At Camp

We drove to camp yesterday and only met with one flooded road - Route 3 through Tupper Lake, which we knew was still flooded. But the waters are going down quickly; today the road was open for the first time since the flooding began. The water in the Flow is still very high. Here is a view of our flooded shoreline; with the water much lower than at its peak.I'm unhappy that all our gentians are gone, along with a lot of dirt. But we fared a lot better than many, so I can't complain. Today we met some of the gang for a paddle on Hoel Pond. We saw several loons and a pair of common mergansers, with the male in full breeding plumage.
On the way home we stopped at the "crusher" to check out the water level. In this photo the river is on the right and the parking lot is on the left.Hard to tell which is which. In this shot someone has painted a line on the rock showing the water level on 4/29/11.

We found some nice blooming dogtooth violets (Erythronium americanum) on the bank thereand then discovered them at camp as well.

Music Review

An excerpt from a review of our performance Saturday evening of Bach's B Minor Mass.
"...the choir itself was the real star of the evening. The group was extremely well prepared, exhibiting a clear confidence, agility and endurance. Singing Bach is no joke. The lines are difficult and test the mettle of the best choirs. Singing three hours of Bach is an ambitious undertaking."
Yeah, us.

Flooding at the Wild Center

This overlook is usually overlooking the water, by several feet. Photo courtesy of the Wild Center.

More Flooding

Looks as though we definitely won't be leaving Monday. If we somehow managed to get to Tupper Lake, which is now partly flooded, it wouldn't do us much good, since we wouldn't be able to get anyplace to paddle other than the Flow. Plus DEC is saying to stay off the flooded waterways which are too dangerous to paddle.

Flooding closes highways in Tupper Lake, Long Lake
April 29, 2011
By staff , Adirondack Daily Enterprise
TUPPER LAKE - The state is about to close a section of state Route 3/30 east of Tupper Lake where the rain-swollen Raquette River is spilling onto the highway, which would cut the community off to points east and block a major east-west highway across the North Country.
The state Department of Transportation has deemed the road unsafe due to flooding and plans to close it roughly half a mile south of the state's Crusher boat launch, according to an email sent at 10 a.m. by the Saranac Lake Volunteer Rescue Squad. "Officials will monitor the road and reopen when it is safe for travel," the message said. The shortest detour between Tupper Lake and Saranac Lake is through Potsdam, which adds roughly two hours to what is normally about a half-hour drive. Meanwhile, Demars Boulevard remains closed in both directions between Santa Clara and Pleasant avenues after water overtook that portion of state Route 3 Thursday morning. Traffic is being detoured using Pleasant, McLaughlin and Santa Clara avenues. The road was initially closed in just one direction but now is closed in both. "The water is still continuing to rise in certain areas," village police Sgt. Sean Stradley said this morning. State police said they're monitoring Raquette River Drive, where they said water had reached the roadway but not in a way that would impede traffic yet. They said they planned to monitor it throughout the day today. Village officials have said they are thinking about declaring a state of emergency and opening up an emergency shelter, which would be needed if homes are evacuated on the flooded River Road. But Stradley said there had been no evacuations yet at as of this morning.
Meanwhile in Long Lake, state Route 30 was closed from the Adirondack Hotel to the bridge over the lake, after students from Long Lake's school were sent home. Tupper Lake-based state troopers said this morning there were about 18 inches of water on the road in front of the hotel. The towns of Long Lake, Indian Lake and Johnsburg have declared states of emergency. Both of the dams in Indian Lake are being monitored.

Going to Camp?

We've done much of the packing in preparation for heading to camp for the season next Monday. Now it looks as though we might have to put it off for a few days. In addition to the snow melt, they've had lots of rain and many, many roads are now flooded. That includes roads on each of the possible routes we could take to get there. And it seems like such a mess, not sure we want to be there right now anyway. We were really looking forward to paddling and hiking, but I have a feeling those trips will be canceled for next week. Even after the water recedes there will be collapsed roads and bridges. Sigh. I guess we get to enjoy some spring in NJ after all. Stay tuned.

Personality Test

I just took the personality test at humanmetrics.com. Although I haven't taken this sort of thing for years, the result was the same - INTJ or Mastermind. Figures.

Trip to Manhattan

W, S and I took the train into Manhattan today to see the Harry Potter exhibit at Discovery Times Square. It took about an hour to go through and was great fun. Then we walked around town a bit since it was a beautiful day, though a trifle windy. We wandered into the main New York library and looked around. I asked about taking out books to use in the library (thinking about genealogy of course) and was told you need a library card, but it is free. I just might do that someday.

Cinco de Mayo

Finally finished the top - I'll do the quilting once I get to camp.

Still in New Jersey

Just a note to self about weather this year and its effect on our trips to camp. The note being SNOW! We had planned to finally get back up to camp this week, but there is still lots of snow on the ground, though Jim says he did manage to drive in the driveway last week. So we've decided to just wait and go up for the season on May 3rd. That will be a month earlier than last year. Presumably the snow will be gone by then. Going that early means we should get to see the trillium and all the other early wildflowers. We will miss spring in NJ and will get little if any biking and boating done here, but it will be nice to be at camp.

Basketball Fans - Eat Your Heart Out

We flew to Houston yesterday to visit with W's Uncle Robert for a couple of days. This is a view from the hotel window. It is the stadium where the NCAA Final Four games will be held this weekend. We knew nothing about the games when we planned the trip, and not being sports fans, we are happy we are leaving Saturday morning before the games begin. But I'm sure there are others who would love to be in our place and stay through the weekend. One thing is for sure, there are a lot of very tall guys around. W says it is rare that he feels short.