Lake George

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. - Some are nothing but a single tree, jutting skyward from a patch of rocky land smaller than a boat. About 50 don't even have names. But for hundreds of years, the islands of Lake George have served as navigational markers, camping grounds and settings for local history and folklore. It is the largest lake in New York's vast Adirondack Park. During the past 75 years, they have been slowly disappearing - eaten away by the waves generated from hundreds of powerboats and personal watercraft, not to mention the ice that chips away at the islands every winter.

100 Years Ago An article in the Aug. 5, 1911, edition of The Argus reported on some hardy residents' ambitious plans for a summer vacation adventure in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York . Messrs . Benjamin Whitely and Harold Phillips of Catonsville, and Mr. Frederick R. Huber , of Baltimore, left last Friday for a month's canoeing in the lakes of Northern New York, and from accounts of their previous experiences...

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. - A New York state environmental agency charged with protecting Lake George is proposing the first use of a herbicide in an Adirondack lake, to fend off an insidious weed that has choked native plants and mired swimmers and boats. Under a proposal by the Lake George Park Commission, about 175 pounds of the herbicide, Sonar, would be applied to 36 of the 28,000 acres of Lake George as early as June. Sonar, which contains the active ingredient fluridone, has been used to kill the weed, Eurasian water milfoil, in New York since 1995, but never in the state-protected Adirondack Park.

As the lyrics say: "It's fun to stay at the YMCA." No, really. Far from the urban recreation centers or all-male dormitories that many Americans think of, a handful of year-round historic YMCA resorts that once catered to summering families and religious retreats have become today's little-known outdoor gems. Though most of the 2,663 U.S. branches of the YMCA, or Young Men's Christian Association, are local community centers that focus on providing after-school activities and fitness facilities for members, several Y's are lodge-based camps in coveted vacation spots such as the Colorado Rockies and Keanae, along the winding coast road to Hana on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. -- A year and a half ago, it looked as if Lake George, a blue jewel in the green Adirondacks, had dodged a biological bullet -- the zebra mussel, an invasive European mollusk that is clogging pipes, crowding local aquatic life and turning beaches into toe-slicing shell heaps from Michigan to the Hudson River. Scientists had found microscopic mussel larvae in the water, probably imported in the bilges of boats. But lab tests showed that some quirk of Lake George chemistry -- probably a lack of calcium -- seemed to keep them from maturing and reproducing.

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. -- The 350-room Sagamore Resort completed a $250,000 renovation two years ago that turned the 110-year-old Victorian landmark into an Adirondack mecca for health and fitness buffs.What used to be the downstairs disco is a gleaming, glassed-in fitness center overlooking Lake George, boasting a 10-stop Keiser weight-training circuit, three Stairmasters, treadmills and a wooden dance floor where 40 exercise classes a week take place. Should the waters of Lake George prove too chilly, it's unlikely you'll get the shivers waiting for a swim in the beautiful indoor pool.

There are obvious differences between the tour boat that accidentally capsized on Lake George this month and the Baltimore Inner Harbor water taxi that overturned in March of last year. The two boats are physically quite different and the circumstances (a calm day in New York; a gusty afternoon in Baltimore) varied, too. But there's at least one common element that may have contributed greatly to the cause of both of these tragedies: Each vessel carried more passengers than it should have been allowed to handle.

After reeling off five straight wins in Maryland and Delaware, Intrigued met some of the top 3-year-old turf fillies yesterday at Saratoga and finished third in the Grade III $112,800 Lake George Handicap.Intrigued charged from sixth in the eight-horse field but fell 1 1/4 lengths short of winner Nani Rose, ridden by Shane Sellers and trained by Patrick Byrne. Nani Rose led most of the 1 1/16-mile race. Perfect Sting finished second. She was ridden by Pat Day and trained by Joe Orseno.Edgar Prado piloted Intrigued for Laurel Park-based trainer Jimmy Murphy.

William E. Doetzer, 58, dentist, Towson native Dr. William E. Doetzer, a dentist and former Towson resident, died Tuesday of cancer at Glens Falls (N.Y.) Hospital. He was 58 and lived in Lake George, N.Y. Dr. Doetzer had been practicing dentistry in Lake George since 1976. Born and raised in Towson, Dr. Doetzer was a 1961 graduate of Loyola Blakefield and earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Marquette University in 1965. He earned his dentistry degree in 1971 from the University of Maryland Dental School.

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. -- Just days before a tour boat capsized in the Adirondack Mountains, killing 20 elderly people, the Coast Guard began rethinking its passenger-weight calculations to take into account Americans' expanding waistlines. At the time it flipped over, the 38-foot Ethan Allen was just under its capacity of 48 passengers - a figure that was arrived at by using a New York standard that assumes a 150-pound average for each man, woman and child, authorities said. The U.S. Coast Guard standard assumes a 140-pound average for each person.

There are obvious differences between the tour boat that accidentally capsized on Lake George this month and the Baltimore Inner Harbor water taxi that overturned in March of last year. The two boats are physically quite different and the circumstances (a calm day in New York; a gusty afternoon in Baltimore) varied, too. But there's at least one common element that may have contributed greatly to the cause of both of these tragedies: Each vessel carried more passengers than it should have been allowed to handle.

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. -- Just days before a tour boat capsized in the Adirondack Mountains, killing 20 elderly people, the Coast Guard began rethinking its passenger-weight calculations to take into account Americans' expanding waistlines. At the time it flipped over, the 38-foot Ethan Allen was just under its capacity of 48 passengers - a figure that was arrived at by using a New York standard that assumes a 150-pound average for each man, woman and child, authorities said. The U.S. Coast Guard standard assumes a 140-pound average for each person.

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. -- When the tour boat tipped over and flung Jean Siler into the lake, she swam to the surface, breathed, and watched a bitter scene as friends fumbled about, screamed and clung to the sinking craft. Somehow, after a wake upended the 40-foot Ethan Allen, Siler, 76, drew enough strength to tread for what seemed like 15 minutes, and even hold onto her purse, until a boater roped her and five others to safety. Shocked, she went numb. "I couldn't stop trembling," Siler, of Trenton, Mich.

William E. Doetzer, 58, dentist, Towson native Dr. William E. Doetzer, a dentist and former Towson resident, died Tuesday of cancer at Glens Falls (N.Y.) Hospital. He was 58 and lived in Lake George, N.Y. Dr. Doetzer had been practicing dentistry in Lake George since 1976. Born and raised in Towson, Dr. Doetzer was a 1961 graduate of Loyola Blakefield and earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Marquette University in 1965. He earned his dentistry degree in 1971 from the University of Maryland Dental School.

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. - Some are nothing but a single tree, jutting skyward from a patch of rocky land smaller than a boat. About 50 don't even have names. But for hundreds of years, the islands of Lake George have served as navigational markers, camping grounds and settings for local history and folklore. It is the largest lake in New York's vast Adirondack Park. During the past 75 years, they have been slowly disappearing - eaten away by the waves generated from hundreds of powerboats and personal watercraft, not to mention the ice that chips away at the islands every winter.

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. - A New York state environmental agency charged with protecting Lake George is proposing the first use of a herbicide in an Adirondack lake, to fend off an insidious weed that has choked native plants and mired swimmers and boats. Under a proposal by the Lake George Park Commission, about 175 pounds of the herbicide, Sonar, would be applied to 36 of the 28,000 acres of Lake George as early as June. Sonar, which contains the active ingredient fluridone, has been used to kill the weed, Eurasian water milfoil, in New York since 1995, but never in the state-protected Adirondack Park.

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. -- When the tour boat tipped over and flung Jean Siler into the lake, she swam to the surface, breathed, and watched a bitter scene as friends fumbled about, screamed and clung to the sinking craft. Somehow, after a wake upended the 40-foot Ethan Allen, Siler, 76, drew enough strength to tread for what seemed like 15 minutes, and even hold onto her purse, until a boater roped her and five others to safety. Shocked, she went numb. "I couldn't stop trembling," Siler, of Trenton, Mich.

Adirondack State Park is 6 million acres big. About the size of Connecticut. Which means nobody can see it all in a weekend, even a long weekend.So when the Adirondacks come to mind for a visit, think specific. There are more than three dozen mountains to climb -- some of the highest east of the Mississippi -- hundreds of trails to hike and about 1,400 lakes within the park boundary, and you can't swim in all of them.Veteran travelers who head this far north in New York plan their destinations and vacations ahead of time.

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. -- A year and a half ago, it looked as if Lake George, a blue jewel in the green Adirondacks, had dodged a biological bullet -- the zebra mussel, an invasive European mollusk that is clogging pipes, crowding local aquatic life and turning beaches into toe-slicing shell heaps from Michigan to the Hudson River. Scientists had found microscopic mussel larvae in the water, probably imported in the bilges of boats. But lab tests showed that some quirk of Lake George chemistry -- probably a lack of calcium -- seemed to keep them from maturing and reproducing.

After reeling off five straight wins in Maryland and Delaware, Intrigued met some of the top 3-year-old turf fillies yesterday at Saratoga and finished third in the Grade III $112,800 Lake George Handicap.Intrigued charged from sixth in the eight-horse field but fell 1 1/4 lengths short of winner Nani Rose, ridden by Shane Sellers and trained by Patrick Byrne. Nani Rose led most of the 1 1/16-mile race. Perfect Sting finished second. She was ridden by Pat Day and trained by Joe Orseno.Edgar Prado piloted Intrigued for Laurel Park-based trainer Jimmy Murphy.