Gull Bay on Lake George

Today I had a trail work day at the Gull Bay Preserve, owned by the Lake George Land Conservancy. This is one that I had never been to before and I had a great day working hard.

I had an opportunity to work with one of the LGLC’s professionals and was given a little training in waterbar maintenance. We also worked a little on a new yellow trail that took us along a ridge with some excellent views of a Blue Heron rookery. There also was some fresh beaver activity. In fact this area just teams with wildlife.

I was working today, but I am looking forward to taking the kids back to this wonderful preserve.

Prospect Series Ready to Plant

Finally, I am ready to place the Prospect Mountain Environmental Series. I have an assortment of recycled containers and an idea of where and how I am going to place them. All I need is that all important and hard to come by ingredient: time. I am planning on releasing this series within the next three weeks. That will add 4 new boxes to an existing box planted on the back of Prospect Mt in Lake George NY. It also will connect to a separate box that I planted near the summit of Prospect Mt. Making a nice 6 box grab for box baggers.

My goal is to bring boxers up an alternative route to the top of Prospect Mountain that I have hiked all my life. It is up an access route that was use to service the long removed fire tower years ago. I also have another objective that I would like to achieve and that is to give people a cross section of what is going on environmentally in the Adirondacks. There will be splendor and beauty and a little ugliness that is both man made and from nature. I want to make the hiker aware of some of the problems that exist in this region, but make it fun while doing it.

I will post when planted.

LGLC Owl Prowl

This last Saturday the LGLC had a program called the Owl Prowl that they originally scheduled at Pilot Knob Ridge, but due to icy trail conditions decided to hold the program at the Cat and Thomas Preserve on the west side of Lake George in Bolton Landing.

Our leader took us in to the preserve at twilight to a few locations that she had called owls before and had us wait off the trail, quietly, while she tried different owl calls. She was attempting to have them call back and hopefully get them to fly in and investigate. She explained that this time of year owls were beginning to pair up and mate for the season and by using certain calls they are more likely to call back.

We stopped at a few spots along the trial from the kiosk to a point about 0.75 miles in. Now while we didn’t have any luck, it gives you a different perspective being in the woods after dark on a clear night. The stars were beautiful and while the moon had not risen yet, the woods were still illuminated by the bright star lit sky. I camp in the late spring and summer and know what it is like to be in the woods after dark, but I don’t go camping in the winter and this experience just reminds me on how different and beautiful the woods look at different times of the day and year.

If you get a opportunity to go on a program run by the LGLC…go you will learn something

Pilot Knob Ridge

I unexpectedly began my 2008 patrols at the Pilot Knob Ridge click the link in my sidebar for details...still not letterboxing yet...but soon!

March and still snow bound

I haven't had much opportunity to enjoy the outdoors of late. There is 4 feet of snow on the ground right know and I have had to work on weekends to give my coworkers some vacation time. I also am not well outfitted for winter hiking...so what I am saying is that I have cabin fever real bad and I want the snow to go away.

Now I have been getting together my latest letterboxing project. I am going to turn the two letterboxes I have on the back of Prospect Mountain in Lake George, NY in to a 5 or six box multi place. I am going the theme it with and environmental educating color. This area really runs the gamut of abuse of the environment to nature at it's best and beautiful. I have the stamps carved and mounted and I am getting the containers prepared. I am going to place them as soon as the snow allows me too...sometime in late April????

See you then.

A New Year

Another one came and went and for me I think it was a good year. One of the things that I did this year that I haven't done in the past is volunteer some of my time. It felt and feels great. This coming year I am planning on giving more time to the LGLC at Pilot Knob Ridge and I really want the trails there to be something that people really enjoy.

Letterboxing this year will be more finding and less planting. I am going to plant a series up on Prospect Mountain with a theme. What that theme is...well you will have to wait, but I have the stamps done and the containers all ready. I am just waiting for the spring. One thing that I am a little disappointed with letterboxing is the lack of letterboxes in remote locations and the lack of letterboxers who look for letterboxes in remote locations. I don't mean to say that I am down on letterboxing and many boxers have brought me to real special locations, but I will be searching for the mountain top and harder hike boxes this year and let the parks go and grab and go's be. Quality. Geocachers seem to place more in the areas that I want to go...well some will say why don't you geocache??? I will! But geocaching lacks the stamp which is one of the things that keeps me interested in letterboxing.

Buck Mt in November

I went back up Buck Mountain, in Fort Ann NY today for a general hike and to see if I could find the Leaf Letterbox, that my son and I were unable to find this past May. I found it! It was exactly where the clues said it was, except you have to pay a little more attention to the landmarks and less to the pacing. One treat was I found a Hitchhiker there that was launched 2003! The logbook had many beautiful stamps in it and was wonderful to look for. I will hold on to the HH for the winter as there are not many boxers out there now and I want to get it into an active box so others will move it along.

The trip up Buck Mt was fairly good some icy spots and I went down in a stream and got wet, but it wasn't too bad. About 1.5 miles from the Katskill Bay trailhead the DEC has rerouted the trail to the summit due to erosion. I think that the new trail will be just as bad in 5 years as the DEC only cleared the trail thread but there are spots that need to be stabilized.

Here is a Late Fall view from Buck Mt.