Essex, New York Guide and Community Blog
Winter? Again? I’ll admit it. I was really ready for spring. I’ve been taking walks each day, even when it rained, watching the bulbs green fuses rising magically from the decayed leaves. I’ve been inspecting buds on the lilac bushes and fruit trees. I’ve been pruning apple trees, crab apple trees and pear trees. Some [...]
Ice fishing is a popular social or solitary winter pastime in the North Country. Know the locations, regulations, and ice safety before venturing out! The most important information you need to know when ice fishing are the safety precautions! Falling through the ice can mean death! It doesn’t have to happen. In fact, it shouldn’t. [...]
Ice fishing is a popular winter pastime in the North Country. I’ve seen various bays of Lake Champlain populated with little ice shanty towns every winter when the ice freezes enough. Fishermen (and women) who can’t wait for spring can bundle up and try their luck on the ice. My dad and brother built their own shanty [...]
The August 2012 issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine has a wonderful article on visiting the Adirondacks! “The word camp, it seems, can mean many things to many people. If you happen to be, say, an oil baron or a railroad tycoon, the word might conjure up the image of a woodsy expanse of lakeside acreage dotted with grand lodges [...]
Although hunting season is coming to an end, trapping season begins in December. Unfortunately, dogs and free-roaming cats are the most common ‘non-target’ animals that are caught in traps. Where are traps likely to be set? What should you do if your dog gets caught while out hiking? Learn how to keep your animals safe [...]
Julia Dixon‘s A Coon Mountain Hike is another one of the stories entered in this round of the Champlain Area Trails (CATS) writing contest. If you haven’t yet, you should go vote in the contest! Dixon is a freshman in high school, and every year she goes on vacation with family to Westport, NY. She gives a brief description of arriving [...]
Natural Ground by Jane Boxall Allen is one of the stories entered in this round of the Champlain Area Trails (CATS) writing contest. If you haven’t yet, you should go vote in the Champlain Area Trails Travel Writing Contest! I enjoy the way that Allen begins her story. She describes her arrival in Essex on the ferry, and [...]
Although Adirondack autumn has shed her Technicolor party attire, this is the perfect time of year for back-country hiking. Sunday’s balmy weather inspired me to conjure up a pair of hooky possibilities for today. If the wind is light and the temperature comfortable for cycling, I’m planning on cycling the Highlands Loop for some final [...]
It’s time again to get your entries ready for the Champlain Area Trails (CATS) Travel Writing Contest! This is the third CATS writing contest, and let’s try to always make the entry pool larger than the last and share more wonderful local stories. Read past contest entries for inspiration, then get out there to explore and have [...]
Lake Champlain has been recently troubled by the parasitic sea lamprey. These creatures prey on fish in the lake weakening and killing them. A method of sea lamprey control has been devised to attempt to curtail the numbers being effected. In recent years these lamprey have disturbed the fish populations to a much larger degree than previously [...]
