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Columns

Correcting history

A new book by Curt Stager and David Fadden, “The First Adirondackers: 12,000 Years of Indigenous Peoples in the Adirondack Uplands,” makes its purpose clear. The authors are, respectively, a Paul Smiths College professor and the third-generation director of Six Nations Iroquois Cultural ...

The cold hard facts

Last week sadly, another wilderness traveler died of hypothermia in the High Peaks Wilderness. News of such calamities reminds me that winter isn’t an abstraction or a romantic postcard—it’s a force to be reckoned with. People often ask how I endure winter camping. I wouldn’t call it ...

Roof raking is my Arm Day

When my nephew lived with us, his enthusiasm for anything to do with snow did not transfer to my children. Don’t get me wrong. My kids love winter sports and snow, but they didn’t share their cousin’s fascination with everything involved in making and moving snow. As an ice climber, my ...

Beyond chili

Beans. Lentils. Split peas. Garbanzo beans/chickpeas. Black-eyed peas. These are pulses or legumes. A pulse is a seed; it grows in a pod of one to 12 seeds. After harvest, it is dried and becomes a legume. These include beans, lentils, peas and other little seeds. Lentils are small, ...

Safety versus luxury

When buying a new vehicle, choices abound. Not just what make and model to buy, but also what features you want. The average new vehicle today costs a whopping $50,000. But don’t blame safety, says David Harkey, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. For half that ...