47F at 8am rising to 62F by 2pm. Clear and sunny all day with a light breeze.
© J.N. Urbanski 2,.30pm
Daily Catskills: 05/09/16
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Tag Archives: Upstate Life
Daily Catskills: 05/08/16
55F by 1pm, sunny, breezy with an armada of passing clouds.
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
Daily Catskills: 05/07/16
44F at 9.30am rising to 61F at noon with brief periods of sunshine.
© J.N. Urbanski 4pm
Daily Catskills: 05/06/16
46F at 9am, heavily raining and misty.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.45am
Daily Catskills: 05/05/16
44F at 9am with mist over mountains and drier than yesterday. 52F at 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 9am
Daily Catskills: 05/04/16
44F at 9am, misty, humid and soaked with overnight rain. More rain in the afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 4pm
Spring Links: 05/03/16
© J.N. Urbanski
Spring is here and we’re seeing a start to the greening of our mountains with the help of some much-needed rain that will cool off recent brush fires. Here are some weekend links as we mountaineers ramp up for spring, no pun intended.
Support your local bookstore: Catskill Made’s blog highlights their favorite Catskill local bookstores.
A pop-up library at the Catskill Center, where you can borrow books and give them back to any Delaware County library when they’re due.
Foragers like Marguerite have been busy in the last few weeks with ramps, fiddleheads and more. Another foraging walk here.
Life drawing classes and yoga at Willow Drey Farm in Andes on Thursdays 6 – 9pm throughout May. For more information call 917-859-5397.
Tomorrow, May 4th at 11am, join us at the Roxbury Arts Center for a talk arranged by The MARK Project on the $500,000,000 grant that Governor Cuomo has ear-marked for the Southern Tier of New York State.
Daily Catskills Exhibition at Union Grove Distillery
© J.N. Urbanski
Come celebrate the Catskills with us at Union Grove Distillery in Arkville at the opening party of the Daily Catskills Exhibition on Friday May 20th at 6pm.
If you’re only just joining us, Upstate Dispatch is a website started in September 2014 by J.N. Urbanski, focusing on the Catskills featuring interviews, memoir, photography and reviews of food, art, farming and the local economy.
Every day, for a period of 18 months, Upstate Dispatch published an image of the Catskills taken on that day. This exhibition will start at the distillery and continue throughout the Catskills at various locations over the summer. All prints are available for purchase, framed or unframed. For the last month, we’ve been editing, printing, packing, matting (and picking out a nice print for Larry who probably is wondering where his free 11 x 14 print is).
Union Grove Distillery is a local distillery and tasting room currently brewing their third batch of local vodka from wheat and apples named Vly Creek Vodka.
Daily Catskills: 05/03/16
44F at 9am, soggy ground, peaks shrouded in mist and humid.
© J.N. Urbanski 9am
Daily Catskills: 05/02/16
42F at 8am with heavy rain all morning, and rising to 52F by mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 3pm
Daily Catskills: 05/01/16
42F at 9.30am, overcast, misty and raining for most of the day.
© J.N. Urbanski 4pm
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 04/30/15
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 04/29/15
© J.N. Urbanski 9.25am
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 04/28/15
© J.N. Urbanski 1.20pm
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 04/27/15
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 04/26/15
© J.N. Urbanski 04/26/15 Noon
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 05/06/15
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
Catskills Sandwich: Fried Crab Cake
© J.N. Urbanski
Phoenicia Diner‘s fried crab cake sandwich with bacon served with salad on a soft roll. The crab cakes are soft and fishy, as opposed to thick and doughy, and melt in the mouth making the sandwich deliciously light.
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 3/11/16
© J.N. Urbanski 1.20pm
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 9/18/14
© J.N. Urbanski 7.45am
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 12/13/15
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
Catskills Sandwich: Bread Alone’s Pastrami Reuben
© J.N. Urbanski
Bread Alone’s Reuben with gruyere cheese, Russian dressing, coleslaw and pastrami on organic sourdough rye is much less greasy than it looks and remarkably juicy. The coleslaw is quite mild in this sandwich, complementing the flavor of the pastrami, which is not overly salty. The last spectacular sandwich I recommended from Bread Alone disappeared off the Winter 2015 menu just as my review in the Catskills Food Guide went to press and was replaced with something similar. Plus, the Boiceville location where I got the Avocado & Arugula on April 4th has had the arugula removed for the spring menu. All these additions and subtractions keeps us food reviewers on our toes. Grab the Reuben while you can, as menus change frequently.
© J.N. Urbanski
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 08/12/15
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
The Catskill 35: Doubletop
© J.N. Urbanski
At 3860 feet high, Doubletop is the 9th highest peak in the Catskills and it’s a Catskills Camel, a double-humped peak and those humps are capped with dense thickets of fragrant evergreens. Once again, there’s a magical, mossy wonderland at the summit, and some ice and snow, but it’s doubly hard work getting up there.
According to the bylaws of the Catskill 3500 Club “there must be at least a 250 drop between the peak and any other peak on the list, or the peak must be at least half a mile from any other peak on the list”. So Doubletop’s two peaks are therefore combined.
It’s also a bushwhack with no trail, but it’s accessible from a number of directions. Experienced hikers approach Doubletop from nearby Graham Mountain, the Hardenburgh trail, Big Indian or Fir. The hike is mostly on private land, so you must obtain permission to hike this peak and you can find the details for that at the Catskills 3500 Club here.
There’s not much in the way of online information about the hike to Doubletop, so one must rely on a map and compass, or a guide. In a mostly southerly direction from the Seager Trail, it is straight up literally being almost horizontal in the beginning. Leaving the Seager Trail is always a miserable affair because it has everything you want in a trail: waterfalls, flat areas for picnics and a refreshing swimming hole. Leaving it to hike south towards Doubletop is even more painful because of its immediate upward trajectory: a thigh-buster from the beginning and troublesome because of its lack of trail.
Daily Catskills: 04/17/16
© J.N. Urbanski 4.30pm
The Seager Trail, Arkville
© J.N. Urbanski
The Seager trail starts at the parking area at the end of Dry Brook Road, just past the covered bridge, in Arkville and it’s two miles of probably the most picturesque valley that I’ve ever hiked in the Catskills. New to both hiking and the countryside in general, I was introduced to the Seager Trail back in 2007. It was my maiden hike, if you like, and one of the most beautiful introductions I’ve ever experienced.
It’s an easy hike alongside a very wide brook with large stones of various shades of grey, with the faintest hints of pink and purple. A short distance from the parking area, the trail opens up into a wide open expanse that is a carpet of smooth rocks at a confluence of two waterways. Yesterday it was covered in a multitude of yellow coltsfoot and a magical sight to behold when emerging from the dark trail into the sunlight. A large downed tree has completely changed this part of the trail, having created a reasonably sized swimming hole that’s very attractive to furry, black Labradors. Further along, there’s a waterfall that fills a deep watering hole that’s about five to six feet deep, and bone-numbingly cold even in the summer, into which you can flop after a hot day’s worth of hiking.
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 4/17/15
© J.N. Urbanski 4/17/15 Noon
Catskills Conversations: Brian Tolle
© J.N. Urbanski
What brought you to the Catskills?
We (Brian and his partner, Brian Clyne) had an apartment in the city and I had the studio for 20-odd years in Williamsburg in Brooklyn. We both grew up on Long Island, so we grew up close to the water but for whatever reason, we both had an affinity for the mountains. One summer – I think it was about the year 2000 – we had enough friends up here that we could spend two or three weeks up here as vagabonds, throughout the Catskills. We went to different regions, but this region in Delaware County was very appealing to us. There was something about the topography, the landscape and the history of all this that suited us very well.
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 04/09/16
© J.N. Urbanski 4/9/16 1.30pm
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 04/13/15
Sculpture at the Maurice D. Hinchey Interpretive Center.
© J.N. Urbanski 4/13/15 10.30am
Daily Catskills Lightbox: Country Dog
© J.N. Urbanski
Alfie, the black lab/shepherd mix, was found in the Kingston ASPCA and is not only gorgeous, but the most charismatic, noble, extraverted, well-mannered and strong dog I have ever known. He was picked up as a stray puppy in Louisiana and I can imagine him now, having decided to break for freedom as early as possible, quickly making his escape and never looking back. He was driven north with a car full of other dogs to the Catskills by animal rescuers. He’s the best model a photographer ever had and is extraordinarily protective, but is slightly bossy and master of a very effective side-eye. When we left him in the shelter to wait for our references to be checked, I could hear him barking at us from the front door. Showing hardly any signs of shelter anxiety common in other rescued dogs, he bounced back like the trouper he is and has doubled in size in the two years we have had him. We rescued a 38lb puppy and now we have a 80lb bruiser. He’s now a card-carrying country dog.
Chasing Honey Farms: Spring Update
© J.N. Urbanski
The three pesticide-free beehives that were installed last May on Chasing Honey Farms natural apiary in Fleischmanns have survived the winter. Moreover, the bees have been collecting pollen for the last two weeks. When it was 80F in the middle of March, all three hives were active.
Proprietor Chase Kruppo had to start his beehives from scratch again a year ago because the bees he had installed the previous year had died over the winter. Once the new bees were installed in their hives on May 2nd last year, they were left to their own devices with wax foundations in the hives.
Chase is opposed to doing any artificial feeding of established colonies, but to start them last year, he said they definitely need a little boost. They arrived before the blossom, so they got one serving of sugar water for a week or two, in a one gallon bucket via the drip method. Chase noticed that the bees had stopped using the sugar water a week or two after going in the hive so he removed it. The carniolan bees had already surprised him with their industriousness, because they had formed a patty of wax comb inside the box in which they were transported.
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 05/28/15
A gorgeous glimpse of weather to come… fingers crossed.
© J.N. Urbanski 5/28/15 7.30am
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 05/25/15
Hand picking worms off the organic apple trees in a young orchard. Last year was a banner year for apples in the Catskills.
© J.N. Urbanski 5/25/15 1.30pm
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 04/09/15
This year’s April is a mixture of rain and snow, much like last year’s, which included an ice storm on the evening of 4/8/15 that coated trees, walls and cars in a layer of ice. Over that morning it began to melt and, as the ice was shaken through the trees in the breeze, it issued a loud tinkling sound like nature’s freezing wind chime.
© J.N. Urbanski 4/9/15 8.48am
© J.N. Urbanski 4/9/15 8.30am
Catskills Sandwich: Roast Beef
© J.N. Urbanski 3/10/16
The Phoenicia Diner revamped its roast beef sandwich this year. They toasted the bread, added melted brie to the juicy grass-fed beef making this classic sandwich much more delicious. Moreover, it’s a reasonable size for a sandwich, not a gigantic doorstop that’s a whole day’s worth of calories and enough meat to clog your colon for weeks.
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 04/06/15
On this day last year…
© J.N. Urbanski 4/6/15 8am
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 4/04/15 & 04/05/15
A year ago on the farm. We’re surprised to see snow this time of year, but last week’s warmer weather, which saw laundry drying quickly in the sun, was more unusual than yesterday’s snowstorm.
© J.N. Urbanski 4/4/15
© J.N. Urbanski 4/5/15
Catskills Sandwich: Avocado & Arugula
© J.N. Urbanski
Bread Alone’s cucumber, apple, celeraic, sprouts, arugula pesto comes on organic ciabatta bread, but is much better on wheat. Crunchy, chewy and refreshing all at the same time, if that’s possible: a delicious Catskills sandwich.
Daily Catskills: 04/03/16
27F at noon with 6 inches of overnight snow and high winds causing snowdrifts. More afternoon snow.
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
© J.N. Urbanski 1.10pm
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 04/02/15
© J.N. Urbanski 4/2/15
Today Catskills Lightbox features an unpublished photograph taken a year ago when there was still snow on the ground.
Catskills Cocktails: Local Blueberry Infused Vodka
© J.N. Urbanski
We’ve taken one of the last batches of our 2015 organic blueberry and golden raspberry crops out of the freezer, have thawed them out, and now soaking them in Union Grove Distillery’s local Vly Creek Vodka to make a fruity, alcoholic mixer. See you in six weeks.
Daily Catskills’ Lightbox: 04/01/15
© J.N. Urbanski 4/1/15
Daily Catskills is taking a break for a month while we edit and print for the exhibition. It’s been a long, arduous project but it’s time to go back and review literally thousands and thousands of pictures taken over 18 months. We’ve slid down icy mountain passes and crashed into trees; wandered into a sudden low lightning storms; suffered hail, fog, snow and sub-zero temperatures atop mountain peaks. We’ve also got enigmatic pictures of writing desks and afternoon tea to balance it out and many, many pictures of the absolute best Catskills sandwiches. On many days, I personally took over a hundred pictures, but the editing process has been richly rewarding. Today’s lightbox pictures were taken in the Catskills on April 1st, the first day of fly fishing season.
Daily Catskills will start up again on May 1st. We still have eleven bushwhacks to go to complete our Catskills 35, which I started last August, so the photographs from the trail will still keeping coming. The Catskills 3500 Club membership requires that members have hiked all the Catskills’ 35 peaks over 3500ft. We have three regular peaks (with trails) and eleven bushwhacks to complete on our list. Plus, we will resume Catskills Conversations next week with a local artist.
Thanks for reading!
J.N. Urbanski
© J.N. Urbanski 4/1/15
Daily Catskills Goes to Print
© J.N. Urbanski
Upstate Dispatch’s Daily Catskills Project goes to print next week and an edited selection of photographic works by J.N. Urbanski will be shown in a spring exhibition at a location to be determined in the next few weeks. Watch this space for details.
At least 50 images picked from Urbanski’s contributions to Daily Catskills will be available for sale, framed and unframed.
It’s been a long, demanding project. With the help of contributing photographers Chase Kruppo, Erik Johanson, Fernando Delgado, Melissa Zeligman, Margaret Helthaler, Lydia Brunt, Gavin DuBois, Lori Robin, Jeff Vincent, Niva Dorell-Smith and Mountain Girl Photography & Design, Upstate Dispatch posted an image a day, shot on the day it was published, every day for 18 months. Special thanks go to Margaret Helthaler for her help over the past year.
After a short break in April, the project will resume online again. In April, we’ll begin Daily Catskills Lightbox, a selection of photographic work that did not make the cut on the day.
Stay tuned!
Catskill Weekend: Maple on Main Art Exhibition
The Roxbury Arts Group is partnering with Fleischmanns First on this year’s Fleischmanns First Maple Festival 2016. They have curated an exhibit, Maple on Main, which will be located at 1053 Main Street in Fleischmanns. The Opening Reception for this exhibit is this Saturday, April 2nd from 4-6pm. The exhibit will be open throughout this two-day festival, April 2nd and 3rd.
This multi-media exhibit, celebrating everything Maple, includes work by Sharon Suess, Alix Travis, Jenny Neal, Dan Williams, Nancy McShane, Emilie Rigby, Solveig Comer, Laura Sue King, Miguel Martinez-Riddle, John Virga, Michelle Sidrane, Joseph Muehl, Dora Chambers, Robin White, and Andes Central School students Emily Andersen, Katie Edelson, Rylee Burton, Hunter Collins, Destiny Weaver, Stephanie Gaydos, Christian Bauer, Rachel Masterson, and Lila Green.
The exhibition will be a short stroll from The Painters Gallery on Main Street, featuring Project Topoi, “an experiment in using images rather than words to discuss ideas” that includes a 26 minute video from contributors. The Gallery will be open from 12pm to 4pm.
© J.N. Urbanski
Daily Catskills: 03/31/16
52F by 8.30am with a veil of hazy cloud. 63F and humid by noon.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.30am
The Catskill 35: Fir Mountain
© J.N. Urbanski
There are a handful of naturally made trails on and near the summit of Fir Mountain, which oddly make you feel like you’re back in civilization once you’ve reached the summit, a feeling that’s short-lived. Fir was our first bushwhack and it’s less of a bushwhack than a sapling-whack and they’re not being whacked, you are. At this time of the year, the saplings are bare but you have to push on through them and continually get whipped in the face. Catskills bushwhacks are climbs to the summit that have no trail at all and no signage. The saplings are a reminder of how much work goes into trail maintenance of all the marked trails by volunteers from wonderful organizations like the New York New Jersey Trail Conference.
Daily Catskills: 03/30/16
41F at 8.30am with clear skies and warm in the sun. Update: 55F by 1pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.30pm
Kelsey Grammar Plans to Open Farm Brewery in Catskills, Reports Say
© J.N. Urbanski
Published on New York Upstate out of Syracuse today was the news that Kelsey Grammar is to open a farm brewery in Margaretville, a town here in the Central Catskills. After a long discussion on our Facebook page, however, local sources say it’s actually New Kingston, which is one town over. The brewery is allegedly only in the planning stages, but the news has caused quite a bit of excitement.
The New York State brewery revival started a few years ago with the advent of the new Farm Brewery Law as reported in the Watershed Post by your humble correspondent. Since then breweries have been springing up like wild-fire. Local historians have said that New York State was the largest hop growing state in the country one hundred years ago. Here’s to retrieving that status from the annals of history. Like the hops plant itself, pictured above, the Catskills craft beer industry is reaching for the sky with some of the tastiest beer in the country.
Cheers!
Daily Catskills: 03/29/16
30F at 8.30am with a chilly wind and an overnight layer of crunchy snow. 40F by 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.40pm
© J.N. Urbanski 2.40pm
Daily Catskills: 03/28/16
45F at 11am, overcast and raining. 46F and cloudy by 1pm with intermittent rain and cloud for the rest of the afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 5.30pm
Daily Catskills: 03/27/16
36F at 8.30am, with hazy skies and mist evaporating off the mountains. 57F by 3pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.30am
The Catskill 35: Peekamoose/Table
© J.N. Urbanski
Peekamoose is a strenuous, uphill struggle, a relentlessly steep trail with two or three large boulder formations to climb over. One formation has a precipitously positioned boulder that would tumble down the mountain should the tree on which its leaning collapse. After hiking over half the Catskills 35, I’ve never witnessed a tumbling boulder. Another notable distinction of this trail is the appearance of large boulders dashed with multicolored pebbles, making the rocks look spongy. There’s also a streak of pinkish, light purple rock and dirt about halfway up the trail.
More delightful are the manmade accents: doorways and steps carved in enormous, downed trees.
Daily Catskills: 03/26/16
43F by 11am with clear skies and a hazy horizon, rising to 48F by 1pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
Daily Catskills: 03/22/16
28F at 8.30am with crunchy layer of overnight snow and a mixture of enigmatic clouds. 43F by 1pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am