WESLEY HILL NATURE PRESERVE – January 12, 2014, 2:00 PM

February 2013

February 2013 at Wesley Rd

The hike this week will be at Wesley Hill Preserve. As usual, we will split into as many as three groups to accomodate the spectrum of physical abilities and ambitions. The weather should be rebounding from the Alberta Clipper passing through early in the week, and there is even the possibility of a thaw by hike time.

We’ll mix it up a little by meeting at the Wesley Rd Trail Head.

Wesley Rd Trail HeadAfterward, we can meet at Marty’s for a social. Bring drinks and a dish to pass, or some dough for the kitty (green plastic trash can) on the table to help with the costs. The house will provide a big pot of chili. Directions will be distributed at the hike.

The Finger Lakes of New Zealand’s South Island

My Kiwi friends live in Queenstown, in the Otago Region of New Zealand’s South Island. While using google maps to get oriented to the vicinity, I ran across this view.

NZ finger lakes

NZ finger lakes

Something looked strangely familiar. The chain of long skinny lakes on the map were formed by glaciers just like the Finger Lakes in Western New York.

nyfingerlakes

NY finger lakes

Queenstown is located on the shores of Lake Wakatipu in the southern part of the chain. The lake is shaped like a stylized lightening bolt, a reversed “N” shape. From the Dart River flowing into the northern end, the lake runs south for 30 kilometres (19 mi) before turning abruptly to the east. Twenty kilometres (12.4 mi) further along it turns sharply to the south, reaching its southern end 30 kilometres (19 mi) further south. Compared to Seneca Lake it’s a bit longer (50 vs. 38 mi.) and more than half again as large in terms of surface area (112 vs. 67 sq.mi.).

Lake Wakatipu

Lake Wakatipu

Lake Wakatipu is deep, with a maximum depth of 380 metres (1,250 ft). It’s at an altitude of 310 metres (1,020 ft), which locates the bottom of the lake below sea level, as is the case with Seneca and Cayuga Lakes here in NY. While our Finger Lakes are surrounded by rolling hills, though, Lake Wakatipu and the other NZ finger lakes are surrounded by snow capped mountains.

wakatipumts2

Queenstown is located near the second bend of Lake Wakatipu, where it turns south. The Remarkables mountain range, lying along the southeastern edge of the lake, is a popular venue for adventure tourism, with skifields, paragliding, bungy jumping and tramping tracks within easy reach.

queenstownlake

Queenstown and The Remarkables

It is here that the fun will begin in early February. Next up: units, or how to convert liters/100km to miles/gallon

An Introduction to New Zealand

New Zealand is made up of two main islands and a number of smaller islands in the South Pacific, near the centre of the water hemisphere, the half of the planet’s surface with the most water and the least land. In the image below you can see New Zealand to the right of Australia and above Antarctica. Hawaii is at the top edge just right of center, and the west coast of the USA is just over the horizon at about two o’clock. Because of its remoteness, NZ was one of the last lands to become settled by humans.

waterhemi

The Water Hemisphere

New Zealand is about a thousand miles long along its (mostly) vertical axis, with an area about equal to New York State and Pennsylvania combined. Texas is more than twice as large in area. The population is about 4.5M, roughly a quarter as many people as live in New York State. The population density is about 45 people per square mile, about half that of the USA, but four times more dense than Australia or Canada.

NZmap

New Zealand

The North Island has about 40% of the land area of New Zealand, and about 77% of the population. The larger South Island is dominated by the Southern Alps range of mountains extending 450 km north to south. The tallest peak is Mount Cook, the highest point in New Zealand at 3,754 metres (12,316 ft) and there are sixteen other points in the range that exceed 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) in height.

mtCook

Mt Cook

 

New Zealand owes its existence to tectonic uplift and volcanos. Lake Taupo on the North Island, sits in the caldera of a supervolcano which last erupted 1,800 years ago. This eruption is estimated to have been the most violent on earth for the past 5000 years. There is much geothermal activity, especially on the North Island, similar to that found in the vicinity of our own Yellowstone caldera.

Next up: the Finger Lakes of New Zealand

Tumble Hill Campground, Cohocton – Dec 22, 2013 at 2:00PM

The group will explore a new trail system at the Tumble Hill campground in Cohocton. Three trailheads have been located, so we will spend up to two hours hiking the trails that lead from them with a trail map developed by the campground management. The trails appeared relatively flat and wide as seen from the trailheads, so it is expected that this will not be one of the more strenuous hikes, but will be on the easy to moderate side of the scale.

The campground has a Recreation Hall which will be open and heated for the social, so bring something to drink and a dish to pass, or a contribution for the green plastic trash can on the table. Park and meet up in the area just inside the campground, near the Office.

Tumble Hill Campground & RV Park | 10551 Atlanta Back Road
Cohocton New York,14826 |Tel: (585) 384 5248 or (740) 641 3793

If coming into Cohocton from Wayland on SR415, continue through town and across the river until the intersection with SR371. Turn left (North) onto SR371 and go 0.4 miles to Atlanta Back Rd, just after crossing the river again. Turn left and drive 0.4 miles. Tumble Hill is on the left.

If coming from I390, take exit 2 and follow the signs to SR415. Proceed as if coming from Wayland as described above.

If coming into Cohocton from Naples through Atlanta via SR371, look for Atlanta Back Rd as you near Cohocton. It will be after the first Cohocton River crossing and before the second. Turn to the right on Atlanta Back Rd. Tumble Hill is on the left after approximately 0.4 miles.

tumblehillmap1

Cohocton from Wayland, Naples, and I390

Cohocton from Wayland, Naples, and I390