Ernie, Margaret and the Maples

     Goose Egg Ridge is one of my favorite hikes, and getting there is one of my favorite drives. It's a "the journey, not the destination" thing. You can be in Cambridge caffeinating at the Coffee Canteen and ten minutes later you're walking in the woods. Finish your hike, jump in the truck and in another ten minutes you're sipping  a cold one at the Depot.

     And those ten minutes on Ashgrove Road are filled with wonder. It's like a greatest hits reel of everything special about Washington County. It begins with the stately Jonathan Dorr-Randall house on the corner of Rt. 313 and its charming, gingerbread trimmed neighbor across the street. A parade of classic white farmhouse/red barn homesteads follow. There's long horned shaggy beasts, puffy sheep and free range chickens. Stone walls, a hillside cemetery and sparkling White Creek are complemented by several small ponds. Spruce and pine line the road and ghostly sycamores shade the stream. The valley is framed by Snake Ridge on one side and the Two Tops cluster of hills on the other. All of that and I almost forgot to mention the Nuns of New Skete and their cheesecakes!

     Finally you are greeted by a what looks to be a tree covered pyramid on steroids. Goose Egg! And just beyond, where you take a left onto Bates Road, there's a large, white colonial with a stone wall in front and a red barn across the way. This house always had a strong appeal to me, even before I read the book about one of its previous owners. The book is The Invisible Spy and the owners were Ernest and Margaret Cuneo. 

The former home of Ernest and Margaret Cuneo

Corner of Black Hole Hollow and Bates Roads

Goose Egg rises in back 

     Thomas Maier's recently published book proclaims Ernest Cuneo as "America's first secret agent of World War II", with his future wife Margaret playing a role in British Intelligence. Whether that is hyperbole you'll have to decide for yourself, but there is no denying they were an amazing couple. After a short lived stint as a lineman in the nascent NFL, Cuneo studied law at Columbia and launched a career that soon had such notables as Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia columnist Walter Winchell and eventually Franklin D. Roosevelt seeking his counsel.

     These were the years when Hitler was marching across Europe with Britain in his sights. Churchill knew he would need the help of the Americans to withstand the onslaught. To that end he had established a spying operation in New York City, both to counter Nazi influence and nudge this country into the war. Margaret Watson was a young Canadian woman who answered the call to help with the war effort by joining the British Security organization in New York. Her dedication and skills were such that German agents active in the city saw her as a threat to their cause and they tried unsuccessfully to assassinate her. 

     Ernest became a liaison between FDR's administration in Washington and the British spy network in New York. This is where he met Margaret as well as Ian Fleming and Ivar Bryce, two Brits who would become his friends. Though physically large and quite imposing, Cuneo mastered the art of anonymity, moving discreetly through the halls of power, becoming 'the invisible spy'. Maier's book delves deeply into the war years and the birth of American intelligence agencies with a focus on Cuneo's role.

     Eventually the war came to an end but new adventures awaited. Ernie and Margaret were married in 1946 and soon had two kids. His private legal practice was going well and the couple was able to buy a summer getaway home upstate. This is the house at the corner of Ashgrove and Bates Roads. Hardly a mile further down the road, Ivar Bryce and his wife Josephine Hartford owned Black Hole Hollow Farm on the Vermont border. Ian Fleming, the James Bond author, spent several summers at the farm carousing with his friends and attending the Saratoga races. Here, in the deep folds of the Taconics, the British/American spy gang was reunited.

Ernest Cuneo, Ivar Bryce, Ian Fleming (left to right)

(web image)

Black Hole Hollow Farm

Jo Hartford and Ivar Bryce's country place

"You might as well have a hell of a time while the voyage lasted, grinding out the juice of each day as if it were the last grape on the vine." 

Ernest Cuneo

Looking into Black Hole Hollow from the top of Goose Egg

     There are many stories of Ernie Cuneo and Ian Fleming having 'a hell of a time' together. From their exploratory trip across America aboard the Super Chief train to the debacle in the low rent mud baths outside of Saratoga, they both had a lust for life. Consider the time Fleming showed up at Cuneo's house with the idea that they should climb to the top of Goose Egg. You need to know that the usual way up is from the far end of Bates Road onto the ridge and out to the prow. That is grunt enough. To go directly from the Cuneo's house straight to the top is wicked steep (don't ask me how I know). I can only imagine two older guys with many years of indulgent food, drink and smokes behind them clawing their way up. After enjoying the view Cuneo says they descended "Like two whirling dervishes, sweated and happy...laughing like mad."

Goose Egg Ridge

The slope at the left end is Fleming and Cuneo's route

     Unfortunately, adventures Ernie and Margaret had planned for their retirement were cut short when she developed cancer and died in 1976 at the age of 62. She is buried in Washington's Oak Hill Cemetery but has a living memorial locally that few are aware of. On the grounds of Cambridge Central School, out past the playground, at the corner of Rt. 22 and the entrance to the bus garage is a cluster of good sized maple trees. These were planted as saplings in the fall of 1976 by Flax Mill Nursery. This is the Margaret Watson Cuneo Memorial Grove that Ernie created to honor his late wife. When I visited last week (best to go when school is not in session) I could find nothing connecting the trees to the Cuneo family. That's not right. Fighting evil isn't a 'once and done' thing. Kids need to know of the brave people from their community who have put their lives on the line against fascism and would be dictators. A simple plaque and a mention in history class is the least we can offer the Cuneo's for their service to America.

Clipping from Washington County Post - 12/16/1976

The Cuneo Grove then and now

More from the Cuneo files...

     * Ken Gottry helped me with research on the Cuneo's. He remembers playing golf and ball with their son Jon, then swimming in the pond in back of their house. Thanks, Ken.

Jon Cuneo

     * Ernest passed away in 1988 and his son Jon, also a highly respected lawyer, died in 2023. Jon's widow is Mara Liasson, the NPR political correspondent. The Cuneo's also had a daughter, Sandra, an attorney who lives in the Los Angeles area.

     * Susan Barry shared interesting memories of the Cuneo's. If I understand it right, her family once owned Goose Egg, with New York State acquiring it in 1964. One thing that left an impression on her was the outdoor telephone beside the pond in back of the house. This was long before cell phones and Ernest needed to be in constant contact with his clients, even when lounging beside the pond at his summer home.

Pond Phone - Brown pedestal on left

In back of Cuneo's Ashgrove home

     * Ernie is credited with some of the initial ideas and outlines for a few of the Bond novels. Thunderball's dedication reads: "To Ernest Cuneo, Muse."  

                   

     * I'm guessing there are still a few locals with memories of Fleming, Bryce and the Cuneo's. It would make a great oral history project to capture some of those memories. Any Cambridge Central students up to the challenge?

     * There are a number of books by and about the Black Hole Hollow/Ashgrove crew. Unfortunately the Cambridge Library doesn't have any of them. Here are my suggestions for a local canon that should prove of interest to the community:

     - The Invisible Spy by Thomas Maier:  The best (and only) book

        on the Cuneo's who tended to keep a low profile. 

     - You Only Live Once by Ivar Bryce:  Subtitled Memories of Ian 

        Fleming, this wide ranging volume details Fleming's love of 

        the hills surrounding Black Hole Hollow and mentions "the

        pretty little town of Cambridge in New York."

     - No More Tiaras by Solange Batsell Herter: She may have 

       owned Black Hole Hollow at one time. I'm not sure There are so 

       many outrageous stories in this memoir it's hard to keep them

       all straight.

     - Ian Fleming - The Complete Man by Nicholas Shakespeare and

       The Life of Ian Fleming by John Pearson: Of many Fleming

       biographies, these two seem to stand out. Anecdotes from 

       around here. 

     - For Your Eyes Only, Diamonds Are Forever, and The Spy Who

       Loved Me by Ian Fleming are Bond books where some of the

       action takes place locally (Black Hole Hollow, Saratoga and 

       Lake George). Thunderball is the Bond story Fleming dedicated

       to Cuneo.

     

Talking Boardwalks

     The problem with wetlands is that they are wet. Ok, even I know how stupid that sounds. But the point is that unless there is enough water to float a canoe, wetlands can be hard to explore. Boot sucking mud can take the fun out of the most thrilling wildlife siting and it's hard to get excited about the rare plant you've just found when you feel you're standing in quicksand.    

     Fortunately, there is a remedy. It's called a boardwalk. A slightly elevated wooden structure that allows you to walk thru a wetland with dry feet. They are most often found in popular nature centers where lots of visitors can justify their relatively high cost of construction. Recently, the stars aligned to allow a small but very interesting boardwalk to be built on property owned by Merck Forest, adjacent to the Mettawee Community School in North Pawlet, Vermont.

Chris, Gwenne and Zia inspecting the new boardwalk

      There was a ribbon cutting ceremony on November 7th. A few days later Gwenne and I were treated to a private tour of the installation with family friend Chris Hubbard. Chris works in education at Merck's main campus in Rupert but she has been spending a lot of time overseeing the birth of the boardwalk. She should be proud because the project turned out great.

The new boardwalk crosses the band of trees in back of 

the Mettawee Community School campus in this Google Earth image.

     Merck bought the 148 acre parcel in 2020 with funding help from the Vermont Land Trust. It provides a buffer between the school and the neighboring Deer Flats Farm where the Hulett family milk over 800 cows. This is just west of the intersection of Rts. 153 and 30 in the town of Pawlet, Vermont. To the east is the iconic three mountain skyline of Haystack, Middle and Bald Hill.

The Merck property is in the lower left hand corner of this map

     Merck's property stretches back towards Indian Hill with a tributary of the Mettawee River originating at the hill's base and flowing thru the wetland in back of the school. There are also several small open fields here that may be used for hay by a local farmer in the future. One issue that will be addressed is invasive reed canary grass which has choked out native shrubs. I did see some alders and red-osier dogwood along the walk. Blue jays chattered away above us and the crew who built the boardwalk had the company of a snapping turtle during construction.

     Black locust planks provided by a local Amish sawmill were used in the build. It's wide enough for wheel chairs and pretty much level. Only one small section was elevated enough to require railings. Especially pleasing is the organic way the path curves and winds. Materials and design make it feel a part of nature. I didn't get the names of everyone involved in the creation of the structure but it was definitely a collaborative effort and a great job by all. 

       If I had a chance to go to school again it would be at the Mettawee Community School. It's designed to mimic the connected style of Vermont farmsteads where the house flows into sheds and barns uninterrupted. The entrance looks like and old one room school complete with a mounted bell to call the students to their studies and the layout of the buildings forms a nestled playground in back. Now the kids even have a natural area to roam complete with a just finished boardwalk and a wetland without wet feet!

A few more photos from press releases and Manchester Journal coverage...

Some of the folks who made the boardwalk possible.

Ghost Town

     "...the little yellow house on the towpath..." was lurking in my thoughts. The haunted one where a pack peddler had been murdered and buried in the cellar. I didn't so much want to find it as to avoid it. But it soon became apparent that there was nothing to worry about. I wasn't going to come upon a yellow house or much else in what had once been the bustling canal settlement called Moses Kill.

The canal (red line) at Moses Kill

One of the buildings along it might be the haunted "little yellow house"

     I was using Captain Fred G. Godfrey's The Champlain Canal: Mules to Tugboats as my tour guide. It's a fun little book with lots of quirky details about the old canal. He tells about a Mrs. Sanders from Fort Miller who sold four-layer cakes for $.25 and delicious pies for $.20. The boatmen appreciated that bit of indulgence before the three mile pull to Moses Kill past the dreaded "little yellow house".

A surveyors view of Moses Kill

The Hudson River would be just off the top of the map 

    At Moses Kill they could stock up at Will Patterson's store before going thru Lock 14 and crossing the Moses Kill Creek on an aqueduct. Just beyond that was a dry dock operated by George "Boney" Sanders. A place where needed repairs could be made. Then came a long, five mile, hard towing level to Fort Edward. Fortunately Satterlee's grocery store was located along here providing canalers with fresh food.

Two views of the aqueduct  

Top is the abutments as they appear today

Bottom is an old photo showing the framed trough

that was filled with water for the boats to float over the creek

     You would think Moses Kill would be an interesting place to view some of this historical infrastructure but that's not necessarily the case. Some of the water filled depression that was the canal is still visible near Patterson Road, while back in Richardson Lane there is an older building presently used as a residence. This may be where Patterson's store was. That's about it if you drive there. Tax maps show a corridor of New York State owned land along the old canal route but it's a honeysuckle choked, tick infested jungle with no place to park and threatening POSTED signs put up by a private party. 

Tax map of area where the Moses Kill flows into the Hudson River

Town of Fort Edward, Washington County, New York

Narrow checkered corridor is route of old canal

Richardson Lane (old Rt. 4) and buildings that might have been part of Patterson's store

What remains of the canal ditch is in the trees at right edge of photo

     The best way to see what's left of the settlement is by paddling up the Creek. You can examine the aqueduct abutments and an arched trolley bridge from the water but getting out to look for the lock, the dry dock or anything else associated with the canal takes some determined effort and it's hard to tell what parts of the shore are public and what are private. The yellow house and its ghost may have once been here but if so they're like the rest of the Moses Kill ghost town. Gone and almost forgotten. 

 

The trolley bridge

    

'Ghost' structures from canal days are common along the Rt. 4 corridor

These moss covered limestone blocks form an abutment at the entrance to the 

Denton Preserve

Speaking of Ghost Towns...

     A few photos from Greenwich all decked out for Halloween:

 

Pilot Knob Preserved

 

Pilot Knob by Susan Beadle

From the Lake George Land Conservancy's Facebook page

The artist donated this painting to the LGLC's silent auction at their Gala

     Pilot Knob is one of my favorite places in Washington County. By default that makes it one of my favorite places in the world. It's not as high as Buck or Black and there really aren't any views from its wooded summit. But you have to have some bushwhacking skills and put some effort into getting to that summit. Arriving at the cairn always feels like a satisfying achievement. Besides, if you came up from the west side over the bare ridge (result of a 1973 fire) you've had a feast of Lake George views most of the way. Then there's the sprinkling of climbing ledges hidden in the woods. Fun to do a few routes if that's your thing. Finally, part of the mountains lure is the somber monument at the site of the 1969 plane crash that claimed 14 lives. Somewhat difficult to reach, it's a place to contemplate the tentativeness of life. 

Southern end of Lake George from Pilot Knob Ridge

(photo from LGLC's website)

     There are actually several ways to reach the top other than the popular ridge route. The Buck Mountain/Inman Pond trail has parking at both ends with the seldom used eastern approach offering less elevation gain, interesting streams and beaver ponds and more solitude but no views. There's also an unmarked pull off on Pilot Knob Road near Echo Bay that some use as a starting point. Note that the mountains that line Lake George's east side are tilted blocks of the Earth's crust with steeper, often cliffy sides upthrown at faults on the west and more gradual slopes dipping to the east. The result is great scenery from the lake but also more arduous climbing from that side. 

     Pilot Knob has been in the news lately with the recent announcement that the Lake George Land Conservancy has purchased 517 acres of the mountain's western slope from the Jeckel family. Ron and Janis have been great stewards and with this transfer they insure that the watershed and scenery will remain undeveloped into the future. Combined with large blocks of preexisting publicly owned Forest Preserve the entire mountain is now protected.

Mike Horn addressing members at the Gala

(from the LGLC website)

     I got to know Mike Horn when he had the difficult job of dealing with farmers who were considering protecting their land thru Saratoga PLAN. I've followed his successes when he stepped up to the Executive Director position at the Lake George Land Conservancy. He's a great guy leading a membership organization that knows just what a treasure Lake George is. Congratulations on the Pilot Knob project and best of luck in the future to Mike and the LGLC.

       

Other Lake news:

DEC photo

     Sad to hear that the northern lean-to on Fishbrook Pond has burnt. I (and many others) have happy memories from this spot. In the summer I relished sweaty trail runs up and over Sleeping Beauty, before heading on to the pond and a dip in its cool, clear waters. Come winter I liked the ski route from Pike Brook Road past Millman Pond to Fishbrook where we'd hunker down in the lean-to to eat our sandwiches and shiver before heading back. Hope it gets rebuilt for future generations to enjoy. 

Wiawaka Boat House and Dock

(web image)

     On a happier note Gwenne will be hosting a S.W.I.M. (Strong Women Inspire Me) event at Wiawaka to unveil a plaque honoring her mother's historic achievement. It was in August of 1958 when Diane Struble became the first person to swim the length of Lake George. The celebration in story, poetry and song occurs on Saturday, August 23 from 2 to 4 pm. Come and share your love for the lake and swimming on the beautiful grounds of Wiawaka.

    

Pilot Knob is the perfect backdrop for a day on Lake George

(photo from the LGLC's website)

Pairings

     Epicures speak of 'pairings'. As in choosing a wine that complements a particular meal. I'm no epicure so what 'pairing' means to me is just finding something good to eat and drink after a day of outdoor fun. Take a recent Sunday for example...

     Gwenne, myself and others have been helping our neighbor George socialize his four puppies before they moved on to new homes. You're probably thinking "How hard can that be?" Let me tell you "Plenty hard". As soon as George lets them out of their kennel enclosure they head in four different directions at about 90 mph. Our job was to keep them from the road and out of a nearby brushy woods that had a magnetic draw on the little fur balls. They were all sweethearts and it was rewarding to see them mature from day to day but we always breathed a sigh of relief when they tired and were ready for a nap. .

      

Geneva with two friends

     It was turning into another hot summer day so once 'puppy play time' was over our thoughts turned to swimming and (of course) a little something to eat. We got to Cambridge too late for the Kings donut cart so it was on to the Wayside for provisions and a bridge-side snack in West Arlington.

      A few more Vermont errands and a little backroad exploring brought us to Quarry Hill in North Pownal. This is a Nature Conservancy preserve noted for its botanical diversity. The limestone/marble bedrock ensures plenty of calcium in the soil and the dry, sunny orientation also creates a niche for a variety of plants. Jerry Jenkins has studied this site for many years and you can watch as he explains the local ecology to a group of botany enthusiasts on this Youtube video. With little rare plant expertise we simply enjoyed the hike to the top of the quarry and the views of the Hoosic Valley. Note that there are only a couple of parking places, a mostly hidden sign and no trail markers. Throw in some very steep cliffs and this place might not be for everyone.

 

     Quarry Hill is great for spring wildflowers but on a hot mid-summer afternoon it's hard to beat the Pownal Tubs. These sculpted swimming holes in a small Hoosic River tributary are scattered in a tree shaded gorge. We spent a pleasant hour here dropping our body temperature to near hypothermic levels in the refreshingly icy water. Thanks to the volunteers and visitors who keep this private property oasis pristine and open to all. You and the Tubs are a gift.

 

     So what 'pairs' with a fun summer afternoon of hiking and swimming? How about a burger and beer at Brown's Walloomsac Brewery and Taproom. The place was hopping but we managed to score a couple spots at the bar and believe me, a cold lager and beef in a bun never tasted so good.