Here we are – in the Finger Lakes! Eleven lakes, in glacially-formed clefts, running south to north toward Lake Ontario and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
We know about those lakes. But what about our OTHER lakes (and ponds)? For the 14-county region is full of them.
The “Little Lakes” of Lamoka and Waneta lie, often overlooked, in the trough between Keuka and Seneca Lakes. The Baptist Camp Lamoka is on the eastern shore of the southern lake, while Boy Scout Camp Gorton is on the eastern shore of the northern lake. So a lot of local folks enjoyed these lakes as children.
Archeological digs nearby discovered what’s now named the Lamoka Culture, people who hunted and gathered 3,500 years ago.
A turn-of-the-century steam launch once operated on Waneta, and water was pumped through a penstock to Keuka Lake, where it generated electricity. I’ve seen people driving and racing their cars on the frozen surface, though I don’t recommend it.
Lamoka used to be called “Mud Lake,” and it drains through Mud Creek. An impoundment going back to the 1790s creates Mill Pond at the outlet in Bradford. Every spring residents would release the pent-up waters, and hundred-foot “arks” would ride southward down Mud Creek, reaching the Conhocton laden with a year’s produce on their “returnless journey” to Chesapeake Bay.
Mendon Ponds Park, south of Rochester, has Deep Pond, Long Pond, Lost Pond, Quaker Pond, Hundred Acre Pond, and the Devil’s Bathtub… this last one being a glacially formed kettle. Non-motorized fishing is allowed, and there are 30 miles of trail where you bump pleasantly up and down, sometimes past rows of ancient maples. There are boardwalks through wetlands, and it used to be (I don’t know if this is still true) that the songbirds would literally eat from your hands.
In the late 1930s, Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge began reversing a century old-practice – workers FLOODED the marsh, rather than DRAINING it.
Our forebears lived on the edge of starvation, so always lusted for more pasture and farmland. Restoring the marsh was a godsend for birds along the Atlantic Flyway, winging their way north and south every year, desperate for safe resting spots. They’ve got it now, and even eagles nest here. You can drive around the Main Pool, and visit the Tschache Pool, both shallow ponds that shelter waterfowl in millions.
And while we’ve got birds on the brain, let’s make sure we remember Sapsucker Pond, the central feature of Sapsucker Woods, home to Cornell Lab of Ornithology. A forest trail winds all around it, with several spots where you can step right to the shore, or even out on a platform; the Visitor Center also overlooks the pond. There’s a little island, and some very nice snags. I’ve met orioles, red-wings, wood ducks, mallards, coots, great blue herons, kingfishers, woodpeckers, and (in sunny weather) dozens of turtles at once.
Sanford Lake, near Savona, long ago hosted a small amusement park, of which nothing much is known besides the fact of its existence. It became a popular swimming area, with a raft and diving board, but has now become the haunt of coot and hern. When I first started visiting, beavers were active on the short outlet, which runs into Mud Creek, but they may have moved on now (which is their standard practice).
Besides the beaver, the shoreline of the 30-acre lake is also home to fox and deer, squirrels and chipmunks, while migrating waterfowl find it a sanctuary for the night. I know where the oriole nests, and I love to see the water lily. Small pond, surrounding forest, dirt road, easy trail – I love this place!