A History of Comfort

Hamilton's collection of Adirondack chairs immediately caught my eye when I visited as a senior in high school. In fact, even months after my visit my family would respond with, "Of course, the school with the Adirondack chairs!" when I excitedly mentioned Hamilton in conversation. I always imagined (and now have the chance to experience) groups of students basking in the spring and summer sun in the comfort of the unique, memorable chairs that populate Hamilton's many quads. It is still one of the aspects I appreciate most about our beautiful campus that is dense with nature to enjoy. Adirondack chairs offer a place to relax and enjoy the outdoors in privacy, or in the warm company of friends. Have you ever wondered about the history of the iconic chair? It turns out its original designer, Thomas Lee, sought to design a chair that would ensure the relaxing and fond outdoor experience we cherish here at Hamilton. Lee's design enhanced how he viewed and experienced nature, just as it does for us today.

In 1903, Thomas Lee decided he wanted to design the perfect lawn chair for his family and himself. Lee and his family owned a summer home in Westport, New York with a scenic view of the renowned banks of Lake Champlain. However, Lee wanted to enjoy the scenery, particularly the sunset, comfortably. In his mind, the perfect lawn chair required a sturdy base to fit the rolling terrain of the Adirondacks, and wide arm rests to hold a summer cocktail. Lee admirably put effort, time and consideration into the final design of the Adirondack chair. He made many attempts to design the right fit, and asked each member of his family to act as a chair-tester until he was completely happy with his product's fit. Lee's traditional design used 13 pieces of wood cut from the same plank. The design's low-slung seat and wide armrests allowed the chair to remain stable on Adirondack terrain and incorporated a place for Lee to rest his glass.

Interestingly, the history of the chair continues. Carpenter Harry Bunnell, a friend of Lee's, took interest in the unique chair and asked if he might recreate and sell a few to make money in the colder months of winter. Bunnell made dozens of Adirondack chairs from Lee's original plans, and local residents immediately took interest. Apparently, Lee's idea of the perfect lawn chair appealed to the local Adirondacker too. Bunnell then filed for a patent, deeming the design his own. Who wouldn't want to take credit for a chair that suddenly seemed essential to the experience of a relaxing summer day?

What I find most heart-warming about the history of the Adirondack chair is that Lee's careful efforts to enhance the experience of enjoying nature has persisted throughout the years. I love to lie back in our own Adirondack chairs to look up at the blue sky and tall trees we're lucky to have on campus. The comfort and fit of an Adirondack chair put me at ease at the end of a stressful school day as I rest an Opus coffee on its wide armrest.

Below is a picture of Hamilton alum resting on the same chairs we enjoy each day!




http://www.orvis.com/s/adirondack-chair-story-the-history-of-the-adirondack-chair/2978

The Adirondack Park Going Beyond New York State

Bill Weber
https://environment.yale.edu/profile/albert-weber/

Although our class focuses on a specific region, I believe that it is important to remember that the Adirondack Park does not exist in a vacuum. Moreover, there are many aspects of the Adirondack Park that can be directly applied to places on the opposite side of the world (i.e. China). Bill Weber, author of The Great Experiment in Conservation: Voices from the Adirondack Park, argues that the Adirondack Park can be a model for global conservation. In his interview about Rwanda’s conservation approach with graduate student, Lee Gross, Weber gives valuable insight on conservation and the importance of governance. Even though this interview was about Rwanda and not China, I believe that China could also benefit from looking to the Adirondack Park as a model for conservation.

In his aforementioned book, Weber states, “If there is a single lesson…to learn from the Adirondacks it is the role of the private sector in assuring a more diversified economic base, with a greater percentage of benefits staying in local hands within the regional economy”(1). This significance of the private sector is evident in China’s recent conservation efforts. In 2010, The Nature Conservancy, an American charitable organization, partnered with the Chinese government to create a new model of conservation: land trust reserves (2). Together, they acquired 27,000 acres of land in Sichuan Province (a critical habitat of the giant panda) and lawfully gave the land an elevated, protected status. Under the land trust reserve model (that involves purchasing leases of land), the Conservancy obtained powerful control over the management of the land in the new reserve that compared starkly with previously created nature reservations in China (2).  

Sichuan Province Land Trust Reserve
www.nature.org 

In the interview, Weber asserts that good community relations are critical to successful conservation because “there is a need to compensate those who bear the costs of conservation, most often local communities”(1). He commends the WCS Adirondack Program as a good example of local community representation. In addition to the Adirondack Park Agency (that implements a top-down system), Weber argues that the WCS Adirondack Program is important to the goals of conservation and governance of the park. Yet I wonder if this local representation is achievable in communist China. China has about 1.4 billion people. Therefore, does the Chinese government have the time and national incentive to listen to the local communities affected by the creation of new land trust reserves? The consequence of the Three Gorges Dam – a project that displaced 1.2 million people – reflects an indifferent Chinese government. However, the power of the private sector, such as the Nature Conservancy, gives me hope that such community relations are possible in the future.

Despite the difference in scale of the Sichuan Province Land Trust Reserve and the Adirondack Park, I think that conservationists should draw parallels between the two and develop their global perspectives on conservation. Undoubtedly, China would benefit from importing conservation models from the U.S. Although the two countries have conspicuous differences, models are malleable and, therefore, Chinese conservationists can still learn from the governance of the Adirondack Park. As Weber concludes, “the question isn’t what works and how can we copy this functioning model, but what we learn from what we do.” In other words, no one model is perfect and will be suitable for every place. However, conservationists can always learn from one another because they share common goals.

Sources:

      1)  http://www.ajes.org/v17/gross2011.php

2    2) http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/asiaandthepacific/china/placesweprotect/china-sichuan-province-land-trust-reserve.xml

The Adirondacks: Truly Uninhabitable?

Originally viewed as an uninhabitable area, the Adirondacks today have quite a few people living in it. There are over 100 villages and towns that make up a population of over a 100,000. This isn't too shabby considering the Adirondacks were first seen as desolate and unforgiving. Furthermore, the six million acre land attracts millions of visitors each year and brings in a nice chunk of money for the New York state. However, what is commonly less known is the many disappearances or deaths of experienced hikers and hunters. Are the Adirondacks truly uninhabitable as originally thought or are these accidents not unique to the Adirondacks? Despite the successes the Adirondacks have seen so far, the many fatalities appear to be a product of the unforgiving and desolate nature of the park. 

Adirondackalmanack.com

Some of these fatalities include Thomas Messick, Douglas Legg, Matthew Potel, and Hua Davis. Back in November, Thomas Messick, age 82, suddenly vanished when he was hunting deer in an area of wild forest near the town of Horicon in Warren County. Messick was with a group of hunters who had been hunting together in the Adirondacks for decades. Similarly, Douglas Legg who was described as an avid hiker and mini woodsman, disappeared almost 45 years ago on a short and direct walk back to his camp. Next is Matthew Potel who was an outdoors educator and experienced climber. On his last hike, he slipped and fell head-first to his death when he attempted to climb the Trap Dike with seven other members of his school's outdoors club. Once again, a similar situation occurred involving Hua Davis. Davis was a Saranac Lake Ultra 6er meaning she was able to climb all six Saranac lake peaks in one day. Clearly an experienced and avid hiker, Davis was found dead after setting out on a hike up MacNaughton Mountain. 

Keeping the family's summer home

The camp was up for sale, which sparked the conversation between my parents as to whether or not they should save up to eventually buy a camp to eventually pass on to my brothers and me. Then, as the owners passed the house keys over to my parents so my family could enjoy a week long vacation, my mom began probing them with questions. "What has the process of putting the camp up for sale been like?" "Have there been many people interested in buying?" "How long have you had the camp?" It's this last question that gets the owners talking. The camp has been in their family for multiple generations. Their grandparents once played as children in this house as well as their own children. But the upkeep has become too much. Somewhere along the way, things got more expensive and taking care of the camp and renting out became a full time job. This is an all too common pattern when it comes to summer homes and may be even more prominent in the Adirondacks thanks to the hard winters that bring higher maintenance costs.

When buying real estate in the Adirondacks, the real question becomes centered on how long the family can hold on to their camp. As of right now, some Adirondack families have been holding on to their cherished summer home for about a century. For example, in Adirondack Life, a member of the Sheppey family describes the hardship of letting go of a family summer camp on Tupper Lake after 90 years (link is below!). She describes the struggle of spending time at her camp while simultaneously saying goodbye to it all yet, never knowing when a sale will take place and the goodbye will be the real one. This is more tragic side of the real estate pattern: families being forced to sell a camp filled with love and memories.

Today, new families continue to go up to the Adirondacks looking for a place that will become common ground for their own families to enjoy for years to come. Tourism websites are often centered on family activities and real estate listings describe cabins as perfect for the family. But the reality behind this dream is that families grow and evolve, sources of income change, camp costs go up and down. Personally, I've told my parents that I would never want them to pass on a camp to us knowing that it would become a source of fighting between my brothers and I. But there is also a more positive way to look at it. The higher turnover rate of ownership leads to a forever changing population within the Adirondacks. The families that have owned in the Adirondacks for generations will always hold sentimental ties to the landscape but there is also a greater chance for new families to enter the park and grow equally attached.


Citations:
http://www.adirondacklifemag.com/blogs/2015/10/15/the-long-goodbye/

Road Salt Application in the Adirondacks

Imagine 176,000 metric tons of table salt poured onto Adirondack roads each year. If you can’t imagine it, just keep an eye out next winter. Each year, the state of New York uses huge amounts of road salt to de-ice roads throughout the state. Unfortunately, when the road salt runs off and contaminates waterways, the consequences can be devastating to natural systems.

New York state uses more road salt than any other state in the United States. As stated before, 176,000 metric tons of road salt are applied throughout the Adirondacks and this high application rate doesn’t seem to be changing. There has been very little research from local governments and agencies to improve road management with a lesser environmental impact. In an effort to identify the negative consequences of road salt in waterways, the Adirondack Watershed Institute of Paul Smith’s College began monitoring 15 streams that represent varying levels of road salt application. This experiment, which has not yet been finished, promises to shed light on the effect of road salt in the Adirondacks as a hole because the findings can be applied to the entire region due to similar soil composition and geology.

The Adirondack Watershed Institute has detailed some of the consequences of road salt application. The sodium from road salt enters soils and displaces other essential cations in the soil. This leads to the leaching of other cations and heavy metals and decreased soil fertility. In one experiment, the calcium, magnesium, and sodium release from soils was 31% higher on paved roads (road salt applied) than on unpaved roads (no road salt applied). At the very least, road salt disturbs the natural composition of the soil.

But, the consequences don’t stop there. Researchers have found that salt concentrations accumulate and increase over time. This finding is evidenced by unusually high sodium and chloride levels in waterways even during the summer. The presence of these ions in the water is concerning because the Adirondacks waters have very low naturally occurring concentrations of sodium and chloride so the introduction of these ions may disrupt natural systems. Contaminated waters pose serious threats to both humans and wildlife. Salt, which raises blood pressure, may contaminate wells and contribute to health issues in humans. Some animals, including deer and moose, ingest salt crystals, which can be toxic. Further, chloride in surface waters can be toxic to aquatic life.

Due to increased pressure from environmental groups, the state of New York has introduced several changes to their road salt application. First, the state promised to cut application across the board by 10%. Second, the state improved storage facilities to decrease runoff. Third, the state has limited the speed of plow trucks to limit the bounce of road salt off of the roadway. Fourth, the state has began implementing pre-storm anti-ice liquids to decrease the need for road salts. Although all of these steps improve the situation, road salts will still be heavily applied in the Adirondacks and throughout the state. With further research on the environmental and health consequences of road salt pollution, we can only hope that road salt application will decrease or that an eco-friendly alternative can be found.

http://www.adkwatershed.org/road-salt-research

http://www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/cutting-salt

March is never quite what we want it to be

An angry grey sheet of rain and blasts of cold winter air greeted me as I arrived at Hamilton earlier today. Despite the weather two weeks ago, when the warmth of the sun brought sundresses and shorts out of hiding, March never quite lives up to our expectations. Unfortunately, around here spring is usually late to the party and winter has overstayed its welcome. Upstate New York is known for its weather. After stating I go to Hamilton, often the first question asked is, “how do you deal with the cold?” It is this extremeness and unpredictable nature of upstate New York weather that fascinates outsiders. But it is also a source of pride for natives. In the end, why is it important? Why do we care so much about whether it rains or snows?

For one, weather is something we cannot and will never be able to control. Over the course of its history, the Adirondacks has had its fair share of extreme weather events. The Great Blowdown in November 1950 is one more famously known for it produced 105-mph winds, a byproduct of an Atlantic hurricane that caused catastrophic forest damage across the park. There was also the 1995 Derecho, which destroyed 65 homes and killed five hikers. According to Neal Burdick, a writer for the Adirondack Explorer, of the 13 storm tracks that affect the United States, “10 of them are capable of working their nastiness in one manner or another on the Adirondacks.” Jerome S. Thaler, a weather documentarian and historian mentions in his book called Adirondack Weather, that “a tornado can be expected once every five years somewhere in the park.” Since the arrival of people on this barren harsh landscape, weather has been friend and foe, but mostly just foe over the years.

Two, weather fascinates us. From the British, who use it as a greeting topic to the Adirondacker, who is shaped and molded by it, weather is a part of our culture and everyday lives. On the television or on your iphone, weather is another piece of daily news. We use it to start conversations and are fascinated by storms, extremes. For some, weather makes a place unique. Notorious to outsiders and natives, weather has given the park character and identity. From the crisp autumn colors to the bone-rattling snow-burying blizzards, weather has shaped our notions of the Adirondack landscape and its people to make them what they are today.

http://www.adirondackexplorer.org/book_reviews/adirondack-weather

http://thesummitblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/why-do-we-care-so-much-about-weather.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/30/weather-channel-hurricane-sandy-cable-news-ratings_n_2045665.html

Another Castle in the Adirondacks

A few years ago, Litchfield Castle lost its title of the only castle in the Adirondacks. It must now compete with Leary Castle, a medieval-themed stone mansion in Tupper Lake that was completed in 2014 (2). While it is named Leary Castle, the family that did the majority of the construction on the castle actually has no relations to the Leary’s. Instead, Andy Ramsguard and his family stumbled upon the beginnings of a castle, and took it upon themselves to build a new kind of summer home (1). The building of Leary Castle and its current existence represent the uniqueness of Adirondack culture and the strength of the Adirondack community.

                  Ed Leary, a Tupper Lake resident with a passion for medieval history, began the construction of the castle (1). Leary was a high school teacher in Tupper Lake, and a native to the Adirondacks (1). The Adirondack spirit of doing things one’s own way lent itself perfectly to Ed, who, after years of planning, bought land in Tupper Lake in 1986 and began his castle (1). For years, he worked on the castle only with the help of a friend who was a mason (1). He even petitioned the APA for permission to build a stone tower that was 20 feet higher than the park allowed (1). He wrote that the tower would lend “a definite aura of neo-Gothic enchantment to the surrounding area”, and the petition was granted. However, in 2009, before he reached the roof of the tower, Ed Leary died of a staph infection, and the castle was abandoned.

                  Later in 2009, Sherie Ramsguard read about an unusual property for sale in Tupper Lake, a property that included 20 acres of land and an unfinished castle. The Ramsguards lived in Skaneateles with their two children, but Mr. Ramsguard was intrigued by the idea of the castle and eventually drove out to it, where he was struck with the possibility of finishing it (1). They purchased the land and the unfinished structure and went to work on its completion, coming up to the Adirondacks every weekend to work on it (1). They worked on the castle like this for around 4 years, pouring cement, constructing windows and arches, and scouring antique stores for medieval decorations (1). Finally, in 2014, the castle was finished, complete with 6 bedrooms and 6 and a half bathrooms, one of which is accessible through a secret door in a bookcase.

                  Only in the Adirondacks could someone begin hand-building a castle and then have that project taken up by someone else with the same passion until its completion.  A neighbor marveled at the Ramsguard’s work and said how “it was a real labor of love. Ed would be so happy to see that somebody wanted to keep it going” (1). The castle not only represents the unique passions of the people of the Park, but it also contributes to the Park community. The Ramsguards hold fundraisers and other community functions in their castle, sharing the beauty and awe of the renaissance-styled castle with the people of the Adirondacks (2). The Ramsguards, despite their success, never forget the workings of Ed Leary. Mr. Ramsguard says, “We didn’t write the beginning of this story, but we get to write the middle, and that’s good enough. This castle will live on long past us, but we get to be a part of it. For now, we’re appreciating the moment” (1).

Sources:

1: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/nyregion/completing-a-castle-in-the-adirondacks.html?_r=0

2: http://learycastle.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2010-11-16T08:58:00-08:00&max-results=24&start=3&by-date=false