Adirondack Family Time™

Goodnow Mountain Fire Tower (c) AdirondackFamilyTime.com Goodnow Mountain Fire tower Elevation:  2,690 ft Ascent:  1,040 ft Distance:  1.9 miles Fun Facts:  1) Goodnow fire tower is 60' tall and first built in 1922 2) Is part of the 15,000 acre Huntington Wildlife Forest owned by ESF (College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse University)  3) The fire tower was manned until 1970, restored in 1995, and now part of the Adirondack Fire Tower Challenge. What's in a name?   1) Goodnow Mountain and nearby Goodnow River were named after a settler named Sylvester Goodnow. Here is a bit of history about the family's roots.  2) Later the surrounding acreage and mountain were purchased by the Huntington family,  In 1932 Annie and Archer Huntington donated their 15,000 acre property to the State University of New York. In 1972, the  Adirondack Ecological Center has continued to provide valuable scientific research . Here is a view of Goodnow Mou

(Updated) This is a tricky time of year when outdoor ice skating rinks are just starting to form the outside ice rinks. Here are a few inside ice rink alternatives so you can enjoy this amazing winter sport or just root for your favorite team. Albany Academy Field House 135 Academy Rd. Albany, NY 12208-3196 518-465-1461 Capital Arena 16 Clifton Commons Blvd. Clifton Park, NY 12065 518-383-5440 Tim es Union Arena (formerly Pepsi Arena) (Home of the Albany River Rats) 51 S. Pearl St. Albany, NY 12207 518-487-2000 Scott's Memorial Rink (pavilion rink) 52 MacAdam Rd. Chazy, NY 12921 518-846-7825

Bear Den Trail Map in Wilmington Flume Trail System Our recent hike up Bear Den Mountain in Wilmington, NY (Whiteface Region) shouldn’t be confused with the similarly named “Bear Den,” which is the approach up Dial Mountain (High Peak #41) near the AuSable Club. Our fast, steady 2.2-mile hike starts near the Whiteface Mountain Ski Kids Kampus in Wilmington.   Since Whiteface is a busy resort, the lots are sometimes filled up at Whiteface, so we let the parking attendant know our destination is the Kids Kampus. This time the parking area has plenty of room for us to park. Depending on the season, micro-spikes or snowshoes are recommended.   The first section of the trail follows a ridge above the Bear Den parking area at Whiteface Mountain. Signs are sparse, but the trail is well marked thanks to the Barkeater Trail Alliance. Though Bear Den is our final destination we first enter the path on Trail 19, a nice level traverse. At 0.2-mile there is a yellow marker to the lef

* UPDATE: T ickets are free for military personnel and veterans courtesy of Glens Falls National Bank . The number of free tickets varies with each location. Please call to reserve.  (Schroon Lake)   The Falling and The Rising  is a new 70-minute opera that is touring the Adirondack and beyond to shed light on the United States wounded veterans experience. First workshopped in August 2017, the show first premiered at the Texas Christian University in April. According to Seagle Music Colony General Director Tony Kostecki,  The Falling and the Rising  was conceived by Sargent Ben Hilgert of the US Army Field Band and Soldiers’ Chorus. The new opera was created from actual interviews with veterans from Walter Reed Hospital, Fort Myer, and other locations.  “ It’s uplifting and relatable,” states Kostecki. “It is a universal story that will appeal to everyone, even if they haven’t been in the service. We believe in this piece. It is impactful and the response has been so posi

Labor Day Celebration New York City, 1882 Each Labor Day, it is necessary to go beyond the barbecues, vacation spots, and Back To School Sales. It is time to reflect on the history of Labor Day and how it came to be. The holiday was conceived to celebrate the American labor movement with all its strength, contributions, and prosperity to the wellness of the United States of America. Fact: Labor Day is celebrated the first Monday of September. Who founded Labor Day? That is up to debate, but has been attributed to these two men:  Peter J. McGuire , general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor or machinist  Matthew Maguire ,  proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. Maguire  later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J. How was Labor Day to be Celebrated? The first proposal of the holiday was a stree

At the false summit (overlook) of Catamount My daughter is always worrying about my allergic reaction to cats. She is like the town crier when we visit friends letting each and every person know that she can’t have one because it makes her mother sneeze. I appreciate both my children being on the look out and so far being able to resist the urge to take home those offers of free kittens. Cute and fuzzy, warm and cute, cats are part of an ongoing conversation of animals to have, along with monkeys and unicorns.   We drop my son off with friends while the rest of the family hopes to reach the summit of Catamount. We have a time limit so it is not going to be a meandering pace. Long gone are the days when she would bring a backpack full of stuffed animals to share her lunch. Now we search for other wildlife. The name of the mountain is Catamount.  According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, A catamount is any variety of American wildcat such as a lynx, cougar or mountain l

Hummingbird Moth on Milkweed Is it a bird or is it a butterfly? A hummingbird moth can be found around your Adirondack garden throughout the summer months. Some shared characteristics between the two similarly named creatures make people mistakenly identify this moth for the more popular hummingbird. Differences 1) Stating the obvious here, but one is a moth and one is a bird. 2) A hummingbird moth's tail is shaped like a fan 3)  The moth has a long tongue that rolls up under its chin called a proboscis 4) A hummingbird moth is classified as a  Lepidoptera 5) Hummingbird moths have antennae Similarities between hummingbird and hummingbird moth 1) Both can remain suspended in the air as well as flying sideways and backwards 2) Both feed off of nectar   3) Both emit a similar humming sound   Hummingbird moth 1) In the United Kingdom, hummingbird moths are referred to as Bee Hawk moth 2) Part of the Sphingidae family, one of the fastest flying insects in the w