Fourth Lake Paddle to Alger Island

The air has started to turn crispy in upstate New York and the dog days of summer are now in the rear view. Farah and I weren’t quite ready to let the summer go yet and have been squeezing the last bit of juice out of the warmer days.

Alger Island access point
Alger Island access point

We’ve spent a lot of time in the Finger Lakes over the last few months, neglecting our beloved Adirondacks. As a result Old Forge was square in our sites last Saturday for the last official paddle of the summer.

Old Forge was bustling when we drove down Main Street around 10am. The leaf peepers and fall aficionados were out in full force combined with the crowd of firefighters and their families who attended the weekend drill school.

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Plattekill Tree Skiing Work Day 2026

The Roster is FULL. 50 lopper hounds, we are at our max. Thanks everyone!


Plattekill Mountain and NYSkiBlog are stoked to present the 16th Annual Plattekill Tree Skiing Work Day at the ski area in Roxbury NY on Saturday October 24th, 2026. Rain date is 10/25/26.

Plattekill fall aerial photo

The tradition — imagined in the mind of dedicated NY skier— lives on. We’re recruiting 50 motivated, smiling crew of lopper wielding powder hounds to continue our maintenance and expansion of some of the Catskills’ best tree skiing.

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Long Island Sound: Sailing the Salty J

An old friend stopped by recently while I was in Peekskill, NY, visiting my mom. Joe and I grew up in the same neighborhood and he was visiting his parents as well. Our conversation drifted to his Precision 21 Pocket Cruiser, which he loves sailing near his current home on the north shore of Long Island. He was bummed that the calendar had already flipped to August and he had yet to get the sailboat in the water for the season.

transporting sailboat
Transporting the Salty J from its winter storage

I offered my services to help him launch the boat during my stay in NY and a quick check of tides and weather found a brief window of opportunity to make it happen.

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