Hudson River Paddle – June 8

6/8/2013
Halfmoon Lighthouse Park, 597 Hudson River Road, Halfmoon
The Town of Halfmoon and the City of Mechanicville with hold an inaugural Hudson River Paddle starting at the Mechanicville City Dock and ending with a festival at Lighthouse Park in the Town of Halfmoon. A great introduction to paddling along the Champlain Canal/Hudson River!
www.townofhalfmoon.org

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12 miles of land along the Hudson River in Central Adirondacks soon to be open to the public

New York state plans to open a stretch of land along the upper Hudson River this spring and fall. The land was purchased in December for $12.4 million. It includes a 10-mile track of the river flowing south from Newcomb. The river wanders through deep forests in nearly tranquil water interrupted by stretches of mild and moderate rapids.

The Department of Environmental Conservation is proposing a wilderness designation for the river and a swath of forest on both sides. It would allow two nearby parking areas for canoeists who want to leave the water.

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N.Y. acquires Essex Chain of Lakes tract in Adirondacks

New York state has taken ownership of the Essex Chain of Lakes tract in the Adirondacks. The deal to buy the 18,294 acres from The Nature Conservancy for almost $12.4 million closed on Dec. 21. The purchase is the first in a five-year program of buying 69,000 acres of former Finch, Pruyn and Co. timberlands for a total of $48 million.

The land is in the towns of Minerva and Newcomb and includes 11 lakes and ponds, nearly 15 miles of Hudson River shoreline and 8.5 miles on the Cedar River shoreline. There won’t be public access to most of the property until the fall, when two hunting club leases on a total of 11,600 acres expires.

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Adirondack environmental group proposes Upper Hudson wilderness

By Paul Post, Troy record, link to original post

An Adirondack environmental group is calling for creation of a new 39,000-acre Upper Hudson River Wilderness Area on former Finch Paper Co. lands.

This summer, the state announced plans to purchase 69,000 acres over the next five years from The Nature Conservancy, which acquired the land from Finch Paper.

The 22,000-acre Essex Chain Lakes tract will the first tract purchased, in 2013. The group Protect the Adirondacks has a proposed a new wilderness area that would encompass much of this property.

“Protect envisions a new wilderness area that protects the Essex Chain Lakes and Hudson River,” Executive Director Peter Bauer said. “Wilderness classification is the best protection to create a motorless lakes system for the Essex Chain Lakes and protect the Hudson River as a wild river.”

Board co-chair Chuck Clusen added, “Wild country and wild rivers grow fewer each year and a new wilderness area for the Upper Hudson would provide permanent protection for 22 miles of one of the greatest rivers in America.”

The proposed wilderness area is centered on a stretch of Upper Hudson River from the town of Newcomb to North River. It would include more than five miles of the Cedar River and four miles of the Indian River as well as dozens of other lakes and ponds.

The new wilderness area would be created from roughly 19,000 acres of former Finch Paper and 20,000 acres of existing forest preserve lands in the Hudson Gorge Primitive Area (17,000 acres) and the Blue Mountain and Vanderwhacker Wild Forest Areas (3,000 acres).

The state Department of Environmental Con servation has indicated plans to continue floatplane access to First and Pine lakes on the edge of the proposed new wilderness area.

Bauer said his group recognizes the established floatplane use on these lakes and has drawn proposed boundaries to classify those lakes as wild forest. The group also recognizes public interest in access to the Essex Chain Lakes for canoe camping and has drawn boundaries for road access to this area through conservation easement and wild forestlands.

Bauer said he believes the new wilderness area would enhance the popular Hudson River-Indian River whitewater-rafting industry by managing, for the first time, the Hudson River as an integrated resource and by providing much improved day use and camping opportunities through the entire length of the Hudson River Gorge.

“An Upper Hudson River Wilderness will protect the whitewater-rafting industry over the long-term,” he said. “This industry has proven to be highly successful as well as sustainable and provides terrific opportunities and wild river experiences for visitors to the Adirondack Park” Bauer said.”

The proposed area would be larger than nine existing Adirondack Park wilderness areas. Five existing wilderness areas have more than 100,000 acres each. They are the High Peaks, West Canada Lake, Five Ponds, West Canada Lake and Silver Lake areas.

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Annual Tenandeho White Water Derby in Mechanicville NY

We missed it for this year – the Annual Tenandeho White Water Derby was held April 1st.
Click here for some photos http://www.timesunion.com/news/slideshow/Paddle-power-at-39th-Tenandeho-White-Water-Derby-41181.php

Each year the Mechanicville Tenandeho Canoe Association and the City of Mechanicville NY proudly hosts the annual Mechanicville White Water Derby in late spring. The “downriver” race is held from the Coons Crossing Road down to the old elementary school on North Main Street at the confluence of the Tenandeho Creek and the Hudson River. Click here for more info and note it on your calendar for next year.

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Kayak journey to showcase New York State from Niagara Falls to NYC

Richard Harpham will kayak ~ 500 miles across NYS

British adventurer Richard Harpham and fellow explorer Glenn Charles are set to embark on a 500-mile kayak journey showcasing the sights and scenery of New York State.

The trip is being arranged in association with the New York State Division of Tourism and is due to begin in April, 2012.

It will focus on the heritage, culture and wildlife found in the region, as well as famous locations such as Niagara Falls, which will be the starting point for the itinerary. The pair will then kayak along the Erie Canal, a Unesco World Heritage site with 36 locks, before arriving in Albany and joining the Hudson river.

After paddling south towards Manhattan, the adventurers will finish their tour at the Statue of Liberty.

Mr Harpham, whose previous achievements include kayaking the Inside Passage from Seattle to Alaska and completing a combined kayak and cycle trip from London to Marrakech, said the aim of next year’s expedition is to inspire people to explore the dreams and possibilities in their lives.

“It will also be a fantastic journey across some of New York State’s most beautiful scenery and both Glenn and I are looking forward to the challenge,” he added.

More information about the project and details of a competition to join the adventure for five days is available on thespareseat.com.

source: Travelbite.co.uk

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Discovery of America by Canoe along the Hudson River

By LESLIE LAKE, Wilton Villager, Link to original post

Drifting: Two Weeks on the Hudson

With the first dip of his canoe paddle into the northern Hudson River, Michael Freeman began what he says was his journey to discover America.

The discovery was less about the geographic America and more about Freeman’s desire to understand the country’s social, economic and environmental changes during a time he calls “America’s Midlife Crisis,” he said.

The Wilton native found the scenes he observed on his two-week journey from Henderson Lake, N.Y., to Manhattan so troubling that he compiled his experiences in a book, “Drifting: Two Weeks on the Hudson.”

His solitary canoe trip took him past the rusted, deserted remains of formerly thriving industrial towns; past West Point, his reminder of U.S. military involvement around the world; and past miles of terrain, and over waters, that have been affected by pollution.

While Freeman began the journey without a clear agenda in mind, he says that he was struck by the realization that towns along the Hudson were a microcosm reflective of many of the socioeconomic and environmental issues that are facing communities throughout the U.S. With an eye on the Hudson’s past, Freeman draws observations about the current state of labor, energy and warfare.

The genesis of the canoe trip came about when Freeman returned to the east coast after 10 years of living in Alaska and working as a fisheries assistant at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

“After living in Alaska for so long, I guess I was insulated from the changes going on in the rest of the United States,” Freeman said. “It’s funny, people who live in Alaska refer to the lower forty eight as America. It’s a very different world up there.”

“I returned east just before Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008,” he said. “I got married, my wife was working in New York and I wasn’t able to find work.”

He added: ”It seemed like the perfect time to relearn the part of the country that I had left and to rediscover the America I thought I knew.”

Of Manhattan Harbor Freeman said, “This was the perfect ending for the trip, as Manhattan is a symbol of financial might paired with a startling economic fragility.”

While the Hudson was the venue for Freeman’s book, he writes that the same scenes of economic and environment changes are being played out throughout the U.S.:

“From the river at least, Troy is red brick and white brick, brown brick and gray, most of it crumbling, save the odd machine shop limping along. Busted windows pock these old sweat shops, where labor unions once thrived at a time when they needed to thrive. They’re gone now the factories, the unions, the work. America’s brief history is repetition. Renewal, decay, renewal, decay.”

Freeman, a freelance writer whose essays have appeared in “Avian Life,” “Gray’s Sporting Journal” and “Connecticut Review,” explained the metaphorical significance of the book title this way: “We seem to be drifting as a country. We are not sure of ourselves.”

“I came away from this trip with more questions than answers,” says Freeman. “We are drifting as a country and our direction is unsure.”

“The Hudson is a great river and a great metaphor,” writes environmentalist Bill McKibben of the book. “This is a great exploration of both.”

“Drifting: Two Weeks on the Hudson” is published by SUNY Press. The book is available at www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.

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Pilgrim’s Paddle: one woman’s journey on The Hudson River Greenway

Pilgrim’s Paddle: Day One on the Hudson

Pilgrim’s Paddle: Day Two, In Search of a Campsite

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Kayaking on the Hudson offers new perspective of Manhattan

Kayaking on the Hudson offers new perspective of Manhattan

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10 Natural Wonders in New York State

10 Natural Wonders in New York State
Visit many of these using Footprint Press Guidebooks:
-“Take A Hike Family Walks in New York’s Finger Lakes Region” for Chimney Bluffs and the Finger Lakes
-“200 Waterfalls in Central & Western New York” for Niagara Falls, the Finger Lakes, and Letchworth
-“25 Short Hikes and Interesting Walks in the Lake George, NY Region” for Lake George
-“25 Short Hikes and Interesting Walks in the Thousand Islands & St. Lawrence Seaway Region in NYS” for the Thousand Islands
-“Peak Experiences” for the Catskills, Shawangunks, & Adirondacks

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