Encounter with a timber rattler

Timber rattlesnake on Lake Shore Road. Photo by Seth Lang.

Crown Point photographer Seth Lang was driving on Lake Shore Road between Wesport and Essex yesterday when he spotted a large timber rattlesnake in the road. Timber rattlers are a threatened species in New York State. This specimen was all black.

 “It was stretched across the lane as I swerved around it,” Seth e-mailed me. “I realized it was a snake.  I threw it in reverse, and it coiled up and stayed coiled up while I photographed it.  Very large, bigger around than my arm, and I’d guess five to six feet long.  It did kinda keep puffing up like it wanted to strike, but no rattle noise.”

Photo by Seth Lang.

Lake Shore Road borders Split Rock Mountain, which is thought to be the northernmost habitat of the timber rattler. In the Adirondacks, the snakes also can be found on Tongue Mountain and other spots around Lake George. Timber rattlers range as far south as Florida and as far west as Texas.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation notes that timber rattlers usually are three to four and a half feet long, so the one Seth encountered was larger than average—unless his eyes deceived him.

Bill Brown, an expert on timber rattlers, says the snakes rarely grow larger than four feet. “Anybody that sees a four-foot timber rattler thinks he saw a five-foot snake,” he said.

Brown said the Split Rock population is unusual in that all the specimens are black. Except for a tiny population in New Hampshire, other populations in the North are made up of black snakes and yellow snakes (with crossbands). In the South, there may be more color variations.

A biologist who has studied timber rattlers for more than three decades, Brown attributes the uniformity of the Split Rock population to the “founder effect.” It is supposed that all the founders of the population were black, and no yellow snakes contributed to the gene pool.

Essex County, where Split Rock Mountain is located, once offered a bounty on the venomous snakes—which led to a steep decline in their numbers. How is the population faring these days?

 “As far as I know, it’s doing well,” Brown said. “It’s like all of the populations in New York State. They’re holding their own or coming back a little bit.”

Timber rattlers feed mostly on small mammals, but they also eat birds, amphibians, and other snakes. They use venom to immobilize prey. “In New York there have been no records of human deaths attributable to rattlesnakes in the wild during the last several decades,” DEC says. “Contrary to popular opinion, a rattlesnake will not pursue or attack a person unless threatened or provoked.”

Paddling 740 miles in a day

The Raquette River is part of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. Photo by Phil Brown.

You’re invited to help celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail this weekend. Although the party will take place in Rangley, Maine, you can take part in the celebration right here in the Adirondacks.

The NFCT is asking canoeists and kayakers to paddle any portion of the water trail on Saturday, July 24, and report their mileage (and upload photos, if possible) by 5 p.m.

The 740-mile trail begins in Old Forge and ends in Fort Kent, Maine. The Adirondack leg includes the Fulton Chain of Lakes, Raquette Lake and part of the Raquette River, the Saranac Lakes, and the Saranac River. Click here for an overview of the route.

Click here for more information on and to register for Paddle 740 Miles in One Day.

Click here to read a feature story about the NFCT in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

Name this flower

Lindsay Facteau recently sent us this photo of a wildflower that she and her boyfriend found along the road in Duane in the northern Adirondacks. “I thought this flower was a trumpet flower, but looking at other flowers, I guess I was wrong,” she said in an e-mail. “Can you tell me the name of the flower?” 

Sorry, Lindsay, I can’t. But I am hopeful that one of our readers can.

Anyone know?

Following in the footholds of Fritz

Rock climbers risk their lives in pursuit of their passion. So they’re a tough bunch. Just listen to this snippet of dialogue between Jecinda Hughes and Josh Wilson.

“You’re getting to the midway point of your rope, honey,” Jecinda yells to Josh.

Jecinda Hughes belays Josh Wilson as he begins the ascent of the chimney on Hurricane Crag. Photo by Phil Brown.

“Thanks, babe,” Josh replies. “That’s OK—I’ve got only about ten feet to go.”

Jecinda is belaying her boyfriend as he ascends the chimney on the Old Route at Hurricane Crag between Keene and Elizabethtown.

Most climbers come to the crag for Quadrophenia, one of the Adirondacks’ most popular moderate routes (rated 5.7 on the Yosemite scale), or one of the stellar harder routes, such as Forever Wild or My Generation (both rated 5.10). But our aim is to follow in the footsteps and hand holds of Fritz Wiessner, one of the greatest climbers and mountaineers of his day.

Wiessner pioneered nearly twenty climbing routes in the Adirondacks in the 1930s and 1940s. He established the Old Route on Hurricane Crag with George Austin. They were the first climbers to visit the crag.

The route is rated 5.3, considered an easy climb by today’s standards. The highlight is a 110-foot ascent through a chimney at the start of the first pitch. The guidebook Adirondack Rock describes this pitch as “incredible—perhaps the largest, highest, deepest, most continuous chimney of its kind in the Adirondacks. Here Wiessner once again picked the plum feature.”

Josh leads our climb, placing protective gear every ten feet or so to prevent a fatal fall.

“This is cool,” he shouts down from about seventy feet. “You guys are going to love it.”

And a little later: “Woo! Wild!”

After reaching the end of the pitch, Josh belays first me, then Jecinda. Although the chimney rises almost straight up, it contains numerous ledges and holds for your feet and hands. The ascent is not especially difficult. Nevertheless, I emerge from the thing with a bloody knee.

It takes about an hour and a half for the three of us to complete the first pitch. From the belay ledge, we enjoy marvelous views of the Giant Mountain Wilderness to the south.

Jecinda rappels off the cliff.

The second pitch, an easy scramble over slab and up a rock groove, is an anticlimax. Because Jecinda has go to work at Lisa G’s in Lake Placid, we climb only a portion of the third and final pitch before rappelling down to the base of the cliff.

Someday we’ll return to complete our homage to Old Fritz.

Click here to read about another Wiessner route in the Adirondacks.

DIRECTIONS: From Keene, drive east on NY 9N for 4.8 miles and look for a herd path on the north side of the highway. The hike to the cliff takes about twenty minutes. The state has plans to mark the approach trail and build a parking area.

Popular outdoors writer dies

We were shocked to hear of Dennis Aprill’s death over the weekend. Dennis was the outdoors writer for the Plattsburgh Press-Republican and taught journalism at Plattsburgh State College.

The newspaper reported that he died Saturday from pancreatic cancer.

Dennis Aprill

Dennis, who was sixty-three, had just published the third edition of his guidebook Good Fishing in the Adirondacks. In fact, we received it just last week.

Good Fishing, published by Countryman Press, contains eighteen chapters written by some the region’s most experienced anglers. Dennis wrote one of the chapters himself (on backcountry fishing) and edited the rest.

He also wrote two hiking guidebooks, Paths Less Traveled and Short Treks in the Adirondacks and Beyond.

But he was probably best known as the “Outdoor Perspective” columnist for the Press-Republican. He had written for the newspaper once a week since 1990—in all, more than a thousand pieces.

“He was especially proud that in all that time he’d never missed a week, whether to illness, vacation or life’s emergencies,” said Bob Grady, the paper’s editor. “For me, he’ll be hard to replace as a contributor to the paper, but impossible to replace as a friend.”

Dennis also wrote for other publications, including the Adirondack Explorer.

North Country Public Radio has posted two interviews with Aprill that originally aired in 2005 and 2006.

Ed Ketchledge dies

Ed Ketchledge, the man responsible for saving the alpine vegetation in the High Peaks, died on Wednesday at eighty-five. Ketchledge taught or touched the lives of many of the scientists working in the Adirondacks. He also authored the book Forests and Trees of the Adirondack High Peaks Region, which many hikers use to identify trees along the trail.

You can read more about Ketchledge’s life in this article in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise and in this post on Adirondack Almanack.

DEC: Don’t climb Stillwater tower

Sue Bibeau on Stillwater Mountain.

In the July/August issue of the Explorer, I describe a short hike to the Stillwater Mountain fire tower.

Once the tower is rehabilitated, this will be a nice outing for the general public, but the state Department of Environmental Conservation warns that the tower should not be climbed in the meantime.

DEC spokesman Stephen Litwhiler said the department is unsure of the soundness of the wooden steps leading to the tower’s cab.

The tower’s first two sections of stairs are missing, but on the day of our hike, Sue Bibeau and I used a ladder to reach the stairs that remain in place. Litwhiler now tells me that the ladder should not have been there and will be removed.

You can still hike to the summit, but there isn’t a view from the ground.

Litwhiler said a volunteer group is fixing up the tower, but the project probably will take a few years.  After the rehabilitation, DEC plans to create a new trail across the Forest Preserve to the old jeep road leading to the tower. The trail’s route has been surveyed and marked by pink tape. The jeep road and the mountain are on lands owned by Lyme Timber, but the public is allowed to walk along the jeep road to the summit.

The tower provides views of Stillwater Reservoir and vast tracts of wild land, but you’ll have to wait awhile to enjoy them.

Blue flag in bloom

Blue flag on the shore of Horseshoe Pond. Photo by Phil Brown.

Last weekend I paddled with our publisher, Tom Woodman, on four ponds south of Floodwood Road. Tom wrote about our trip for the Explorer’s Adirondack Dispatches blog, so I won’t cover the same ground (or water, rather). I’m just taking the opportunity to post a photo of one of my favorite wildflowers, blue flag.

I took the photo on the shore of Horseshoe Pond, at the start of our carry to Follensby Clear Pond. Blue flag often grows near water and in swamps or wet meadows.

There are actually five species of blue flag in North America. The one that occurs in the Adirondacks most often is Iris versicolor. Its color ranges from deep blue to purple. White specimens are occasionally found. The flower blooms in late spring.

I hope you enjoy the photo. Let us know if you have a favorite Adirondack wildflower.

Ausable paddlers in hot water

Whitewater enthusiasts now have the right to paddle through Ausable Chasm, but they better be sure to obey the letter of the law.

Ausable Chasm.

Ausable Chasm Co. called the state police on Friday—the first day the run was open—to complain that kayakers were trespassing.

State Police Captain Brent Gillam said troopers filed criminal summonses against three paddlers, but the decision on whether to bring charges is in the hands of the town court.

One of the paddlers said on the Northeast Paddlers Message Board that he and two companions had entered private land after encountering a rope on the river.

“We were used to ropes meaning some type of warning down river,” the kayaker said. “We ventured onto private land. We asked the first staff member we saw, and went back. We were stopped by a cop when we were back in the water. After discussion and some waiting we were given violations.”

American Whitewater (AW) is trying to find an attorney to fight the tickets.

AW and Ausable Chasm Co., which runs a tourist facility at the gorge, offer different interpretations of the paddlers’ actions.

Kevin Colburn, AW’s national stewardship director, said they were confused by the rope and walked up an access road to scout the river.

But Tim Bresett, Ausable Chasm’s general manager, contends the paddlers were taking a short cut across the company’s land. “They were a half-mile from the river,” he said. “They were not scouting.”

Bresett said another paddler was ticketed Saturday for stepping out of his kayak to take photos, but Captain Gillam again said troopers only filed a criminal summons with the local court. Gillam said officers cannot charge somone on the spot with a violation (a low-level crime) unless they witnessed the incident.

Colburn suggested that the company is trying to intimidate paddlers from using the river. He said employees were yelling at kayakers who paddled down the river Friday and over the weekend.

“They don’t like the public floating through their river,” he said.

Bresett, however, said the company acknowledges that the public has the right to paddle through the chasm and scout rapids. “It’s not our position to play hardball with these guys,” he said, “but you got to play by the rules.”

After years of negotiation with New York State Electric and Gas, Ausable Chasm, and American Whitewater, the federal government ordered this stretch of river open to the public. Paddlers put in near the power plant at Rainbow Falls, negotiate heavy whitewater (up to Class 5), continue through milder rapids and flatwater, and take out at a bridge on Route 9.

Bresett said many of the kayakers who ventured down the chasm on Friday and over the weekend were “unskilled and unprepared.”

“I guarantee somebody will die on the river this year,” Bresett said.

Under the federal agreement, the river will be open each year from Memorial Day weekend until October 31.

Peter Borrelli to head Protect the Adirondacks

Protect the Adirondacks has hired Peter Borrelli, a longtime environmental activist, as its first president and chief executive officer.

“I’ve known Peter for almost forty years, going back to when we both served together at the Sierra Club, and I have followed his career closely ever since,” said Chuck Clusen, chairman of the Protect board.  “Peter brings a unique set of skills in communications, advocacy, and management never applied before in the Adirondacks.”

Protect was formed last year by the merger of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks and the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks. The Protect board approved Borrelli’s appointment at a meeting in Blue Mountain Lake on Saturday.

Borrelli, who lives in Northville in the southern Adirondacks, has worked as a writer, editor, activist, and administrator for several environmental organizations, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Open Space Institute, and the Adirondack Council. He also once worked for the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

From 1996 to 2007, Borrelli served as executive director of the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, where he oversaw research and lobbied for the protection of marine ecosystems. He recently wrote a book titled  Stellwagen: The Making and Unmaking of a National Marine Sanctuary, which was published last year by the University of New England Press.

Borrelli was the founding editor of Amicus Journal (now called OnEarth), a magazine published by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“My hope is that Protect will come to be respected not just as a consolidation of two former organizations with their own history and accomplishments but as a new entity with a new vision of how to move forward,” Borrelli said.

His appointment follows closely the resignation of David Gibson, who served for more than two decades as the executive director of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks and as the first executive director of Protect. Earlier this year, Gibson was demoted to adviser. He resigned after the organization furloughed him in May.

Last week, Gibson complained that Clusen did not reply to his resignation letter and that Protect did not allow for an orderly transition.

Gibson and Dan Plumley, who also resigned from Protect, are considering forming a new environmental organization.