1974_Trident
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No, this is not a thread about Tiger and Elin.
My seven year old son recently learned about the Appalachian Trail in school. For those of you who don't know, The Appalachian Trail is a trail blazed through the woods which runs from Maine to Georgia and is managed by the National Park Service. My son wanted to go hiking on this trail which a portion of runs just fifteen miles from hour house. How could I say no? Part of my pre-hike planning meant finding topo maps which I could print and bring along. I found topo maps covering the entire route of the trail with the trail marked in red. While I searched the section we planned on hiking this past weekend A particular feature caught my attention. A lake in the middle of the woods called Nuclear Lake.
I remember hearing bits and pieces of tales about Nuclear Lake when I was a paramedic working in the Pawling/Beekman, NY area 8-10 years ago. Most of the stories were far fetched tales about a clandestine plutonium enrichment facility or a lost atomic bomb ala Tybee Island. Considering the sources I believed none of what I heard. When I was looking at a prospective home to purchase in that area a year and a half ago I found Nuclear Lake on Google Earth and my curiosity was briefly piqued. I zoomed in but there seemed to be nothing interesting, just a lake in the middle of the woods. No buildings or areas blurred out as you would find at a nuclear power plant. I got back to the task at hand, scrutinizing the neighborhood surrounding the house my wife had fallen in love with earlier that week.
While we were hiking this past weekend, The trails were all marked by reference to Nuclear Lake. The whole time we were in the woods I couldn't get the thought out of my head, "Why would a lake in the middle of virgin woodland be called Nuclear Lake?" I took a look at the topo map and noticed that there are small buildings and an unpaved road shown near the lake. Maybe houses, maybe some sort of clandestine uranium enrichment facility. The former seemed unlikely owing to the land's ownership, The United States Department of The Interior which itself gives credence to the latter in a black helicopter/tinfoil hat sort of way. When we finally got to the lake The first thing I noticed was that the service road to the lake is brand new. while unpaved, the surface was smooth without ruts or any vegetation growing on it and the banks had that freshly graded look. The drain pipes carrying streams under the road are that modern black poly storm drain pipe. The dam at the south end of the lake was also very new looking which raised another question; Why would somebody build an artificial lake in the middle of the woods like this? Water supply is the obvious answer but this dam is no more than two or three years old which means it was rebuilt which means it has been there a very long time, much longer than the surrounding civilization has needed a surface water source. I would venture that the surrounding area is still sparsely populated enough to use wells. Was this a cooling lagoon for a nuclear facility? I looked around for any signs restricting access, none. I looked for the buildings, none. No DOD or radioactive signs anywhere. Just very freshly graded clear areas where the buildings are marked on the topo map. It was getting dark fast and the light snow was quickly turning to rain, it was time to head back to the car. The whole trip home I was really curious about the origins of the name of Nuclear Lake. All evidence suggested a former nuclear facility of some sorts. I was starting to worry myself with these conspiracy theory-ish ideas.
While I was waiting for the day's pictures to upload I Googled Nuclear Lake and found this site. This seemed to explain everything. Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. I also found out that the lake is in fact a reservoir for the local towns. I found a few references suggesting that the lake bottom was never adequately cleaned/inspected after the explosion in the early 1970s scattered plutonium dust in the area. This could certainly explain some of the people I met and treated in that area during the two years I worked there. Until now I though it was just a concentration of recessive genes.
Right to left below: Topo Map, My sons and I Walking from the dam to the island, My sons and I on the Island. At this point the rain was too hard to keep a digital camera out for pictures.
My seven year old son recently learned about the Appalachian Trail in school. For those of you who don't know, The Appalachian Trail is a trail blazed through the woods which runs from Maine to Georgia and is managed by the National Park Service. My son wanted to go hiking on this trail which a portion of runs just fifteen miles from hour house. How could I say no? Part of my pre-hike planning meant finding topo maps which I could print and bring along. I found topo maps covering the entire route of the trail with the trail marked in red. While I searched the section we planned on hiking this past weekend A particular feature caught my attention. A lake in the middle of the woods called Nuclear Lake.
I remember hearing bits and pieces of tales about Nuclear Lake when I was a paramedic working in the Pawling/Beekman, NY area 8-10 years ago. Most of the stories were far fetched tales about a clandestine plutonium enrichment facility or a lost atomic bomb ala Tybee Island. Considering the sources I believed none of what I heard. When I was looking at a prospective home to purchase in that area a year and a half ago I found Nuclear Lake on Google Earth and my curiosity was briefly piqued. I zoomed in but there seemed to be nothing interesting, just a lake in the middle of the woods. No buildings or areas blurred out as you would find at a nuclear power plant. I got back to the task at hand, scrutinizing the neighborhood surrounding the house my wife had fallen in love with earlier that week.
While we were hiking this past weekend, The trails were all marked by reference to Nuclear Lake. The whole time we were in the woods I couldn't get the thought out of my head, "Why would a lake in the middle of virgin woodland be called Nuclear Lake?" I took a look at the topo map and noticed that there are small buildings and an unpaved road shown near the lake. Maybe houses, maybe some sort of clandestine uranium enrichment facility. The former seemed unlikely owing to the land's ownership, The United States Department of The Interior which itself gives credence to the latter in a black helicopter/tinfoil hat sort of way. When we finally got to the lake The first thing I noticed was that the service road to the lake is brand new. while unpaved, the surface was smooth without ruts or any vegetation growing on it and the banks had that freshly graded look. The drain pipes carrying streams under the road are that modern black poly storm drain pipe. The dam at the south end of the lake was also very new looking which raised another question; Why would somebody build an artificial lake in the middle of the woods like this? Water supply is the obvious answer but this dam is no more than two or three years old which means it was rebuilt which means it has been there a very long time, much longer than the surrounding civilization has needed a surface water source. I would venture that the surrounding area is still sparsely populated enough to use wells. Was this a cooling lagoon for a nuclear facility? I looked around for any signs restricting access, none. I looked for the buildings, none. No DOD or radioactive signs anywhere. Just very freshly graded clear areas where the buildings are marked on the topo map. It was getting dark fast and the light snow was quickly turning to rain, it was time to head back to the car. The whole trip home I was really curious about the origins of the name of Nuclear Lake. All evidence suggested a former nuclear facility of some sorts. I was starting to worry myself with these conspiracy theory-ish ideas.
While I was waiting for the day's pictures to upload I Googled Nuclear Lake and found this site. This seemed to explain everything. Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. I also found out that the lake is in fact a reservoir for the local towns. I found a few references suggesting that the lake bottom was never adequately cleaned/inspected after the explosion in the early 1970s scattered plutonium dust in the area. This could certainly explain some of the people I met and treated in that area during the two years I worked there. Until now I though it was just a concentration of recessive genes.
Right to left below: Topo Map, My sons and I Walking from the dam to the island, My sons and I on the Island. At this point the rain was too hard to keep a digital camera out for pictures.