Exploring New Waters - Greater Saratoga Area

By Alan Mapes

It’s fun to paddle familiar waters, but even better is the charge I get from exploring new paddling spots. A recent move from Delmar to the Saratoga Springs area gave me the perfect opportunity to check out new paddling opportunities. I am now nearly an hour closer to the Adirondack Park, but the current health situation has kept me closer to home. Here are some local places I’ve explored this spring and summer, some for the first time, a couple of them for the first time in a long time. READ MORE

Further Suggestions on the Lifestyle Approach to Covid-19

By Paul E. Lemanski, MD, MS, FACP

In my last article on Covid-19, I argued for a more balanced approach to control of the infection that would avoid repeated widespread, draconian lockdowns and stay-at-home orders with consequent further damage to the economy. I showed how such economic damage itself would have a significant health consequence. This more balanced approach relied on risk-stratifying the population, reserving targeted lockdowns, extensive testing, and stay-at-home orders only for those older and sicker individuals at higher risk. READ MORE

Daniels Road State Forest – A Good Place to get Lost for a Few Hours

By Rich Macha

A few years ago, The Nature Conservancy bought many tracts of land in and around the Adirondack Park from the Finch, Pruyn & Co., a lumber company, then later sold those lands to New York State. Places like the Boreas Ponds, Essex Chain Lakes, and OK Slip Falls got much of the publicity but the deal also included a fair number of smaller, less well-known areas. One of those areas is now the Daniels Road State Forest. READ MORE

Dallas DeVries – A Technology Entrepreneur and Heatmapping Runner

By Tom O’Grady

Over the past several months many athletes have had their training and racing plans thrown to the wind because of Covid-19. Dallas DeVries, however, was not phased during the quarantine and continued with his training largely uninterrupted. Dallas’s primary training goals in recent history have been related to heatmapping. READ MORE

Lake George 12ster Self-Powered in One Day

By Bill Hoffman & Jake Stookey

At 1am on August 7, 2020, Tim Ela, Jake Stookey and Bill Hoffman, set out on an adventure over three years in the making. Many groups and individuals have completed the Lake George 12ster Challenge by climbing 12 of the most prominent mountain peaks in the area, some having completed the ‘ultra’ version of the challenge by doing all of the peaks in a 24-hour period, typically by driving to each trailhead. Tim came up with the idea of forgoing the driving portion and doing the ultra 12ster challenge completely self-powered by swimming across the lake using only what we carried with us on the 56-mile journey. READ MORE

Ode to Mr. Coonley

By Jack Rightmyer

Having been an athlete most of my life and a high school track and cross-country coach for over 30 years, it’s hard for me to describe how much I’m missing the local sports scene. Since 1974 I’ve attended just about every William F. Eddy High School Track Meet as a competitor, a coach and as a spectator. The meet was cancelled this year because of the pandemic, and the day of the race I went out for a run and thought about some of my favorite Eddy Meet memories. My favorite occurred back in 1983, and it involved my best friend’s father Mr. Norm Coonley, who passed away a few years ago. READ MORE