The Paddle of Big Sandy Creek

Posted on by Robert

The Battle of Big Sandy Creek occurred on May 29th 1814 between British and American forces during the War of 1812. It was an American victory that would prove inconsequential as the British retained control of the Great Lakes.

The Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812.
Lossing, Benson (1868). The Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812. Harper & Brothers

The Paddle of Big Sandy Creek occurred last weekend and was significantly less violent. Farah and I had been scoping out beaches and kayaking spots along Lake Ontario when we learned of Big Sandy Creek.

Located within the Lakeview Wildlife Management area, the paddle is a 4 mile out-and-back that takes paddlers past Goose Pond and out to the sandy beaches along Lake Ontario. It is the same route used in the battle during The War of 1812.

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Tagged: Paddling, Tug Hill9 Comments

Monksville Reservoir Kayaking

Posted on by Brownski

Monksville Reservoir in Ringwood NJ is right in my backyard, but I’d never heard of it until the other day. Somebody saw my kayak on top of my car and struck up a conversation on paddling. When we were done discussing what we liked about our boats, we shifted to where we paddle and he said he always goes to Monksville.

Monksville Reservoir boat launch

Huh, really, where is that? I punched it into Apple Maps and realized I’d driven over it many times on my way to Mountain Creek Ski area. It looked like an cool spot so I went ahead and pencilled it into my list of stuff to do on my week off. So I looked up the stats.

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Tagged: NJ, Paddling5 Comments

Rebuilding Snow Ridge

Posted on by NYSkiBlog

In the evening on Monday August 7, severe weather ripped through southern Lewis County in New York. The next day the National Weather Service in Buffalo confirmed that the storm was an EF-3 tornado with wind speeds topping out at 140 mph. The storm carved a path of destruction 16 miles long and 700 feet across at it’s widest point. The last time an EF-3 tornado touched down in New York was back in 2014.

Tornado path map courtesy localsyr.com

The storm’s destruction began near West Leyden and stretched northeast to Turin NY. The Village of Turin was subject to significant damage. Snow Ridge Ski Resort and the West Wind Motel, 1/2 mile north of the ski area were hit hardest. After that, the long rampage ended; beyond the West Wind Motel damage was minimal.

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Tagged: Snow Ridge, Tug Hill1 Comment