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.