Kings Singers

It's been a while since I posted anything.  We've been busy as usual but nothing particularly blog-worthy.  I've stopped posting information on all the concerts we have attended.  But I did want to note the following:  Kings Singers are MUCH MUCH better than Chanticleer.  We saw Chanticleer first and were disappointed at the quality of some of the singers, though one of the countertenors was a standout.  Then last night we went to Princeton to hear the Kings Singers.  They were absolutely fantastic.  I'm sure we've seen them before but it has been a while.  We will now be sure to attend their concerts whenever they are in the area.

SNOW!!!

Three inches of snow in mid-November!?!?

A Great New Jersey Day

We went to Island Beach State Park with the hiking club.  We drove to the end of the road then walked on the beach down to the inlet and back.  A bright sunny day with temps in the mid 50's.

Afterwards we went to lunch at Klee's Bar and Grill in Seaside Heights.

This evening we went to Princeton to hear a concert of Abigail Washburn on the banjo and Wu Fei on the guzheng.   It was a fascinating combination of sounds.

Hiking in Wharton State Forest

We had a nice hike along the Mullica River Trail.  We started at Atsion and headed towards Batsto.  The well-marked hike is 9.5 miles long so we only did a small portion of it, walking 2.25 miles before turning around.

More NJ Hiking

We have been taking advantage of the good weather in NJ - today was in the low 70's.  So after a great talk at 55+ in Princeton, we took a walk on the towpath along the Delaware and Raritan Canal.

Hiking in New Jersey

We have been hiking with the Hiking Club in our community.  Two weeks ago we went to Washington's Crossing State Park.  Last week it was the Columbia Trail and Ken Lockwood Gorge near High Bridge.  Today was a great day with temperatures in the mid 60's.  We hiked about three miles in Hacklebarney State Park.

A New Jersey Paddle

We brought the boats from camp because we intend to take them to Florida with us this winter.  So despite the cloudy skies we decided to take advantage of having them in NJ and drove to Island Beach State Park to paddle among the sedge islands in Barnegat Bay.  It sure looks different from the Adirondacks.


We saw lots of birds - gulls, great egrets, great blue herons, kingfishers, one snowy egret, one tri-colored heron, and lots of cormorants.


After the paddle we walked on the beach for a while, seeing lots of gulls and several oystercatchers.

Paddles for 2018

Bog River
Cranberry Lake
Deer River Flow
Follensby Clear
Forked Lake
Indian Lake
Lake Flower toward Oseetah
Lake Lila
Lower St Regis, Spitfire, Upper St Regis
Middle Saranac and Weller
Newcomb Lake
Oswegatchie River
Piercefield Flow
Raquette River from camp to Raquette Pond
Raquette River to falls
Rollins/ Floodwood loop
Round Lake
Saranac River
Second Pond and Cold Brook
Tupper Lake from Moody

Final Paddle of the Season

Yesterday we participated in our group's traditional Columbus Day paddle and picnic for the first time in years.  And the weather was such that it might be the last time for several more.  We put in on the Bog River at Lows Lower Dam in drizzly weather.  It was raining harder by the time we got to the take out point on Hitchins Pond but it eased up as we were eating.  We left soon after eating because we intended to pack the car in the afternoon, ready to head for NJ first thing today.  But it really poured while we were paddling back to the car.  So instead of packing the car, we started a fire in the wood stove and spread out our kayaking gear to dry so we could pack it.  We brought our kayaks and gear back to NJ with us, because we want to take them to Florida with us in January.  But we still got a good start this morning and had an uneventful trip home to NJ this afternoon.

Climbing Coney Mountain

The sun finally came out today so we climbed Coney Mountain to get a beautiful view of the fall leaves.  It seems to be the height of the color.

Leaf Peeping

My brother and sister-in-law are visiting and we have been hoping to show them the fall colors.  The colors are beautiful - the first week of October is definitely peak - but the weather has been lousy with rain and clouds every day.  Today was supposed to be the best day, so we headed east towards the high peaks.  We had hoped to hike to the viewpoint at Cobble Ridge and to go up Whiteface to get the great views, but the clouds were so low we were driving in them by the time we got to Wilmington.  So we hiked down along the flume of the West Branch of the Ausable River.  With all the rain we have had recently, there was plenty of water.






And stopped along the road to get some views of the leaves.

Santanoni and Newcomb Lake

Today's paddle was unique in that it started with a wagon ride.


All the boats were loaded onto one wagon, the people into another, and the horses took us the five miles into great camp Santanoni on the shore of Newcomb Lake.  It was originally built in 1892-3 by Robert Pruyn, a prominent Albany banker and businessman.  It is now part of the forest preserve.

We paddled about 5 miles around the lake then had a bit of time to walk around the property before having to head back on the wagons.


The many buildings are linked by many porches.


After the adventure some of us stopped for dinner at the Adirondack Hotel in Long Lake.

Paddling/Walking Rollins, Floodwood, Fish Creek, Square Pond

We did one of our favorite paddles today.  We drove to Rollins Pond to put the boats in.  It was another beautiful, calm day, though with temps in the low 80's it was hotter than we would like.


We saw several loons.


When we reached the end of Rollins, the walking portion began.  The water was too low to make it through the stream into Floodwood in the boats.  But given the temperature, it was great to have an excuse to get out and wade.


Then on through Floodwood, down Fish Creek and Fish Creek Ponds, and through Square Pond to an empty campsite where we took the boats out after a paddle of about 8 miles.  We then walked half an hour back to Rollins to get the car and drove back to retrieve the boats.

Paddling Lake Lila

We had a beautiful paddle today.  It was such gorgeous weather, with bright blue skies and no wind, it was even worth the awful drive and the long carry to get to the Lake Lila put in.  The drive was as bad as we remembered - one half hour on a potholed, rocky road.  The carry wasn't too bad, especially when you take one boat at a time.  The reflections on the smooth water were great.

Paddling the 90-Miler

Well, not exactly.  We put our boats in at the home of friends along the route near the end of the race and paddled for a while and watched the racers.  There was an incredible variety as usual.  Then we went back to our friends' home for a nice visit.

Paddling Follensby Clear

The weather has finally changed - only a high of 70 degrees today, and much less humid.  To celebrate the beautiful weather, we went paddling today.  We put in at the southern parking area on Follensby Clear and paddled to the carry to Fish Creek.  We did the carry - taking one boat at a time was a painless way to do it.    Several green frogs were at the end of the carry.

Then we paddled down Fish Creek, through Fish Creek Ponds, up Spider Creek and back into Follensby Clear.  These gulls were resting at the side of one of the ponds.

We stopped at one of the many campsites on Follensby Clear for lunch then paddled around most of the lake, for a total paddling distance of just under 8 miles.

Paddling Cranberry Lake

It continues to be very hot and humid here so we have not been exercising outside very much.  The winds today were forecast to be "light and variable" so we left early this morning for a paddle on Cranberry Lake.  We put in at Wanakena as usual and assumed we were headed for Dead Creek Flow.  We stopped first at Black Duck Hole.  This beautiful view is looking back out of that bay.


We then decided it was too hot to do the entire paddle of 13-14 miles necessary to paddle to the end of the flow.  Instead, we explored the many islands shown at the upper right on the map, then paddled back to the car, for a total of about 10.5 miles.  That was enough in the heat.

Trip to Oregon

I just got back to camp after helping my father celebrate his 100th birthday.  Since the best flights to the west coast leave from NJ, we drove there on the 18th.  On Sunday we participated in the road rally run by the car club.  On Tuesday I flew to Portland, meeting my siblings in the airport, and we drove down to see Dad.  Since one brother hadn't seen the carousel, we of course had to visit it.  I never tire of seeing the amazing workmanship.



The balloon festival takes place Friday-Sunday and we went to see the balloon rise twice.  What fun.


These huge balloons came all the way from Indiana.

Paddling Lower St Regis, Spitfire, and Upper St Regis Lakes

Today the group put in at Paul Smith's College, but at the swimming beach which was a much better spot than we had used before.  We paddled across Lower St Regis Lake, through Spitfire into Upper St Regis Lake.  We turned right and went into North Bay where I'd never been before.  We had lunch at the carry at the north end of the bay, then retraced our "steps" for a total of 9 1/2 miles.


There are many amazing great camps on these lakes.  One of the most spectacular is Camp Topridge on the western shore of North Bay, built in 1923 by Marjorie Merriweather Post.  This is just one of the Topridge boat houses with our group posed in front.


Since the lodgings tend to be hidden back in the woods, I concentrated on photos of boat houses.


This one has one of the wooden boats the lakes are famous for.

Paddling the Upper Osgood River

We had a wonderful paddle this morning.  Our Adirondack weather is finally back, with bright blue skies, low humidity, and high temperatures only in the mid-70's.  First thing this morning we drove to the put in on Osgood Pond, off the White Pine Camp road.  With the water so low we figured we would never make it through the canal from Church Pond.  We were on the pond by 8:30 and it was cool enough for me to start out with a jacket on.  We paddled across the lake and down the river to the dam and back again for a total round trip of 8 1/4 miles.  We stopped at an unmarked campsite on the right as we headed downriver, just about 1/4 mile from the dam.  The river was beautiful and we had it to ourselves, not encountering any other boats until we were on our way back.



There were white water lilies at the beginning of the river

and LOTS of pickerelweed infringing on it further on.

Paddling Middle Saranac Lake and Weller Pond

We had a great paddle this morning.  Thunderstorms were forecast for this afternoon, so we headed out early while it was still foggy.  Even though the overnight temperatures just got down into the mid-60's, it is so humid it does not take much drop in temperature to produce fog.  And the winds were light, so Middle Saranac Lake was really neat when we got there.


We had put in at South Creek, where the water is still very low.  W usually likes to put in at the dock, but not today.


In Middle Saranac we found the usual eagle on Ship Island.


Then we paddled into Weller Pond.  We didn't even attempt to get into Little Weller with the water so low.  We circumnavigated Weller, stopping for a snack at one of the campsites.


Then back through Middle Saranac where the winds were still light and back up South Creek, for a total of about 8 1/2 miles.


In addition to the eagle, we saw a great blue heron and MANY loons.  We have never seen so many taking off and flying and landing.  W decided Weller Pond must be the local take off and landing practice sites for young loons.  I tend to agree, given how incompetent some of them were.  We watched one attempt to take off three times before giving up.

Loon Lake Live

We've discovered another wonderful source of classical music here.  The Loon Lake Live series of four concerts takes place in Saranac Lake on Monday evenings.  We heard about it in time to attend their final concert last evening - flute, harp and viola.  It was marvelous.  I've signed up on their mailing list and am looking forward to next year's concerts.

Paddling the Saranac River

We had a rather damp paddle today.  We put in to the Saranac River at Pine Street in Saranac Lake.  We shuttled the cars to the bend in the river at the road into Moose Pond.  We planned to paddle to the footbridge to Moose Pond for lunch then on to the cars, for a total of about 9 miles.  The river is quite low and we had to avoid many sand bars.  The weather was iffy and it started to pour well before the footbridge.  We pulled under some trees to wait it out and most of us ate lunch there.  When it was evident it was going to rain for a while, we continued on our way.  It was warm so the rain really wasn't so bad though we did get soaked.  The sun was shining by the time we got out at a very muddy landing.  It apparently is a much better place to land when the water is higher.  Given the amount of road noise for most of the paddle, I sort of assumed this would be a one-time thing, but we were amazed at the amount of wildlife we saw: several great blue herons and osprey, two bald eagles, three turtles.

Paddling the Raquette River

We put in at Axton Landing and paddled to Raquette Falls and back again for a total of 12 miles.  The weather was iffy, but we just got sprinkled on a few times.  That and the breeze managed to keep us cool on another hot and humid day.  Despite the forecasts, we have had very little rain and the river was the lowest we had ever seen it.  The wider places were quite shallow and winding through the rocks at the falls was a challenge.

This eagle watched us go by.


We also saw a great blue heron, a couple of families of young ducks, and some young mergansers.

Hiking to Cobble Ledge

We had a great day today.  We drove past the toll road up Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington to the trailhead for the Cobble Ledge trail.  The trail leads a little over one mile to a marvelous overlook.


It will be a great place to view the fall colors.

After the hike the group went to the A&W in Wilmington for lunch.  Then some of us went to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, which we had heard about but had never been to.  We saw wolves, coydogs, fox, black bear, and many birds of prey.

Paddling Tupper Lake

We had a nice paddle on Tupper Lake this morning.  High-ish winds were forecast, so we spent most of our time around the edges and hiding behind islands.  We put in at Moody boat launch and went along the south-eastern shore to Blue Jay camp.  Then we went across to Bluff Island.  There is a neat sculpture/faucet up on the bluff on the west side of the island.  The owners were around so they turned on the water for us.  Pretty cool.  I'm sure we have paddled right past it and never knew it was there.




We went between Burnt and Birch Islands then over to the western shore, around Watch Island, then headed back to Moody.  We stopped at our leader's house for lunch.