Kayaking the Raquette River

W is just getting over a cold, so we wanted a short, gentle paddle today. We decided to paddle the Raquette River, beginning at the boat ramp on Rte 3/30 and going upstream for about an hour, and then back down. We paddled about 7 miles total, and that was plenty.
We discovered that our theory on why the leaves are changing so fast was correct - it is definitely because it is so dry. One reason we chose that portion of the Raquette River is that it is lined with swamp maples, which we expected to be bright red. Instead, they haven't even started changing color yet. They are right on the banks of the river, so they are still getting plenty of water.