The Lookout 2014-1011
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The Lookout October/November 2014 Adirondack Mountain Club — Schenectady Chapter Dedicated to the preservation, protection and enjoyment of the Forest Preserve http://www.adk-schenectady.org Adirondack Mountain Club — Schenectady Chapter Board ELECTED OFFICERS APPOINTED MEMBERS CHAIR: CONSERVATION: Rich Vertigan Mal Provost 1804 Van Cortland St., Rotterdam, NY 12303 93 Kingsbury Road, Burnt Hills, NY 12027 381-9319 399-1565 [email protected] [email protected] LOOKOUT EDITOR: VICE-CHAIR: Nicole Weinstein Stan Stoklosa 904 Myrtle Avenue 8 Archer Drive, Clifton Park, NY 12065 Albany, NY 12208 383-3066 482-2594; [email protected] [email protected]; [email protected] MEMBERSHIP: Maria Beurmann SECRETARY: 5 Wing Road, Rexford, NY 12148 Sally Dewes 399-7409; [email protected] [email protected] NORTHVILLE-PLACID TRAIL: Mary MacDonald TREASURER: 27 Woodside Drive, Clifton Park, NY 12065 Mike Brun 371-1293; [email protected] 4001 Jockey St., Ballston Lake, NY 12019 OUTINGS: 399-1021 Herb Terns and Gillian Scott (Co-chairs) [email protected] 372-8478; [email protected] PRINTING/MAILING: DIRECTOR: Karen McKenney Norm Kuchar [email protected] 60 Fredericks Road 518-399-6606 Glenville, NY 12302 PUBLICITY: 399-6243 Roy Keats [email protected] 1913 Baker Avenue Schenectady, NY 12309 PROJECT COORDINATORS: 518-370-0399; [email protected] Horst deLorenzi TRAILS: 34 St. Judes Lane, Scotia, NY 12302 Stan Stoklosa 399-4615 8 Archer Drive, Clifton Park, NY 12065 [email protected] 383-3066; [email protected] SILVER LAKE: Jacque McGinn Harold McCumber 79 Kenaware Avenue, Delmar, NY 12054 1074 Madison Avenue, Troy, NY 12180 438-0557 274-3960; [email protected] [email protected] WEB MASTER: Rich Vertigan Dan Gray 1804 Van Cortland St., Rotterdam, NY 12303 48 Empire Drive, Niskayuna, NY 12309 381-9319 428-3059 [email protected] [email protected] WHITEWATER: Larry Woods 1120 7th Avenue Watervliet NY 12189 810-7552; [email protected] Ralph Pascale 72 Willow Street Cohoes, NY 12047 339-4810; [email protected] On the Schenectady Chapter hikers on the Appalachian Trail in cover the Berkshires. See Trip Tale on Page 8. Inside this issue: October-November 2014 Outings 2-4 Annual Dinner 5 Registration Form The Lookout Trip Tales 6-8 The newsletter for the Schenectady Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club Annual Dinner slated for October 28 The Schenectady ADK Chapter the Van Curler Room and served by found on the Schenectady ADK will host its annual dinner and SCCC culinary arts students. Entrée Web site. meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at choices include herb and garlic Please fill out the reservation Schenectady County Community roast pork, sautéed chicken cutlets, form on Page 5 and send the form, College (SCCC) starting with a so- and tortellini with broccoli and pine along with your payment made out cial hour at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at nuts. Cost for the dinner is $23 per to “Schenectady ADK” by Satur- 6:30 p.m. The speaker will be Pete person. Skinner Skinner will discuss whitewater day, October 18 to Stan Stoklosa, The dinner will once again be in recreation; more information can be 8 Archer Drive, Clifton Park, NY 12065. Joint Chapter picnic deemed a success Reduced ‘Road Walk’ on The Albany and Schenectady was delicious. There were trails Northville end of N-P Chapters hosted a joint Chapter to walk, prizes to be won, and a Trail almost a reality picnic on Friday, July 11, at The good time was had by all. Thank Submitted by Larry King, Crossings in Colonie. The you to all participants for mak- Schenectady, NY weather was great and the food ing it such a success! For years, hikers dreamed of an off-road rerouting of the Northville 2015 Schenectady Chapter Correction end of the Northville-Placid Trail ADK from the Village of Northville to Slate of Board Candidates Regarding the 10 Best the end of Godfry Road, where the Hiking Views article in actual off-road walking trail starts. CHAIR: Rich Vertigan the Aug - Sept issue: All The new Sept-Oct. issue of ADI- VICE CHAIR: Stan Stoklosa the distances shown are RONDAC features an article on a SECRETARY: Sally Dewes incorrectly listed as being 7.5-mile segment of it that is now TREASURER: Mike Brun “one way” when they are open from the end of Godfry Road DIRECTOR: Norm Kuchar actually “round trip.” to the Benson Road (where you go into Woods Lake) and holds out a To receive The Lookout promise that a longer segment from PROJECT COORDINATORS: digitally, via email, the Benson Road to the Gifford Dan Grey (2015) please contact us at: Valley Road will be opened by Larry Woods (2015) Horst DeLorenzi (2016) [email protected] Jacque McGinn (2016) Continued on Page 8 Pa ge 2 The Lookout October-November 2014 Innings and Outings How do I sign up for a hike? For futher details or to sign up for a hike, call the trip leader. Try to call at least two days in advance, as leaders may cancel on the day before an outing if there is insufficient interest. Leaders reserve the right to refuse participants for any reason, including lack of experience and/or lack of physical fitness. All equipment and supplies are the sole responsibility of the trip participants. What do I need to bring? The trip leader will let you know if any special equipment (crampons, snowshoes, etc.) will be needed. In general, you should always carry food, water, rain gear, map, compass, headlamp, first aid kit and extra clothing, including hat and gloves in case tem- peratures drop. Clothing for wet or cold weather should not be made of cotton — use a synthetic fleece or wool. If in doubt, ask the leader. What if I don’t have snowshoes/crampons? The chapter has hi-tech snowshoes and one pair of universal fit crampons available for rental at $5/trip. Contact Stan Stoklosa at 383-3066 to arrange for pick up from his convenient location in Clifton Park. Gear is also available to rent at local retailers.. Should I reimburse drivers for gas? Yes! Each rider should pay their driver four to five cents per mile, depending on the current cost of gasoline. With gas at $2 per gallon, four cents per mile should be used and at $2.50 per gallon, five cents should be used ($3/gallon – six cents, etc). The kind of hikes I’d like to do aren’t listed here — what can I do? Trip leaders may be willing to plan trips based on member suggestions. If there’s a specific trip you’d like to do, contact Herb Terns at 372-8478 and let him know. Wilderness First Aid Course The Schenectady Chapter Board agreed to provide partial ($150) tuition refund for outings leaders who take Wilderness First Aid courses. The program is modeled after the 46ers current program so people who are both 46ers and Schenectady trip leaders can get a total of $200 reimbursement. For further information, call Larry Woods (271-0270) or Herb Terns (372-8478). HIKE CLASSIFICATIONS Distance Leader’s Pace Terrain Examples A+ 13 Miles or More 1. Fast A Very Difficult A+1A Most Difficult Trip A 8-12 Miles 2. Moderate B Strenuous B2C Moderate Trip B 5-8 Miles 3. Slow C Average C3D Easy Trip C Under 5 Miles D Easy Saturday, October 4 Sunday, October 5 AT in Massachusetts: Beartown Mt. Rd. to Rt. 23 Buck Mountain Class B2B Class B2B Rich Vertigan, 381-9319 or [email protected] Ken & Nilde Marcinowski 885-9400 We’ll hike a moderately difficult section of the Appa- [email protected] lachian Trail in the Berkshires, starting in the heavily We will climb this popular mountain from the North wooded Beartown State Forest and heading south. (Shelving Rock Rd), which is the shorter of the routes We’ll enjoy great views at The Ledges and pass a generally taken. Hopefully, the fall colors will be at lovely glacial pond. Total distance is 5.7 miles. Net peak making the views of Lake George all the more elevation loss is over 800 feet, but there’s a lot of up spectacular. Round-trip distance is 5 miles with an (760 feet) and down (1,500 feet) along the way. Continued on Page 3 October -November 2014 The Lookout Pa ge 3 Outings Continued from Page 2 est, Fulton County, Town of Stratford. Estimated hik- ing time about four hours with total trip time of five elevation gain of 1150 feet. Be sure to bring plenty of hours including lunch. water and lunch. Please call or email by Thursday eve- ning prior to the hike. Rain will cancel. Friday, October 17 Bennett, Middle & Murphy Lakes Wednesday, October 8 Class B2B Little Buck Mountain and Shelving Rock Falls Mary MacDonald at 518-371-1293 or Class B2B [email protected] Norm Kuchar, 399-6243 or This hike is 7.6 miles with small hills and undulating [email protected] terrain. No significant climbs. We will likely lunch at Many have climbed Buck Mountain on the east side of Murphy Lake Lean-to. This is hike is about 1 hour Lake George (see Oct. 5), but on this hike we’ll visit away from the Capital District. Car pool with be from its neglected little brother to the north, which also has the Northway or other site as arranged. nice views of Lake George as well as south to Buck. We’ll bushwhack over the summit of Little Saturday, October 18 Buck from Shelving Rock Rd., before descending Slide Mountain, Class B2B north to 40-ft Shelving Rock Falls.