What's on the agenda for 2026? How about filling in the Adirondack bikepacking map?

Current established ADK bikepacking routes, most created by me with a few excecptions/enhancements such as a modified Wardsboro Loop and the old standard, Limekiln-Cedar River Road loop.

TLDR: This is almost a low hanging fruit type route with high accessibility from major upstate population centers. The route validates that there is insane and almost entirely untapped potential for bikepacking in the Adirondacks. It also begs the question? Why isn't there more established bikepacking in the Adirondacks? 

When looking at the above map, the southwest Adirondacks are lacking a true off-road bikepacking route. 

Can a route be created there? 

Although strictly in the deeply digitally scouted phase, which includes using multiple map sets, often overlayed because no single map set contains all the information, satellite imaging, and street view (losing Bing streetside this year hurts for digital scouting, TomTom had much better coverage than Google maps of rural areas) and trail descriptions/trip reports, mixed in with some on the ground knowledge from exploration unrelated to cycling, it's looking like there might be one of the better route opportunities to date in the entire Adirondacks for off-road remote wilderness bikepacking. 

Stats (as currently envisioned):

65mi, 5750ft, 85% off-pavement, about 40-50% off road (trails). 

What makes that so exciting is the central accessibility to the population centers of Syracuse and Albany. It's basically equidistant to both -less than 1.5 hours total drive from either. 

The route being proposed is the ideal archetype route for bikepacking in the Adirondacks, with a healthy mix of gravel and trails -focusing heavily on trails- and very little pavement, only used when absolutely necessary to continue the route. Worst case, every unverified trail is entirely unrideable by any sane rider and the noted alternate routes are used, it's still approximately 60% off-pavement and a mostly wilderness experience within the public boundaries of the Ferris Lake Wild Forest unit of the Adirondack Forest Preserve.

The obvious nature of this route should make you wonder why there isn't more bikepacking going on in the Adirondacks? 

Alexander "Pete" Grannis Died In Service of the DEC

Today the "New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is in the weakest position that it has been since it was created 40 years ago," with many "core programs hanging by a thread". Systematically dismantled with the precision of a hatchet over the last few years by America's most short sighted governor, the shell shocked DEC now has no leader.

Governor Paterson, not sufficiently happy gutting the DEC's budget, forcing layoffs and early retirements to unprecedented and dangerous levels, nor bargaining the state park system for part of the environmental protection fund, decided to go straight for the head of what he must feel is the states most greedy department, the DEC. No department of New York state has suffered larger cuts to it's budget than the DEC under Paterson's reign, and Friday it officially suffered the loss of it's commissioner, a rare man in politics who actually stood up for what was right.

Fired for insubordination, because he refused to resign, Alexander "Pete" Grannis is the most noteworthy in of victims in Governor Paterson's very aggressive goal of destroying the ability of the DEC to manage New Yorks environment, now and long into the future. Over the last 3 years about 20 percent of the DEC's scientists, engineers and enforcement officials have disappeared under Paterson's draconian budget cuts that seem to aggressively target the DEC more so than any other state agency.

Commissioner Grannis did a noble thing, he stood up to the lunatic running this state, and for it he lost his job. Grannis has been well liked by both hard core environmentalist, the groups those environmentalist support, and he's worked well enough with the other side to not be disliked. As a matter of fact, business and oil, gas, and mining lobbies were shocked that Grannis was fired. He was well liked within the DEC, starting as a lawyer with the DEC when it was founded 40 years ago, he then moved on to politics for 3 decades before being appointed by Governor Spitzer in 2007 to rebuild the DEC. You could say he was a model citizen, and a good public servant.

Paterson on the other hand has an absolutely appalling record when it comes to the environment, open space, regulation, and even appointments to the APA. He has used the DEC as his punching bag. A soft target that he can beat on without much opposition. There is not a single area this governor can be commended for when it comes to environmental protection. As I normally try to do, I'll leave Governor Paterson's string of sketchy ethical and personal character issues out of this discussion, but I will point out Pete Grannis lacks this trail of moral detritus.

Pete Grannis simply alerted Governor Paterson, via an internal memo, that the cuts that were being made once again to the DEC were unsustainable in the interest of the environmental health of New York State, and ultimately the health and well being of it's tax paying citizens. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, someone leaked that memo, and the geniuses that most likely puppeteer Governor Paterson shot first and asked questions later. Unlike most politicians, Governor Paterson was neither elected to his current office, nor will he ever serve in elected office again. He has absolutely no reason to care what anyone thinks or what the repercussions of his actions are. For all we know, after he finishes turning the entire state into a "brown field", he might be off to another state that was run with more foresight.  Furthermore, because New York has no way to recall a governor, Paterson has absolutely no reason to care.

What Pete Grannis was trying to explain in his memo is precisely what many of my blog post over the past year have been about. Quite simply, the DEC cannot do it's job as outlined under New York State environmental conservation law with the minimal resources it has left. Apparently Paterson doesn't want you to know that. He must think it better for you to assume your water isn't being polluted and your air is safe to breath. That your forest and fisheries aren't being mismanaged, and that your economic well being isn't being jeopardized. After all, being blind works for him (and that statement I assure you has very little to do with his actual disability), why shouldn't it work for you! Just close your eyes, everything will be OK!

Or will it...

From Commissioner Grannis memo:

"The public would be shocked to learn how thin we are in many areas. In many instances we have offices or sections responsible for important permitting and monitoring functions staffed by only one or two people. Some regional offices have no capacity in certain areas because key items are unoccupied and can’t be filled. As a result, we are unable to meet the expectations of both the regulated community and the public with respect to countless activities...All of the meat has been stripped off the bones, and in some cases the bones have disappeared." -Pete Grannis

"Unlike many other agencies, DEC by design has a multi-faceted mission and our core activities accordingly encompass a wide variety of areas. For example, we are  responsible for ensuring environmental quality through the implementation of regulatory programs aimed at protecting air quality, water quality, managing hazardous and non-hazardous waste and cleaning up dangerously contaminated sites. We have statutory responsibility for the state’s invaluable natural resources, including all state lands, fish and wildlife populations, water-bodies such as the Hudson River, the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, and our vast coastline. As a core element of our mission, we also provide recreational opportunities for the public, many of which are paid for directly by user fees and include heavily relied upon programs for sportsmen and sportswomen, as well as camping and hiking in New York’s constitutionally protected forest preserve. Each of our programs has a daily impact on people's lives and the health and economic well-being of the state. While each program has a vocal, politically active constituency, for purposes of this exercise we cannot treat all of them equally and still be able to operate."  -Pete Grannis

• The DEC comprises 2.5% of the NYS workforce subject to executive control, yet it is required to layoff 10% of the 2,000 total positions planned to be cut
• State agencies with 100% Federal or SRO funding are NOT required by Paterson to layoff workers. However, the DEC is disproportionately required to layoff
• Although the DEC has an operations budget of $500M 75% of that budget is either federally funded OR from SRO (special revenue, other)
• The Clean Air and Water Act for example is federally funded
• SROs via game licenses fund fish hatcheries, pheasant farm, game law enforcement, wildlife and fishery biologist
•  SROs finance discrete activities which means they cannot be used for the general fund

• Prior to Governor Spitzer's administration the DEC was about 800 staff members short, while the regulatory responsibilities of the DEC actually grew over that decade! 
• The 2007-2008 budget added 108 positions, which was a first step to returning to necessary staffing levels to "core" programs
•  Since April 2008 the DEC has lost 595 employees or 16% of it's workforce

• When the additional cuts called to be eliminated in 2010-2011 the DEC will have lost 21% of it's workforce since 2008

• Since fiscal year 2009-2010 the DEC has absorbed a 40% NPS budget decrease and a general fund budget decrease of 13%
• Commissioner Grannis does not feel the "extreme reductions" enable the DEC to fulfill it's state and federal mandates for regulation and enforcement
• Each quarter the DEC reduces essential services to the public including
• waste water enforcement, air emissions enforcement,hazardous waste, wetlands development, dam inspections, mining and drilling safety, shellfish safety, increase in time for issuance of impact studies, delays in permit approval, well plugging, reduction in game enforcement, reduction in backcountry patrols, transfer of responsibilities from sections of staff to singular individuals
• Commissioner Grannis found it ironic that while the states wildlands have seen increased use, and in many areas of the state the DEC administered Forest Preserve is the chief source of economic sustainability, the DEC is taking the brunt of the cuts
• DEC administered lands account for billions of dollars in tourism and business revenue
• Economic development projects CANNOT start with DEC review and approval which now is severely backlogged, these include:
• mining
• shellfishing
• oil and gas drilling
• all water dependent activities
• brown field site development
• most manufacturing
• commercial fishing
• energy generation
• general construction of bridges, tunnels, and power generating facilities
• Commissioner Grannis points out that the Governors staff reduction requirements, which reduce DEC staffing by an additional 6% do not take into account the fact that many DEC staff are not paid for by the state
• He further points out that the Governors goals actually inhibit the ability of the DEC to fill positions using federal or SRO only funding, essentially losing jobs that they aren't even paying for

All things considered, Governor Paterson's decisions are troubling because they do not look at the states health 5, 10, 15 years into the future. True, the governor can claim he hasn't mortgaged the financial future of the state with irresponsible budgets, but it's hard to not wonder if this isn't mortgaging the health -economic, environmental and human- of this state far into the future. Rebuilding the DEC will not be an overnight task, and the cuts the DEC has absorbed; the loss of skilled staff, scientist, engineers, and others will perhaps take a decade to undue. Paterson might not be carrying a deficit, but I have to argue that he has foolishly mortgaged the future of New York State!

Data cited from the full memo of Pete Grannis to Governor Paterson's Division of Budget:

http://www.pressconnects.com/assets/pdf/CB1657851021.PDF

Legislature Successfully Defends Paterson's Assualt On EPF

The following is not without some negative. The legislature did in some ways gut the EPF, but it didn't allow David A. Paterson to milk the EPF to cover his shortcomings as a leader. The legislature prevented him from using the EPF as a rainy day fund for the states day to day expenses, which was his initial goal.

The bottom line was that they cut about $78 million out of the EPF to fund the $11 million it (supposedly) cost to reopen the state parks and campgrounds that were closed.

I'm the first one to admit I'm not super smooth at math, but something isn't right. Basically Paterson held the NY State Parks as hostages while he demanded the funds from the EPF. So what he did was he said, the park system, which saw record visitation last year (and I'll assume near record revenue, or I'll again assume probably broke even in expenses) was too expensive to run, so if the legislature wanted to appease it's constituents it would have to deal the EPF.

See, unlike most of the Forest Preserve or the EPF, people and towns feel the crunch of the park closures instantly. It really hits home. Paterson tossed a grenade into the assembly and senate chambers and waited for someone to dive on it. Of course, there probably isn't one upstanding human being in the legislature, so they did the only thing they could, they tossed the EPF on it to save themselves.

Paterson is gutless, he's potentially a moron, but someone smart is pulling the puppet strings behind this guy. This was a move Joe "Prison Bound" Bruno would have been proud of.

Regardless, it's good to see New York State politics remain as corrupt as when Theodore Roosevelt literally had to break a leg off a chair to defend himself on the floor of the state capitol because he was one of just a few members of our government who would not tolerate the corrupt antics of our law makers.

ALBANY, N.Y. – The Adirondack Council today thanked the leaders of the NYS Senate and Assembly for standing up to a flurry of attacks on the NYS Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) proposed by Gov. David Paterson during this year’s budget negotiations.

Legislators today passed bills agreed to yesterday with Gov. Paterson that would reopen the state parks, historic sites and campgrounds closed by the Governor, while also preserving the funding and traditional spending priorities of the EPF.

While the overall spending levels for the EPF for FY 2010-11 are lower than the organization had hoped, the group praised the two Environmental Conservation committee Chairmen (Sen. Antoine Thompson of Buffalo and Assemblyman Robert Sweeney of Lindenhurst), as well as Senate Conference Leader John Sampson and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, for making numerous improvements to the EPF in light of a $9 billion budget deficit.

“Today’s legislation would preserve the reliable funding source and the integrity of the Environmental Protection Fund, while reopening the state’s parks and campgrounds before the Memorial Day weekend,” said Brian L. Houseal, Executive Director of the Adirondack Council. “It would also allow the state to live up to some of its existing commitments to purchase and protect critical lands and waters that have been identified by the public for their recreational and ecological importance.”

The EPF’s 2010-11 total funding will be $134 million, down significantly from $222 million last year. The open space account for 2010-11 contains $17.6 million, much less than the $60 million from 2009-10, but it also rescinds Governor Paterson’s proposed moratorium on land protection. It is our understanding that the Governor has agreed to spend this money on land protection projects that the Legislature has allocated.

Not included in the EPF’s expenses are $11 million the Governor had proposed for paying state employees and day-to-day expenses at parks and historic sites. Also not included in the EPF’s expenses are $5 million for a portion of the state’s payment of taxes to local governments for state-owned land across the state. Both of those expenses are due to come from the state budget’s General Fund, as they have in past years.

“Legislative leaders recognize that all New Yorkers need clean air, clean water and safe places to play. We also need the tourism revenue that our parks, campgrounds and Forest Preserves and other open spaces provide to our citizens,” Houseal said. “We are grateful that they did so much to improve on the Governor’s plan.”

The EPF was created in 1993 and is funded primarily through a small Real Estate Transfer fee, to fund major environmental expenses. Eligible projects include municipal landfill closure, purchase and construction of recycling facilities and transfer stations; as well as the purchase of new lands and parks for environmental protection, recreation and historic preservation.

The EPF is a capital-projects-only fund, to ensure that its revenues would not be siphoned into paying day-to-day expenses, such as state employee salaries and benefits.

“If state agencies were allowed to pay their employees out of the EPF account, the EPF would be dry in just a few years,” Houseal explained. “We would never fund another capital project out of it. We’d be right back to borrowing for everything. Nobody wants that.”

“Governor Paterson followed the lead of his predecessors and tried to use the EPF to pay for staff and other administrative expenses,” Houseal said. “He wanted to change the very structure of the EPF. We are pleased the Legislature said ‘no.’”

The final agreement on the EPF passed both houses earlier today. The Assembly passed the bill by a vote of 86-47 just before 3 AM early Friday morning. The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 32-27 at 2:30 PM.

The Adirondack Council’s mission is to ensure the ecological integrity and wild character of the Adirondack Park. Founded in 1975, the Council is a privately funded not-for-profit organization with 18,000 members in all 50 United States. The Council carries out its mission through research, education, advocacy and legal action.

Additional comments on the "poisoned pill" compromise:

Land state should buy isn’t all in Ad’ks

To the editor:

In regard to your June 3 editorial ("This year, of all years, NY can't afford land"), it is critically important that Daily Enterprise readers understand that the Environmental Protection Fund preserves sensitive habitat, not just in the Adirondacks but around the state.

While the North County is blessed with abundant nature and open space, such is not the case in more crowded areas like the Hudson Valley and Long Island. For example, in the Long Island Pine Barrens - a sensitive ecosystem that protects clean drinking water for thousands of people - the threat of development is not simply an aesthetic one.

Conservationists have been in discussions with land owners in the Pine Barrens for years, in an effort to convince them not to sell out to another strip mall or subdivision. When Gov. Paterson threatened to suspend all habitat purchases earlier this year, the threat of defunding the open space line of the EPF nearly derailed negotiations and put the public's well being at risk.

Your criticism about very modest open space funding would be better directed at the cynical political process that gutted the Environmental Protection Fund in its entirety. By hiding a massive EPF cut in the bill that reopened state parks, Albany legislators slipped in a "poison pill" that truly shortchanged New York's treasured natural heritage.

We encourage Daily Enterprise readers who hunt, fish and otherwise enjoy the area's natural splendors to find out how their Albany representatives voted on environmental funding this year - and keep that information in mind when they go to vote next fall.Marcia Bystryn, president

New York League of Conservation Voters

via: Adirondack Daily Enterprise

An Afternoon On The Plotters Kill

Just a few images from a very nice -and apparently very popular- little local hike that we'd never done. Of course, just because it's local (18 miles) doesn't mean it's easily accessible. I was in the central Adirondack's a few weekends ago in just a little more time. This isn't uncommon in an area where travel is limited by winding rivers/canals and limited, oft congested crossing points.

Plotters Kill (Flat Creek) is a rugged gorge in Rotterdam Junction, just a few miles from the Rotterdam Square Mall. The waterfalls are mostly seasonal, and already Rynex Creek was almost completely dry, but the Plotters Kill was still flowing nicely.

Still, it's a nice place to explore after work during the summer, or a nice local place to do a little top rope ice climbing during the winter. Although, with the larger Upper Falls being only 60 feet, by the time the base freezes you probably only have about a 45 foot climb. Not insignificant for a local climb minutes from Schenectady, but for a little more driving you can be doing multipitch ice in the Catskills or Adirondacks.

Official NY State Fauna Resign In Protest To EPF Cuts

As Governor David Paterson continues to gut New York State environmental funding, the official state animals have handed in letters of resignation in protest to the reduction of the states environmental protection fund (EPF).

This is a move of obvious futility as these animals were out of jobs, homes, and food sources regardless, but the symbolism of the move should not be taken lightly.

The following are some Tweets from our faithful state fauna:




















On a more serious note, why should you care if the EPF is slashed to horrendously low levels on top of the DEC cuts? Like the DEC the EPF isn't just about wild lands, and just like my previous post about the DEC and it's role, the EPF winds up benefiting every family in New York whether they care or not. Some things are kinda like the light switch, you don't really care how it works or why it works, and you take for granted it does work right up till it doesn't work. That is the EPF!

The EPF is designed to protect wild land by buying it before it's developed. It also protects farmland and cleans up waste sites. You know that battery factory in your town that is seeping waste into your water supply? The EPF takes care of that problem so your children are born with somewhere around 10 fingers and 10 toes.

Now as far as farmland, I realize most urban New Yorker's really never thought about where their food comes from unless they are label readers, but most of your food actually comes from the state you live in. New York is a top 10 agricultural state in many areas, and in quite a few it's a top 5.

Imagine if all your food was trucked in from California or Florida how much it would cost? Luckily it doesn't have to be because you live in a state with fertile farmland. Even your "local" Walmart started to realize it could save more money buying local than it could buying solely in bulk when gas prices hit $4-5 a gallon. There is no guarantee that gas won't again hit that, and remember how much your food went up over that stretch!

So part of the EPF is protecting your food sources and cost, I bet you didn't realize that.

Interestingly, if the EPF suffers long term cuts it is speculated that this could put New York's not so long term ability to be an agricultural leader in jeopardy. So what you might ask? Well, I did note that New York was a top 10 agri state in almost every area of food production, imagine we knock our food production down across the board not only in New York but in all states, and allow our farmland to be turned into malls, housing developments, car dealerships, more unfilled retail space, etc. That all sounds good, but where do you think our food will come from?

Putting it another way, what is the United States biggest asset? Our ability to not only feed ourselves, but at times other parts of the world with excess for capacity. What would happen if the United States was no longer the most powerful agricultural nation in the world? What would happen if we could no longer feed our own nation?

Let me analogize this, one day, within 20 years in fact, it might be possible that we are as enslaved for our food as we are for our oil based energy grid and transportation systems. How do you feel about that?

Chenango County Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board Chairman Don Franklin said if things don’t improve for the ag industry soon, the entire country could lack enough food in about 20 years.

“If we don’t keep ag viable ... if we don’t, I’m afraid to say that in 20 years down the road we are going to be facing a problem that we’ve never faced before. It’s going to be hunger,” he said.

Franklin is a former farmer and once served as a county supervisor. He was on hand at a meeting of the Agriculture, Buildings and Grounds Committee on Monday to ramp up support for two resolutions that would urge state lawmakers to support New York’s dairy farmers.

...

The EPF faces a $69 million cut under Gov. David A. Paterson's 2010-2011 Executive Budget. A “No Farms No Food” rally was held on Wednesday in the state’s capitol to convince the Legislature to restore funding to previous levels.

-- Melissa deCordova, The Evening Sun (Chenango County)

In the age of consumerism people might have lost sight of the fact that water and food are still important things. The EPF assures that you have clean water and abundant food, which are still essential for human life and prosperity.

Once again, we need to contact people that count on our votes to do the right thing. Our farmland is a non renewable natural resource, once we use it up it is gone. New York is blessed to be not only a financial and cultural leader of the world, we are also an environmental and agricultural leader as well. So let your representatives know that we aren't going to stand for reductions in the long term safety and security of our state.


For more information:



http://www.keepprotectingny.org/



To contact your legislator:

http://assembly.state.ny.us/

http://www.nysenate.gov/

The White Mountains in 3.5

How long does it take to get to New Hampshire's White Mountains from the Capital Region (Albany, NY area)? 5 hours, 6 hours, 7 hours? Apparently, somewhere in that range for the uninformed and unimaginative.

Much to the chagrin of most, and after extensive route setting it is time for me to smugly gloat. I have it down to a very respectable sub 3:25 drive time to the Western Whites. Add in a gas stop and pee break and you are still at your destination in less than 4 hours.

I hear the bullshit calls, now go ahead and wipe the spit off your monitors because I have an independent witness, and my witness was also insistent it wasn't possible. As far as my speed, nothing crazy. I like having a drivers license, and some (however limited) money left in my checking account.

Why on earth would I blog about this? Simple, we met quite a few people on the trail this weekend, and each time where we were from came up, people said, “wow, Albany, that is a long drive to go hiking.” Well I agree (actually I don't but I hope others do and stay off my White Mountain trails, just like others hope I stay off their White Mountain trails), but 3:25 is very reasonable for a weekend of hiking. Bearing in mind that when I lived in the NY Metro area, at times I drove to NH and/or the Adirondacks 3-4 weekends a month, and those drives were in the 5 to 7 hour range, driving mostly on interstates at 65-75mph. We are talking 600-800 mile round trip weekends with 10-14 hours plus behind a wheel. It's been a long time since I had to do those, and I don't miss 'em.

As far as the route, well, it's too complicated to spell out. Honestly, there is no big secret except for my little shortcut at the end, which most people probably don't take because it's remote, extremely curvy, hilly and deep in moose territory. All I do is take the small curvy mountain roads that everyone else avoids like a case of herpes. Since I travel at the off hours (overnight and early morning) I am able to keep up my average speed on the back roads, and I shave many miles off the odometer. Moose and deer are my only significant impediments to arriving safely and quickly at the trail head.



Going via 90 and 91 like my kin from the NYC Metro, it would take me about 6 hours even though the average speed would be 20mph faster than the typical 45-55mph back roads. Cutting across VT 9 is faster and shorter but not nearly as good as going NE across VT. The total distance of my routes is less than 180 miles to Lincoln, so doing the math I'm averaging just over 52mph yet still getting there faster and using less gas.

Don't even get me started on my shortcuts through VT when I hike or ice climb in the Green Mountain state. Forget the pavement, go dirt and cut your mileage in half!

Bottom line, I've said it time and time again, if you live between Albany and Glens Falls, you like the outdoors and you like to travel, in my opinion you live in the best part of the Northeast. NYC, Boston and Montreal are all 3 hours from me. The Catskills and Gunks are just over 1 hour from me. Lake Placid is under 2 hours.Most places in Vermont's central or southern Green Mountains are within 2 hours, and of course, the White Mountains are between 3:30 and 4:15 depending on eastern or western end of the range. And no worries, I can ski, ice climb, hike, bike and paddle 5-30 minutes from my back door.

So break out a map, and enjoy the back roads of VT and NH as you head off on a drive to get to your favorite mountain destinations.

Star Trails and Ski Trails, Night Skiing Under The Stars

For the winter solstice, the first night of winter, I set out to do two things:

1) Ski (duh) on the 2 feet of fresh powder. First time skiing this year, and a rarity to have actual powder and not at least heavy wet snow, if not worse. Plus, I was one of the first tracks, so it hadn't iced up yet!

2) Photography, but there is nothing like messing with wireless flashes multiple tripods/light stands, in 30mph wind gust, and 15F temps. Suffice to say direct flash WAS NOT in the plans. My idea was to have myself back lit with a wireless flash in front of me, with the spill off the snow further illuminating me. The long exposure was supposed to get the star trails.

As you've finally figured out, months or years into reading the Mountain Visions blog and photo captions, things ALWAYS go wrong. It's not that I have bad luck, actually, I find things tend to work out pretty well for me overall. It's just that it's a roller coaster of good and bad, and I'd prefer to have a more boring life!

So what went wrong:

1) In the cold the cheap Ebay triggers don't fire. Not even point blank range unless I warmed them first. In fairness the batteries are 2 years old, and they were in the cold for 30 minutes before I set up. However, blame goes to me for using the Ebay triggers and not the Elinchron Skyports I have sitting charged up on the desk next to me.

Unfortunately, the Ebay triggers (Gadget Infinity) come with a hot shoe mounting bracket, and I could not find my hot shoe bracket for the Skyports! So I could have taken the Sky ports, and used the Gadget Infinity triggers as stands, but hooked the skyports up to the sync socket! (If I lost you, don't worry).

2) The wind. Even if everything worked as planned a camera on a tripod is not going to stay still for 10-30 seconds in the 30mph wind gust. It was bad enough I was waiting for my flash to blow down into the frozen water during a few gust

3) I'm not wuss, but it was cold out in the open at Vischer Ferry Preserve. I was between two levees or something on the Old Mohawk River Canal system, which is right next to the New Mohawk River Canal, but the problem was the open ice funneled the wind. I chose that spot because it gave me a clear run to ski on, and also a clear shot of the sky (although facing the wrong direction, south towards Albany and it's inherent light pollution).

4) The sky wasn't perfectly clear. It was in and out of light cloud cover. So despite 10 attempts the only good star trail shot was just ok once blur and light pollution were factored in.

So what did I learn:

1) Battery operated stuff sucks in the cold. And that the cheaper the electronics the worse the problems. My Canon G3 was just fine in the 30 minutes I was setting up and shooting, the Vivitar 285HV and it's batteries were fine as well. Only the wireless flash triggers had issues.

2) When you have a $200 pair of wireless flash sync transmitters at home, don't take the cheap $40 Ebay triggers that you got prior to the good stuff.

3) Leave camera, and multiple tripods in car when wind is gusting to 30mph, go skiing and come back another night when it's less windy for the photography portion

4) Albany/Saratoga/Niskayuna are not quite the sticks that my brother makes them out to be. Yes we are a lot closer to the best weekend wilderness in the country, but we have a fair amount of light pollution 5 minutes from home...Of course, 1-2 hours north is the best star gazing in all of New York State.

5) Night skiing is the best. Had the place to myself as always, aside from a few snowmobilers who were on another trail. Between the wind and the snow muffling the sounds, it was eerily peaceful. I guess I'm nocturnal because I just prefer the night for most things including paddling, mountain biking, hiking, skiing, driving and photography.

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A Day In Photos At The 2008 Albany Tulip Festival

This is always the flagship of Albany events throughout the year. Of course the last two years have had exceptional weather making the event even more sucessful.

Some photos of the day...

The Tulip Queen



The Queens Court



Aim as the organ grinders assstant (a position typically held by a monkey)



Spin Doctors in concert:









Some overhead shots of the crowd during the concert:

Happy Mother's Day Mom...Studying hard...Send more money for booze (I mean books)!!



Still Studying!!! I think I've got this college thing down now!!!



Concert crowd with Corning Tower in background



And a little unnecessary politics (although I agree with the cause to a degree)

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Capital Region Fans Suck

Wow, talk about getting to the point.

What is the deal with Capital Region folk? They have this chip on their shoulder that they don't have any of the big sports or nice stadiums, but when they have something that is good they lose interest.

I've heard this about stores, "we want Macy's to stock the nice stuff." Macy's complies, people don't buy the stuff, Macy's goes back to selling what it had been selling.

When you want something, you have to support it. Albany isn't a vibrant metropolis, it's a 8-4, Monday thru Friday city. Most people living in the burbs of this shrinking city never have a desire to head downtown. The sad thing is, Albany has done a great job revitalizing itself, IN SPITE of the fact that the suburbanites don't support this. Believe me, you won't get shot walking from the car to the TU. As dead as it is, you might not even see another person on your short walk.

The most interesting stat about Albany, a telling tale, is that over the last 20 years the Capital Region population has remained fairly steady while the urban sprawl has increased drastically. One the flip side, the city of Albany's population as dropped like a rock.

I'm guessing the spread out of the population has made it inconvenient for this work day based population to get to the arena. Unfortunately, arenas are designed to put fannies in the seats. When they don't, they stop selling tickets and the team leaves.

Albany does a great job over the summer with various festivals in Washington Park, at the Empire Plaza, and Live At Five at Corning Preserve. All of course free, on weekend days, and always well attended.

I've always defended people of this region. When they chased out the Albany-Colonie Yankees, a team filled perpetually with up and coming stars (Jeter, Williams, Rivera, Petite and many others), I said baseball is a sport that needs a quality stadium to draw the casual fan. Heritage Park was at best a decent high school field and not proper for this region.

Then came the Joe, Joseph L. Bruno Stadium, in Troy and baseball fans have come out every year for the last 5 years. Not only that, they have increased attendance yearly. Of course, you have a beautiful stadium, a team that has won 4 out of 5 years, and if you didn't show up you'd have no excuse.

What I can't understand is why at an arena as nice as the Times Union, with a quality hockey team that is run by an organization that lets the team play to win, cannot draw a decent crowd.

Arenas are arenas, nothing special about any of them. There is only so much you can do to a giant warehouse with a sports court in the middle of it. But the TU is legit pro arena, it seats close to 20,000, and you can fill it when Billy Joel comes, or Hanah Montana. So why can't you show up to watch a few hockey games a year? Maybe support your Albany Conquest as well.

It can't be the ticket prices, because they are fair. Nope it's not NHL, but it's not NHL prices. You can afford to take the family to a Rats game, but how many can take a family of 5 to an NHL game???

Sure the Devils sucked the life out of the River Rats, but Carolina is letting the Rats play, and the hockey is good. The team is winning. It's not a great offensive team but they are physical, and can play defense.

Why can Rochester draw 7000 a night, but Albany only 3000 on a good night. Rochester also regularly sells out it's AAA baseball games. And Rochester is just 1 hour from Buffalo with an NHL team and another AAA baseball team. I use Rochester as an example because it's very similar in size and location to larger cities as Albany is.

Bottom line, Albany-Schenectady-Troy if you don't support your teams you will lose them, and while I'm sure you all fantasize about pro teams and the big city...AHL hockey, NY-Penn League baseball, and arena football are all you are going to get, unless you want to take a 3 hour drive every time you want to watch a live sporting event.

So support your teams (or don't cry when they are gone)!!!!

technorati tags:Albany, River Rats, Tri-City Valleycats, Troy, Schenectady, hockey, AHL, NY-Penn, League, NHL, Rochester, New York, baseball, NYC, Buffalo, Times Union Center, Times Union, Pearl, Albany Sucks, fans, Carolina Hurricanes, Hurricanes, Carolina, sports, K10D, D1H, Pentax, Nikon

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Albany River Rats Home Opener

A few shots from my coverage of the Albany River Rats home opener versus the Norfolk Admirals. First time shooting hockey in a few years and the pro game is a bit faster than anything I've covered before (collegiate and intermural).

Overall lots of fun...

technorati tags:Albany River Rats, Hockey, Albany, Times Union Center, Pepsi Arena, 518, River Rats, AHL, Hurricanes, Carolina Hurricanes, Keith Aucoin, sports, action, Norfolk Admirals, Norfolk, shoot out, Pentax, K10D

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