The Wreckage of 59-0078 (Adirondacks)

[Conk]

September 15-18, 2015
Paul Conklin (Curtis Mayfly)

Should an Adirondack opportunity arise, I make sure to have a trip plan worked out and filed to memory. Therefore, when four days free of commitment and a fantastic weather forecast rolled around last week, I was ready to go. I would spend my time in the environs of Cage Lake in the Five Ponds Wilderness, an area I have not been to in 40 years. The approach would be from the southwest using the Middle Branch of the Oswegatchie River. From the north end of the Alder Bed Flow, it is only 1.2 miles to Cage Lake. A beaver vly held the potential of making much of this bushwhack paddelable. Topping the agenda would be finding the wreckage of a fighter jet that went down near Wolf Pond in the late 1970's. A second goal was to visit Little Otter Pond, getting me closer to my goal of making it to all of the Ponds within the Five Ponds Wilderness.

Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/114267878012874538920/TheWreckageOf590078

 

[yknpdlr]

Super photos as usual Conk. I paddled in there to the north end a couple of years ago, had a beautiful quiet paddle through the beaver vly. It is not a difficult location to reach, but it does speak to you in a remote voice.

The Alder Bed Flow is the location of the famous Carl Skalak incident, the guy who was arrested after twice within a couple of weeks switching on his PLB to call for a rescue from the same place. I discovered an unmarked hunter's trail just in the woods off the vly that Carl could have taken to walk out, or any bushwhack otherwise through there is not that difficult with simple compass skills and proper footwear for the early wet snow he had at the time.

At one time I was certified as an Air Force mishap investigator. Looking at your photos reminded me of other sites I have seen. There is a black art in the science of the tremendous amount of information you can glean from investigating wreckage parts, and how they were bent or broken apart. Even the instrument gauges will have a mark on the back of the case from where the indicator impacted, revealing the value on the gauge at the time. The mishap investigator's school was probably the most interesting and rewarding short course I have ever taken. In the desert outdoor classroom, we had a couple of dozen wreckages from various types of aircraft placed on the ground, with each piece of debris arranged in the exact orientation it was originally found. Our job was to determine in great detail what happened to cause the crash.

 

[yellowcanoe]

wow Conk.. You take such amazing adventures. Thanks for id ing some fungi that are common but I had no idea of their names. That grassy ball is hilarious! The ADKs are awesome. I'll be taking a more pedestrian trip later this week.. I note there is some color amongst red maples..

 

[Canotrouge]

Great photos of what look like a great trip!! As for the tree, I think it is a white ash from little foliage I could see.... And the trash in the bush, I think it is the same every where there is cheep beer drinker, I went for a walk in the bush to get a few grouse and some cranberries, and light beer beer cans can always be seen no matter how far you are, s long as there is access, there will be cans...

 

[Mama]

Great photos. Makes me want to get out of the midwest and try some Adirondack trips. Thanks for sharing.

 

[memaquay]

Great report! Since your last trip report, I have started a support group called CAREI (pronounced "carry"). It stands for Canoeists Against Rear End Injury. I am in the process of developing instructional videos of how to avoid all manner of flora and fauna that could cause said injuries. Google told me that when setting up a Cause, it's important to have a famous spokesperson, so I have contacted Ned Beatty. I'll keep you informed, perhaps you could be a guest speaker at our annual fund raiser?

On another note, I noticed that some of those cans had Blue Lite as a label. I though that Blue was a beer only found in Canada. Have Canadians been invading your area?

Thanks for the great pictures!

 

[yellowcanoe]

Nope Its definitely red maple. They are the first to turn color around here and I live in an area with similar tree species to the ADK's. Blue Lite is available here readily, Case of 24 about fifteen bucks. That other blue can Bud Lite is the number one litter on rivers here. About the same price Because I am tired and fed up from collecting them on rivers and heck on roads around here ( even though you get paid as there is a deposit that is refundable) you will never catch me drinking it.

We have Tim Hortons.. why not Labatt?

 

[Odyssey]

Superb TR Conk. I don't often comment on yours because, well I'm often speechless enjoying-admiring them. I went to the School Of Uninspired Out Of Focus Photography. You clearly went to another school. Thankfully. Okay, here's my 2 guesses for the quiz. 1) otter poop - found on waterside logs. 2) shagbark hickory. I won't send you a crisp $20 bill, as our Canadian bills would blow your mind. Partly iridescent with plastic windows and stuff, you'll mistake it for a candy wrapper. Actually, given the current exchange rate, you'd be better off sending ME money.
Thanks for another quiet journey into the Adirondack ponds.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Clearly we gotta get some of you out of the land of plastic money and expensive beer. But the money is color coded which is handy for failing eyesight.
The ADK s are out of the range of shagbark hickory... Now just cause it is south of the border ( by maybe an hour!) its higher up.. Most of the base elevation ( paddling.. not often done on top of mountains except for icedragon mix) is almost as high as the highest point of Ontario. This gives it similar tree species to say... Geraldton.
No wonder the blue cans happily congregated.

And places in the ADK's are being urged to accept Canadian Money.. even now.. ..at par
http://www.twcnews.com/nys/central-...--businesses-offer-canadian-money-at-par.html

 

[Conk]

OK, seeing how this group is largely from north of the border and because the Canadian dollar might have a better use in the outhouse, I will supply the answers to the dendrology quiz. #1 Black Cherry #2 Yellow Birch #3 White Pine #4 Red (soft) Maple #5 Eastern Hemlock
As to the poop, it seems that a critter as big as an otter might have larger excrement but I can't say I've ever seen an otter defecate. It is located in the kind of place one would frequently see a merganser or duck, but elongated pellets do not jive with any bird scat I've ever seen. I'm not an expert in scatology; in fact, many folks have made the comet that I don't know crap.

 

[sweeper]

Great pics Conk

Life is too short to drink bad beer.

 

[yellowcanoe]

OK, seeing how this group is largely from north of the border and because the Canadian dollar might have a better use in the outhouse, I will supply the answers to the dendrology quiz. #1 Black Cherry #2 Yellow Birch #3 White Pine #4 Red (soft) Maple #5 Eastern Hemlock
As to the poop, it seems that a critter as big as an otter might have larger excrement but I can't say I've ever seen an otter defecate. It is located in the kind of place one would frequently see a merganser or duck, but elongated pellets do not jive with any bird scat I've ever seen. I'm not an expert in scatology; in fact, many folks have made the comet that I don't know crap.

LOL.. I only read one question! I have 100 footwhite pines over my house. In fact they will require some many $20 bills to remove. A microburst is my worst nightmare.

 

[memaquay]

My first inclination was to say the poop was from a painted turtle, but after I googled painted turtle poop, it quickly became apparent that I was wrong.

 

[Guest]

having just come home from that area, all I can say is that I am miserably unqualified to find and traverse in his footsteps.

 

[sweeper]

Beef Steak Mushroom OR Reishi, Ganoderma tsugae on a Hemlock?

 

[yellowcanoe]

OMG I am truly in talented company. An Artiste and a few Botanistes et une Poete. Je skulk avec mon appareil photo avec ma queue entre mes jambes

 

[sweeper]

My wife and foraged over 200 lbs of Reishi this summer, (it was a very good growing season).

 

[yellowcanoe]

My wife and foraged over 200 lbs of Reishi this summer, (it was a very good growing season).

hmmm. Hemlock is our number one softwood followed by balsam. So far all are healthy but I ought to check for dead and dying. http://mushroom-collecting.com/mushroomreishi.html

What did you do with that haul? I never thought to look for fungi on hemlock.. Thanks!

 

[sweeper]

Processing some of it into a double (water/alcohol) extract, selling the mushroom in chucks and ground for tea thru a neighbor who grows and also foragers mushrooms. Mostly looking for a wholesale buyer to move it by the pound instead of the ounce. It along with 'Chaga' is an important medicinal mushroom and it was and amazing year for Reishi, it was everywhere and in place we hadn't seen it in years.

Unlike a lot of the soft mushrooms, the shriveled mold and bug eaten shell hangs on to the host and you can return next year and there's a good chance it will be growing there. Its ready the pick when it loses the white edge and has reddish spores on top. My guess is that Conk took that pic during or after a rain.

At the bottom of your link you will find this one

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/ganoderma_tsugae.html

the top one is the dried up shell and second one is the mature one.

Here's a couple of pics we shot this year

 

[Rippy]

Muskrat poop?