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August 5, 2007

The Blue Ledges - a unique destination

By DENNIS aPRILL

Pounding whitewater, magnificent cliffs, unusual vegetation "" this sums up my impression of Hudson River Gorge on the Essex-Hamilton County border.

I've been to the Gorge by two very different means of transportation "" on foot and by raft. Walking was the most relaxing and rafting the most exciting. No matter how you get there, the Hudson Gorge and the Blue Ledges that constrict the river are not only sights worth seeing, but, according to recent findings, home to many rare, little-seen Adirondack plants.

At 350 feet or so high, the Blue Ledges are so named because they seem to have a bluish tinge to the billion-year-old anorthrocite rock that makes up the cliffs. Here, the Hudson, which downstream becomes a wider, more docile river, narrows to 150 feet. The rapids of Hudson Gorge are legendary and can reach Class V status in the spring and fall when water levels rise. At other times of the year, dam releases at Lake Abanakee are needed to propel the rafts over continuous rapids as the release water bubble surges downstream.

The year 1991 saw my first trip to the Gorge. I rafted down from Lake Abanakee with Lake Placid's Wayne Failing, owner of Middle Earth Expeditions, and a group that contracted his guiding service. Wayne is probably the most experienced and reliable guide on the Hudson.

This was my introduction to whitewater rafting. It was an exhilarating, fast-paced ride down to Blue Ledges. We camped in the heart of the Gorge, where I fished in gradually lowering waters, catching a brown trout. The next day we finished off the trip at North River.

Many years later, I walked in to the Gorge, getting a different perspective. That time I followed a 2.5-mile trail that begins just before Huntley Pond off the Northwoods Club Road, which intersects Route 28N in the Town of Minerva. It was May, the trail wet in sections; white hobblebush flowers lined the path. There also were also trout lilies, Canada mayflowers and the occasional trillium in bloom.

The trail partially paralleled Huntley Pond, then skirted a wetland before rising to a knoll. When the Hudson is running at full throttle as it was that day, you can hear the distant rumble of cascading water before finally getting to the beach opposite the main cliffs.

"It is these cliffs," according to ecologist Jerry Jenkins, "that contain some of the largest concentrations of rare and uncommon plants in the (Adirondack) Park." These include 96 species of moss, 36 of which are considered rare, and three are only found at the Ledges. One reason for such diversity may be the lime-marble layer that occurs in narrow bands of the Precambrian rock.

The Nature Conservancy, which now owns the Blue Ledges, says that OK Slip Falls that plunges into the Gorge and the ravine the falls created hold 69 species of moss and liverworts, 22 considered rare or uncommon. As of now, there are no plans to change land use or public access from that of original owner Finch-Pryne.

No matter how you get there, a visit to the Blue Ledges of Hudson Gorge is well worth the trip.



daprill2000@yahoo.com

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