosefest 2012, last September, followed by Memorial Day Weekend 2013 and Labor Day Weekend 2013. Almost every day, during those weekends, it rained, only stopping momentarily with the sun peaking out occasionally.

Part of the reason why I spent so much time in the rain at Moose River Plains, is I was invested in an idea. Moose River Plains is 120 plus miles from home, so it seems a bit too far to go up there just on a whim, compared to say Piseco-Powley Road at 75 miles or Burnt-Rossman Hills at 55 miles, each way. Often like with Memorial Day Weekend, I get excited about the concept of visiting Moose Plains – the hell with the weather. After all, it had been six months since I had spent any time up at the plains. Labor Day didn’t seem like that much of a wash from the forecast, until it rained almost every day. And the prior year – I knew with my work schedule – that if I didn’t go up to Moose Plains during Moosefest week, in the rain, I wouldn’t be back there until spring time.

So it’s been wet. But I figured spending time at Moose Plains still was better then a day stuck at home – the hell with the gasoline burned to get up there, drive from place to place, or for that matter, to keep the lights burning brightly well into the night. But rain can put a damper into plans. Who really wants to go kayaking on Cedar River Flow in the pouring rain or hiking Wakely Mountain in the rain? Not like your going to see much in the rain, plus dampness makes everything miserable, even if you are plenty warm. Skin chaffs from moisture. So I spend my days under the tarp, reading, listening to podcasts, and watching a smoldering campfire struggle against the rain.

Finally, this past extended weekend, I got a break from the rain. There were blue skies for two and half days, although by Saturday, high clouds and haze at times kind of drowned out the sunshine. A foliage trip, there probably were more hunters on the trails then color on the trees. But as weekend progressed, so did the color. And with the chance to go out and enjoy the outdoors, I finally did get out around to see many places at Moose Plains that I longing to see for some time, once again. I spent two beautiful moonlight evenings, hanging off Wakely Dam, enjoying the stars under the bright full moon. I haven’t camped at Wakely Dam on Cedar River Flow in years. I hiked up Wakely Mountain one day, then paddle around the Cedar River Flow, then Wakely Dam, then Helldiver Pond all in one day. The next day, I camped down at Campsite 56, my favorite wilderness campsite in the plains, followed by a surprising nice day, with good foliage, which gave me a chance to visit Indian Lake, off the Indian River at Moose Plains.

But then again, by 5:30 PM, the rain came again, and once again I camping under the tarp, as the fire struggles to keep up against the rain. I guess rain is just a natural thing.

Shrug.

Good Evening. School is Back. Heat Returns Tomorrow. Went Hiking Saturday. Started on Pennsylvania Maps.

Good Evening! Well we made it through the Monday. Only four more days left until the weekend — although next weekend looks really busy with a class I am taking all day on Saturday, and funeral I have to drive down to on Sunday. But so be it. The following week, I am heading up to Moose River Plains, assuming I can get Thursday and Friday off from work and it doesn’t look like its going to rain. Tired of camping in the rain.

School is Back in Session. Welcome back traffic on the roads. I missed you. And the bus is running late. I am going to start having to catch the earlier bus to work, so I get to work reasonably on time. So it goes. The circle comes back around.

Today’s Nice Cool Weather Should Turn to Sweltering Heat By Tomorrow. I sure like the cool weather, in the 60s and 70s, where I can wear my Carharrt vest and a long sleave shirt, but I also realize, it’s a bit too early for it to be so cold out. We got to go a couple more months before winter comes. No need to rush the fall.

Got My Tire Patched and Back on the Truck. The dang tire was a pain in the butt to get off the truck and back on. It’s so heavy. But $35 dollars later, it’s been patched and I put it back on the truck. It is what it is. Hopefully this will be the last time I run over a nail or screw with my truck.

Went Up to Rensselearville State Forest and Bear Swamp. It was a very clear and nice weather by Sunday afternoon, but a little too late to go out to the Catskills, so I decided to head on up to Rensselarville. Hiked around the loop on snowmobile trail in the back off of Rivenberg road, then explored some of the local roads up there that have great views of the Catskills. Bear Swamp was interesting too — I’ve only been back there a few times, despite being within 5 miles of where I grew up as a child.

Started Making Up Some Pennsylvania Maps. While I have pretty good GIS coverage now set up for all of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, my first priority will be mostly Allegheny National Forest Maps. My goal is to make high quality maps of the many public motor vehicle roads, with roadside (dispersed) campsites shown to be the best of my knowledge. It’s complicated to get maps set up for different states, as the data sources vary quite dramatically from state to state, but I am getting happy with the results. A few of the new maps will start popping up this week and next — with more refined ones to come in the future.

New Theme for the Blog. Central Vermont/Green Mountains This Extended Weekend. Lift Kits vs Other Toys. Getting off the Grid.

Good Morning! Happy Wednesday. Yes, folks it’s Wednesday. I think this is the first note I’ve done in a few months, but so be it. It really isn’t that hard to do notes, especially now that I’ve switched WordPress, and everything is pretty much standardized and easy to use. It’s a long one, jotted down over the past week,w with lots of things to talk about.

Working on a New WordPress Theme for the Blog. When I brought the blog over to WordPress, my intent was not to create another generic looking WordPress blog, although in many ways that’s how it ended up. I also messed up some of the code, and didn’t build a proper client theme, instead relying on an adapted theme.

The result was a kind of bland mess. The good news is I am now learning how to build a proper client theme on top of an existing, much nicer WordPress theme — that doesn’t look so much like a generic WordPress theme. One of the reasons I avoided for so long going with WordPress, as I didn’t want to end up with a very generic theme. But somehow it all ended up that way. I think the new theme I am going to — based on the popular Pinboard theme is much nicer.

Hopefully it will be up by the start of September, if all goes well. New maps up are on the blog today.

Heading Up to the Northern Half of Green Mountains this Weekend. Probably leave Friday after work, first camp in the Southern Green Mountains near Somerset Reservior, then head North on Vermont 100. There looks to be a lot of neat places to see in the northern Green Mountains, and some spectular scenery.

Plan to stay for a long weekend, by also taking off Monday and Tuesday, which promise to be pretty nice weather. As I don’t really know the area, a lot of the trip will be about seeing what is up there, and going from there to figure out what to do. I will bring the kayak and camera, and certainly are keeping my mind open to taking a nice hike somewheres. They are talking about a continuation of the recent low-humidity, temperate climate weather over the weekend, especially as we head into Monday and Tuesday. Supposed to be some good meteor showers.

I’ve decided to do more of these long weekends, rather then take any full weeks off this summer. I guess you could say the July 4th week was technically a week off, although actually July 4th and July 5th were holidays at the office, so they didn’t really count.

I might take a week-long trip in October to Western NY and Pennsylvania during peak foliage season. That said, I also want to do an extended weekend trip to Moose River Plains and also Lake Kushaqua/Jones Pond and recently re-opened Loon Mountain firetower.

Going to Put Off Getting the Lift-Kit Installed Until at Least March. Originally the plan was to have a lift-kit installed on my truck in October. But after giving it more thought, and carefully reviewing the options, I’ve decided the best option is to wait another six months or so. For one, I want to wear down the stock tires more, so I’m not wasting them as much, and also so I’m a bit closer to end of the factory warranty — the lift kit isn’t covered by the truck’s factory warranty, and while it wouldn’t invalidate the whole warranty, certainly any damage (as unlikely as it is) it could cause wouldn’t be warrantied.

But the other part of the rational is partly money-wise, and because I’m not totally sold on the lift-kit idea. I’ve thought about getting a snowmobile instead this winter, and have been looking at Want Ad Digest. That said, the more I look at it, the more I am not in a rush to get a snowmobile. As much fun as it would be to get deep in the back country in winter — assuming there are groomed trails back there — I worry about break downs and the alike. Not to mention, snowmobiles use a lot of gas, and really aren’t much more efficient then automobiles, because the snow drags them down.

The money-wise issue comes in that things are more expensive then I first estimated a year ago. I think I am going to go with 35s and a 6″ lift kit from a good brand like BDS. Any bigger then that isn’t cost-effective, and non-pratical. That will get me up high enough. The final increase in the height of the truck will be something like 8 inches, because the 35s are 4 inches larger in diameter then factory 31s, and a six-inch lift is half foot higher.

I also think I will go for full-leaf replacements in the back rather then add-a-leafs, to ensure the weight of the camper shell and equipment in the back won’t cause the nose to be pointing in the air, etc. Going to have it re-geared to save fuel, add some more power, not kill the engine or tranny. And there are some other things like the narrower brake lines that are recommended, among other parts, I would probably spring for when it comes to lift-kit. Plus all that labor cost, which will easily be a grand on it’s own.

I want to ride up higher. I am a tall guy. It also will give me a chance to “freshen” up the look of my truck, which after 2 1/2 years will be getting kind of boring and old. I want something I can get 10 years or more out of without getting totally bored with. After I do the lift kit, there are other projects for future years, such as getting the rocker panels Line-X’d, and replacing the bumpers with those awesome Ranch bumpers, that can actually be used for parallel parking without being damaged.

Or maybe I’ll find other toys to spend my money on. It’s good having some extra disposable money kicking around, as I’m sure future jobs won’t nearly pay as much.

Been Reading and Watching More Videos About Getting Off the Grid. Being somebody who camps most weekends from April to November in the back of my pickup truck, and relies heavily on my inverter and the deep cycle battery to keep things lighted up all evening long. I cook my own food in the woods, clean dishes using bottled water, burn my garbage, and dig a whole in woods when I need to go to the bathroom. Heck, with my laptop and the wireless card, I can be up in woods and surfing the web, doing work, and even fielding calls over my cellphone.

I have a pretty decent working understanding of electricity, and how all the off-the-grid thing too. I grew up in the country, are comfortable in woods, and know how to build a good fire in woodstove. I am fascinated to learn more about some of the relatively inexpensive and simplistic living arrangement many-off-the-griders live with, without all costs and hassles of an on-grid house.

My grandfather had one of those absorption-cooler refigerators/freezers in his RV at his campsite in Warrensburg. They’re neat, as one needs more then just a cooler when you live somewhere permanently, rather then wondering the wilderness in your pickup truck. They burn like 5-10 gallons of propane a month. But there also is these high-efficiency refrigerators that are electric and have a lot of insulation, so they don’t strain batteries in a PV/micro-hydro/wind system as much.

But a bigger issue for me is the ability to take showers and get cleaned up properly wherever I live. For that purpose, there are amazingly small tankless-water heaters that use a small amount of propane, but can get water very hot quickly. If you think small, you don’t really need that much flow, compared to a full-scale modern house with a massive-tanked water heater. Hot showers, and hot water for dishes is a necessity to keep clean. If I can get away with it from the code inspectors, I’d be fine with composting toilets or even just a plain old outhouse. That’s a luxury in woods.

Woodstoves, radiant flooring, and other familiar technology is self-explanatory. Having good insulation is a must in this part of the country. I don’t want to have trash pickup — I’m happy enough burning what can be burnt, and taking the glass and metals for proper recycling in the normal industrial fashion.

I like small houses. Smaller is better. I would rather spend my money on land, that could not only be used for recreation like riding quads, shooting guns, and hunting, but also for money by grazing livestock and timber. I am not a greeny, I don’t got a problem with using styrofoam plates for dinner and disposing them in an open fire. I just hate the whole upper-middle class, fancy house living style in the suburbs.

All this reading library books gots me thinking …

But for now I’m fine. As a transition though, I think I would next like to live in a small, handsome, downtown, one that is walkable to a bar and a store, but also provides ample-off-street parking. I think it would be a lot of fun to have an apartment on the second or third floor, above a shop, and be able to sit out and look at my window and watch the traffic go by.

Anywhere I live, I want to be near a National Forest or State Forest that allows free, primitive camping, in a remote-roadside fashion. Not to mention scenic vistas, places to hunt, fish, hike, and spend time outdoors. But I really want to get out of New York, at least eventually. I think it would be fun to own an AR-15, and eventually get a concealed carry permit from a must-issue state, without any pesky questions about whatever stupid things I did decades ago back in college — that hurt nothing but folks egos. To say nothing of not being in a state that’s totally anti-rural and not into the philosophical nature thing.

Far off I guess. Things aren’t that bad right now.

Andy Arthur.org

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