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.

Paddling Round Lake

The weather forecast today was for 80 degrees and light and variable winds.  We try to get on the water whenever the winds are low, but since we are going out this evening we wanted a shortish paddle.  So we drove to Round Lake, where we hadn't paddled for several years.  Our memory of the lake was clearly not very accurate since our "short" paddle ended up being 8 miles long, and we didn't follow the shoreline all the way, which would have made it longer.  This green frog greeted us at the put-in.

The water lilies were beautiful.




Even though it is a Sunday, we didn't see many other boats.  We stopped at campsite #8 for a snack.

A Very "Entertaining" Week

The six weekly Lake Placid Sinfonietta concerts started last Sunday evening and the next one is tonight.  In between, we attended a chamber music concert with Navah Perlman and friends, and last night we went to a performance by Pilobolus.  It was fantastic.

Four trips to Lake Placid in 8 days is a bit much, but that 50 minute drive is considerably more pleasant than our 50 minute drive to Newark to see the NJSO.

Hiking to Bridge Brook Pond

We had a very full day today.  First on the agenda was a "Mystery" hike with ADK Northwoods chapter.  We met at Moody boat launch to consolidate into fewer cars since there is very little space to park at the trailhead.  Then we drove down Route 30 and turned into Route 421.  From there it is about three miles to the trailhead for the newly marked hike to Bridge Brook Pond.  It is clearly marked if you know where to look, but the sign is tucked in off the road a bit.  It was a very nice 2-mile hike to the pond, with Black Pond at the mid-point, for a total distance of 4 miles.  The temperature was only in the mid-70's but the humidity was high so we were all pretty hot by the end.  That meant a post-hike stop at Skyline for ice-cream was definitely in order.

We got home and cleaned up then headed back out for dinner and a very nice chamber music concert in Lake Placid.

Paddling the Oswegatchie River

Today we led a paddle on the Oswegatchie River, from Inlet to High Rock and back, for a total of seven miles.  Since it had been several years since we last did it, we drove to the put-in a few days before so we could send out the following directions:
Drive west on Route 3 to Sunny Lake Road - on the left 2.9 miles past the road to the Wanakena Ranger School.  Sunny Lake Road is also about 10 miles past the western age of Cranberry Lake, where the speed goes back up to 55 MPH.  There is a sign for Oswegatchie River access.  Once you turn into Sunny Lake Road take an immediate left instead of going straight.  Drive 3 miles down the well-maintained dirt road to the parking lot, just past the footbridge over the river.

We paddled to High Rock but did not stop there.  It has been marked as a campsite and there were several canoes at the take out.  We headed a short way back downstream and stopped at campsite #42 for lunch.  It has a much better landing spot and is a better place to swim.

It was a beautiful day and a great paddle.  The water levels everywhere are much lower than they were last year and the current was pretty fast, so there was not an opportunity to get out the camera and take pictures.

After the paddle most folks came to our house for snacks.  It was a very nice day.

Paddling the Raquette River from the Flow to Raquette Pond

Since it is a weekend, we looked for somewhere to paddle that wouldn't be too crowded.  We decided to put in from camp, portage around the dam, and head into Raquette Pond.  We weren't sure how far we would go - a lot depended on the winds.  We stopped for lunch just at the point where public lands begin, opposite the town of Tupper Lake, and the winds picked up enough after that that we decided not to venture out any farther.  But we still managed to paddle six miles round trip.

Good Weather for Deer Flies

We walked the road this morning before the temperature got too high.  It is supposed to be 92 degrees with high humidity again today.  It doesn't seem to bother the deer flies.

HOT!!!

Granted, the thermometer has the sun on it.  But the actual temp is about 95 degrees with high humidity.  Good thing we have a basement to escape to.