Pages 260-261

Late in the '20s, Arthur C. Parker of Rochester, his wife Anna, and I began talking about forming groups of hikers into clubs which would promote friendship, outdoor education, land stewardship, and good fellowship in the different river valleys of New York State.

While Dr. Parker, who was Archeologist at the New York State Museum in Albany, lived in Albany, I joined him and his wife on hikes with the recently formed Albany Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club. When the Parkers moved to Rochester, where he was appointed Director of the Rochester Museum, our plans to form valley hiking clubs matured. He and Nan formed the Genesee Valley Hiking Club, and shortly after I formed the Mohawk Valley Hiking Club.

Within a couple of years we planned joint overnight camping trips. The first of these trips was Chittenango Falls, near Cazenovia. It was so successful and enjoyable that we began to plan a second similar venture, this time to the Adirondacks.

We assembled at our Camp Cragorehol and, after everyone had arrived, shouldered our packs and headed into the woods. We planned to set up our camp near the headwaters of Diamond Brook. 

Reaching a suitable campsite near the base of Eleventh Mountain, we built a large fire, gathered an adequate supply of firewood, and then scattered through the woods seeking sites for our individual sleeping bags. Although the sky was filled with stars, most of us erected tents or tarps just "in case."

One of the last of the group to return to the campfire was my brother Paul and his friend, Al Getz. They had found nice level spots in a dip south of the fire, and were boasting about the superiority of their location.

We enjoyed the campfire and small talk until nearly midnight, after which we each would make our way to our sleeping bags. However, when Paul and Al went to turn in, they couldn't find their tent site! They had to search ten minutes or more before they finally found it!

Several hours later, we began to hear distant rumbles and flashes of light warning of a distant storm. In a fairly short time we could anticipate that we were likely to get wet. As the rain began most of us checked our tents and tarps and made sure that we had drainage ditches ready to cope with the expected precipitation.

The storm arrived, accompanied with a gusty wind, so that whether our ditches were adequate or not, all of us began to get wet from the wind driven precipitation. The rain became torrential and continued for quite a time.

Fortunately, our fire was large enough and we had enough dead wood so that we con-mnued to have a big hot fire, despite the rain. In a short time everyone but Paul and Al had rrived before the fire. At that point, we began to wonder whether in fact they had found a superior location. As we were about to conclude that this was the case, they suddenly ap-peared- not only wetter than we were, but with the news that their camp site was about to be washed away! It then turned out that they had inadvertently located their tents in the bed of an occasional stream! Thus, I had an early introduction to the truism enunciated by my later friend, Walter Garstka, who said that "the channel belongs to the river." Anyone who ignores this hydrological fact does so at his peril!

Now that we were all accounted for, we found that in a short time we were dried out, the thunderstorms passed and we all dozed before the fire. As the sky began to brighten, we took some coals from the big fire and in a short while the aroma of coffee, bacon, eggs, and other breakfast fare began to permeate the woods as we ate and planned our climbing expeditions for the day.

Despite the rain shower, our joint trip continued without further untoward incidence and thus our second joint venture proved to be a most enjoyable experience. The deepening Great Depression greatly limited our mobility and objectives, while other interests and opportunities took precedence over our club schedules and activities, as our conservation activities and adult education programs involved our time and energy.

After the lapse of more than fifty years, both of our clubs are still active, prospering, and having good times.