Rock On

    Our geologically inclined friends need a little love this time of year. Looking at rocks is always a challenge. Stop to examine a roadcut and you've got traffic, broken beer bottles, poison ivy, barking dogs and the occasional shotgun toting yahoo to deal with. Come winter and the challenges multiply with snowbanks, short days, ice and cold. It's enough to drive one to chemistry or physics!

     So this post is my holiday gift to those suffering rock withdrawal syndrome. I've compiled links to geology themed videos, blogs and websites. Not much but it will have to do until climate change turns our pastime into a year around thing. And yes, you may hold your rock hammer while viewing these but no swinging allowed.

 

An old  photo of Starks Knob

web image

     Let's start with a couple of short video visits to a pair of New York State Geoparks, one east and one west of Saratoga Springs. Starks Knob displays submarine pillow basalt near Schuylerville and Lester Park is all about stromatolites near the Milton/Greenfield town line.

Aerial photo of Snake Hill from PLAN's website

     Bordering Saratoga Lake is another interesting site. Snake Hill has been purchased by Saratoga PLAN with the property's management currently being determined. Here is info from PLAN's website and here is more detail on why it is geologically significant.

     Snake Hill is the most westerly remnant of the Taconic klippe. The hills and mountains of this range loom large along New York's border with neighboring New England states. Geologist William Kelly gives a good overview of the region in an August 2020 webinar from the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance's speaker videos. You may have to scroll down thru a number of interesting talks to find Geology of the Rensselaer Plateau. Be advised that it's a little over an hour long but if you're interested in the Taconics it's an hour well spent.

Argyle rocks

Mike Huggins photo

     Mike Huggins grew up in Argyle before a career as a professional geologist took him west (and around the world). Fortunately, he always has his camera with him and he still comes back to the good old hills of home often. He has a flickr page where you can see geology photos from Washington County, Moreau Park, Crown Point and locations far beyond. Makes me itchy to get out there every time I visit his page. 

 

Geologic map of Bald Mountain, Town of Greenwich

by Chul Lim

     UAlbany formerly had a vibrant geology department. It doesn't exist anymore but there is a website where you can see some of the maps and thesis's that former students produced. Because of proximity many students chose to map sections of the Taconic Allochthon in Washington County and adjoining areas. These are the most detailed bedrock maps of the county that I'm aware of. Here's a link to the page where you can click on whatever map you're interested in.

Photo from Vermont Geological Survey

     Other websites that will get you thru the winter and ready for next year's field trips include: New York Geological Association, New England Intercollegiate Geologic Conference, Geological Society of America and Vermont Geological Survey. 

     Short overviews of a dozen interesting geologic sites across the state can be seen on the New York State Museum website. One is in Washington County. Photos, maps and brief description. The DEC has a similar page of Unique Geologic Features listed by county.  Road trip, anyone?

The Trap Dike and Mt. Colden in the Adirondacks

Dr. Jack Share from his Written in Stone blog

     Written in Stone is a geology blog by Dr. Jack Share. These are amazingly detailed posts on sites ranging from the far corners of the Earth to as close as the Adirondacks and Taconics. Inexplicably, new posts ceased in 2021 but there is enough archived content to satiate the geologically hungry over a very long winter.

Ed McNeil still from video

     Finally, time to fly on out of here with an aerial tour of southern Lake Champlain. Not strictly geology but a good way to get a sense of the landforms in the northern Washington County towns of Dresden and Putnam as well as southeastern Essex County and adjacent Vermont. Up, up and away with Ed McNeil. 

Book Tour

      'Tis the Season.

     No, not that Season. I'm not thinking of the time of year when we all eat too much and overindulge certain heady beverages. I do that pretty much year round. What 'Tis the Season means to me is Reading Season. That's when it gets dark by 4:30 in the afternoon and I'm happy to settle in by the woodstove with a good book for a few hours before bedtime. It's a luxury I have a hard time allowing myself the rest of the year.

     Say 'books' and libraries are the first thing that comes to my mind. Washington County has a library in almost every town and they're not cookie cutter. Each one has a personality of its own and I thought it would be fun to profile as many as I can over the next few months. Let's start with the Bancroft Library in Salem.

     It's in the center of the village, at the only stop light, and street side parking shouldn't be a problem. Look for the bell in front of the building and you'll know you're there. That bell has a story to tell. It's a Maneely bell made in Troy, New York and it once hung in the Irving Memorial Clock Tower which was part of an imposing four story edifice known as the Proudfit Building. The Proudfit was built for $20,000 in 1890 with commercial shops on the ground floor and the library, a memorial hall and the village offices on the second floor.

     On January 11, 1976 the Proudfit suffered the same fate as two previous buildings ( the Salem Hotel and the Fairchild House ) that had stood on the site, succumbing to a devastating fire. In a twist of cruel irony the fire apparently started in the firehouse towards the rear of the building. Volunteers were able to get two firetrucks out even as smoke poured out windows and doors. People also risked their lives to remove valuable books and town records from the second floor library and offices. Despite heroic efforts the upper floors were lost and the ground floor sustained smoke, heat and water damage. It's a testament to the resilience of the community that what was salvaged from the fire has become today's cozy library and town meeting hall. 

Fighting the Proudfit fire

The aftermath

  

What's left today: Open and Welcoming

     We had come to Salem to see our friend Chris Hubbard's watercolor show with nine works hanging in the hall between the library and the town meeting room. Her cat and dog portraits are striking and it was fun to try and identify the location of several local landscapes. Then there was the painting titled "Holly and Leif" which brought a chuckle. It's a beauty and the beast image of a girl snuggling with her friendly ox. The thing is, Gwenne and I can take some credit (responsibility?) for this chummy couple since Holly is our daughter and we raised Leif from newborn calf to the big boy he is today.

     After enjoying the art we moved on to the library. It's a bright, inviting space with large windows letting plenty of light into the stacks. There is wifi and several computers for patrons to use along with the usual collection of books, DVD's, newspapers and magazines. To the back is a separate reading room with comfy chairs and a large table that could accommodate big books and note taking. This is a quiet space that gets afternoon sun and houses the Walker Collection of natural history and ornithology. Also of note is the Audubon Collection of journals, published by the famed naturalist's granddaughter Maria who lived in Salem a century ago. The library has a number of books on Salem history as well. 

     One final impression from my visit was the sound of children laughing. They have their own space behind the librarians station and they were having a real good time. Come to think about it, so was I.