Chautauqua Lake Earthcache EarthCache
Chautauqua Lake Earthcache
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Here is an educational reason to visit the beautiful Chautauqua Lake. The area this earthcache will take you is located in Celeron, New York.
For many of us who live in Chautauqua County, Chautauqua Lake is an important part of our lives in several different ways. One cannot tell the story of Chautauqua County and its people without talking about the lake. Chautauqua Lake was formed during the glacial period. The melting glacier deposited three recessional moraines – ridges of sediment – that helped form the lake much as we know it today. Before that time, it is possible that the northern end of the lake, then only a river, drained into Lake Erie as the streams north of the dividing ridge still do today. Formation of the ridges, however, blocked the river’s flow and elevated it high enough so that it joined with the southward flowing river and formed the 17 mile lake. The water from the lake drains to the south, emptying first into the Chadakoin River before traveling east into the Conewango Creek. The creek goes south, entering the Allegheny River and the then the Ohio River. The drainage area is about 180 square miles. Chautauqua Lake at 1,308 feet above sea level is one of the highest navigable lakes in North America. Located in the Southeast corner of Chautauqua County, Chautauqua Lake is about 17.5 miles long, 2 miles wide at its greatest width, and has a surface area of 13,156 acres. The shoreline is about 41.1 miles of which all but 2.6 miles are privately owned. The French spelled the lake’s Indian name several ways: a few are Tchadakoin, Chataconit, Jadaxque and Shatacoin. The Holland Land Company, on its 1804 maps, spelled it Chautaughque. The “gh” was soon dropped, but the final “que” remained until 1859 when it was changed to its present “qua”. The suggested meanings of this Seneca word are equally numerous: a few meanings are the place of easy death, fish taken out, foggy place, two moccasins fastened together and a bag tied in the middle. From above, the lake does resemble a long bag tied in the middle, and that is now the favored translation of Chautauqua. To claim credit for this earthcache you must complete the following: 1) Post a picture at the lighthouse with the lake in the background. This is optional. 2) E-mail me the answers to the following four questions. Chautauqua Lake is divided into two basins of nearly equal size; 1) What is the maximum depth of the north basin of the lake? 2) What is the average depth of the south basin of the lake? 3) Tell me the name of the village where the “bag is tied in the middle”. 4) In Celeron, the lake has a "little bay" where the lighthouse stands. Estimate how wide the bay is. I request that you email your answers to me on the same day that you log your “found it” log. (This does not have to be the day you visit, just the day you log the find on the computer.) As per Earthcache rules I must delete your log if I don't receive your answers within five days of you logging your visit.
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