TopoZone seems to have the border misplaced!... Ft Montgomery isn't
even there! Weird. Maptech's server must be down, I keep getting
404's... I'll use TerraServer for today.
One of the television directors here is a lifelong resident of NY's
North Country - he tells me that Ft. Montgomery was bought by the
president of a nearby pharmaceutical plant to turn into his personal
Xanadu. The access road to the Fort, he tells me, is barred and
posted. Nevertheless.
And to correct myself -- of course, Ft Montgomery IS on land
(...duh), it just happens to be separated by a moat - which, I'm
told, has progressively filled back up to the point that the Fort is
only an "island" at high tide. But the Fort may not be the best
vantage point anyway, as you pointed out.
Alburg's "Line Road" - which straddles the border for several miles -
makes it all the way to marker 644, thus might be the best way to
approach this, since the only dry option in NY would be to sneak into
the Fort. Betcha anything I'll earn another run-in with the border
patrol, though.
While I'm there, I'll make a side trip to another interesting border-
area military ruin... the abandoned nuclear Atlas missile site
located 600 meters from the border in Champlain. Went there a while
ago, but sans camera. It obviously hasn't been touched since the mid-
60's. (This area is even richer than I thought with border-
straddling roads, abandoned & unguarded border crossings, etc!)
As far as the frozen option -- you'll notice on the tripoint map that
most of the link across the river is a sandbar, not a bridge, and the
sandbar is usually reliable in freezing a good chunk strong enough
for pick-up trucks. The boat drop on the sandbar is used by US
border enforcement agencies but is open for anyone to use - I should
at least get closer. We'll see in February.
TerraServer Topo/Sat. images of tripoint area:
http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/image.aspx?
t=2&s=12&x=788&y=6230&z=18&w=2
TerraServer Topo/Sat. images of Atlas missile "auxiliary" site
http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/image.aspx?
t=1&s=12&x=775&y=6230&z=18&w=2
--Jay Di Battista
Plattsburgh, NY
WPTZ-TV
--- In BoundaryPoint@y..., "acroorca2002" <orc@o...> wrote:
> oops
> i just found maptech gives a much better map than topozone
> & it does show a road crossing the moat to montgomery island
> so some remnant of that connection may still be there for you
>
> however this map also shows that there is a closer approach to
> the tripoint position on firmer ground from the vermont side
> & that there are monuments just above both banks
> numbered 644 & 645a in vt & ny respectively
>
> these monuments are likely to be intervisible on a clear day
> so they may be a help in getting a fix on the tripoint position
> by just eyeballing along the caus line from either shore
>
> but the map also indicates that the tripoint is slightly closer to
the
> right bank than the left
> & actually very near midstream
> so my earlier belief that it favors the left bank is mistaken
>
> the map also shows a wetmark or buoy within the richelieu river
> numbered 645
> tho the ibc specifies this position as a site rather than a marker
> hence probably just a ghost & no longer an extant monument
> but it would be interesting to know if anything is still out there
>
> also i really like your ice walking plan
> especially as it would be a bp first
> but since a mild el nino winter is being predicted
> the ice isnt likely to get very hard this year
>
> --- In BoundaryPoint@y..., "Meridien24" <meridien24@y...> wrote:
> > Ol' Ft. Blunder happens to be my desktop picture! -- check out
> the
> > link below. It's only about 100 yards from the tripoint.
> >
> > Driving to Ft Montgomery is, well, impossible - as you can see
> on the
> > small map, it's not on land! I'm not sure the link it had to
land
> is
> > still there..
> >
> > however, here's a thought: in a couple of months, the lake'll be
> > frozen. Maybe then I can walk to the tri-point... hmm. We'll
see
> > how cold it gets.
> >
> > http://www.historiclakes.org/explore/Montgomery.html
> >
> > --J
> >
> > --- In BoundaryPoint@y..., "bjbutlerus" <bjbutler@b...> wrote:
> > > Your best bet would be to drive out to the fortification shown
> in
> > > Mike's photo and canoe out from there. The fort is Fort
> Montgomery,
> > > built but never used.
> > >
> > > BJB
> > >
> > > --- In BoundaryPoint@y..., "m donner" <maxivan82@h...>
> wrote:
> > > > hi jay
> > > >
> > > > both your posts were well enjoyed
> > > >
> > > > the attached pic was taken from the bridge on a dark day
> > > > ny at left
> > > > vt at right
> > > > qc on the horizon
> > > >
> > > > i believe the tripoint is situated roughly athwart the large
> > > fortification
> > > > barely visible at left
> > > > & of course you can confirm or improve upon this guess if
> you can
> > > find the
> > > > nyqc terminal monument
> > > >
> > > > as you probably also know from topozone
> > > > the usgs indicates the tripoint lies only about a quarter or
a
> > third
> > > of the
> > > > way from the left to the right shore
> > > >
> > > > so heres wishing you a much brighter as well as a much
> dryer day
> > so
> > > you can
> > > > develop this further
> > > > m