Introducing Long Path North
The Ancient Corner Tree is 49th on the list of Long Path Landmarks Vincent Schaefer identified between the George Washington Bridge and the summit of Whiteface Mountain. Vincent Schaefer describes his search for it below.
There are 84 Landmarks on the Long Path of New York between Gilboa and Whiteface Mountain. These are major features to be found along the Path and all are worthy of attention. A few of them are small villages where the traveler can stock up on food and other essentials but most of the others are unusual and of geologic uniqueness.
They may be visited in sequence or separately. Most are about three miles apart. A few are within a mile of each other. The greatest intervening distance is less than seven miles.
Since these Landmarks are the only markers identifying the northern section of the Long Path of New York, it is planned eventually that a distinctive marker will be placed at each of these 84 locations.
The absence of a marked or blazed trail to follow adds to the challenge and a sense of adventure which is the inherent feature of the Long Path as Vincent and Paul Schaefer originally envisaged. If you're observant, you'll find plenty of things that will surprise you along the route.
The Ancient Corner Tree
By Vincent J. Schaefer
Many years ago, I discovered the Annual Reports of the New York Adirondack Survey written by Verplanck Colvin, the Land Survey Superintendent. They are fascinating accounts of the day-by-day activities of the survey crew which Colvin led throughout the Adirondacks. An important feature of those activities was the reestablishment of the location of the survey lines established in the 1700s by the Colonial land surveyors. Colvin's books are illustrated with excellent photographs, maps and sketches prepared by him, which constitute a fascinating record of the condition of the mountains more than a century ago.
One of his most intriguing accounts tells the findings of the ancient "corner," which marks the junction of Albany, Tryon and Charlotte Counties. These were subsequently divided into a number of smaller units. Albany County, for example, was partitioned to include Saratoga, Schenectady, Rensselaer and Albany.
Colvin tells about directing his chief surveyor, Francisco, to follow Stoney Creek, north of Hope Falls, to a sharp bend in the stream, and from there head southward, casting about for evidence of an ancient blazed line. He tells how Francisco found what appeared to be an ancient blaze, whereupon he "based" the tree. That is, he cut a 90- degree block out of the tree at the blaze location. The tree had been blazed a hundred years or so earlier. The scar produced by the blaze would show up in the growth pattern. Counting the annual rings from the present to the scar would then tell the year when the line was first surveyed. When Francisco did this, he discovered that it matched the field notes of the Colonial surveyor and thus established the reality of the blazed line.
A group of my friends from the Hiking Club joined me and we followed Verplanck’s description in detail. We headed up the mountain and actually found several of the boxed trees. Taking a compass bearing along this line, we encountered a flat, swampy area, such as he described. It was not a deep swamp, but one that fit the description. I then headed east and cast about until I found evidence of the east-west line that joined the north-south one. Shouting occasionally, we then converged and encountered a huge hemlock tree bearing unmistakable large blazes. Surrounding this ancient tree were "witness" trees, which were marked to further mark the corner tree.
I then photographed the tree and later had its picture published by the Schenectady Gazette with a descriptive article in my brother Paul's "Woods and Waters" column. Since this ancient corner tree is in a swampy area, it is likely that it still remains there and will exist another century or more.
This is only one of a number of items published by Superintendent Colvin that I checked out and found to be exactly as he said it was. This preciseness and sensitivity to natural and cultural values is one of the reasons why Colvin was a key individual to the successful establishment of the New York State Forest Preserve and its constitutional protection.
