Paddling Rainbow Lake

Nine of us had a nice paddle on Rainbow Lake today. We had never been there because of the motor boats, but we only saw a couple so we will definitely go back. The red line marks the route we took, for a total of about 8.5 miles, starting at the bridge on the northeast end of the lake.We'd like to explore the Flow off to the northwest next time.

A Quiet Day - Sort Of

I was wakened too early this morning by a young hairy woodpecker that clearly needs more training. It was banging on the metal around a window and making a horrendous racket. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to have done any damage. Then not long after I woke, the guys showed up to redo our driveway. We had a brief discussion about whether we should take the car out to the road so we could get out, but then it started raining. So we are staying home for a "quiet" day.

Paddling the Middle Branch of the St Regis River

The weather has cooled, with it forecast to get only into the mid-70's today, so we decided to go paddling even though it is a summer weekend. We just had to choose someplace relatively far away and isolated, and we succeeded. We had the beautiful river to ourselves, as we did 3 years ago when we paddled it..There were lots of cardinal flowers in bloom. And this time we found a nice place for lunch. It is a former house site on a rise above the river before it really starts meandering. We marked it on the GPS for future reference. This was our view as we ate lunch. The water was higher than last time so we got farther up the rapids. We think we found the take out for the portage, but it was very grown over so we headed back downstream and found a spot along the shore to get out and stretch.
Our wildlife sitings included a bald eagle, several great blue herons (or one seen several times), a couple of otters, and a flock of kingfishers.

Then this evening we drove to Lake Placid for the Sinfonietta concert. A very good day.

Hot!!!

We drove to Plattsburgh today to see the final Harry Potter movie. Just had to see it in 3D on a big screen with big sound. Today seemed a good time to do it since we could be in air conditioning in the car and in the theater - as well as in stores because of course we also did some shopping. It was 94 degrees in mid-afternoon in Plattsburgh. And still 84 degrees when we arrived home at 7 PM. Fortunately, it is due to cool off by Sunday. Sure glad we aren't further south.

Paddling Lower Saranac Lake

We did a leisurely paddle around the Ampersand Bay end of Lower Saranac Lake today - out around Eagle Island and back. W even went swimming. Then we all went to John and Susan's for a yummy potluck dinner and birthday cake for John. Good times with good friends.

Loon Census

We did the annual loon census on our lake this morning. We have 2 adults and a chick. I didn't want to get close enough to get a good photo, but here is a silhouette view of the chick riding the back of one of the adults.

I Did It....

Biked 16 miles, that is, on hills no less. And that is something from a resident of the coastal plain. I'd never biked that far, ever, and certainly not on hills. We parked at the little park in Gabriels, at the intersection of Route 86 and the Gabriels-Onchiota Road. Then we biked south on Route 86 for a little over a mile, then turned onto the road to Bloomingdale. Going that direction was definitely the way to do it, since we got a nice ride down a very long hill that I wouldn't want to try to bike up. Then in Bloomingdale we turned up Oregon Plains Road and rode its length to the Gabriels-Onchiota Road as we did last month. The final leg took us back to our starting point. The weather was great and there was little traffic, but I'm not sure I can say I enjoyed it. It was certainly great exercise and I'm sure I'll get better at it if I get my legs (and my butt) in better shape. It had been a couple of weeks since I'd been on the bike. We'll have to be sure we get out at least once a week if we want to do more long trips.

Paddling the Oswegatchie

We hosted today's paddle on the Oswegatchie. We put in at Inlet, past Wanakena, and paddled to High Rock for lunch then returned, for a total of about 7 miles. The water was significantly lower than a couple weeks ago when we checked it out so paddling upstream was not too difficult. We saw our first cardinel flowers of the summer, and lots of other things were in bloom. After the paddle, the group came to our place for snacks and brownie sundaes. Another great day.

Paddling the Six Carries Route

Lots of socializing this week. AA&J left Tuesday; yesterday we drove up to the St Lawrence to visit at Jean's camp; today we paddled the 6 carries route in the St Regis Canoe area with some of the usual group. This was the first time we had done the 6 carries route with our light-weight boats. What a difference. I actually viewed the carries as a chance to walk in the woods, though the mosquitos were annoying. These maps show the route, from the bottom of the second one to the top of this one, from Little Clear to the take-out at Paul Smith's College on Lower St Regis Lake.I didn't take a map along so I quickly lost track of the names of the lakes, but on one of them there were lots of large sundew in bloom, though I didn't get a photo of the tiny flowers.There were also lots of rose pagonia orchids.

Mt. Arab

We all climbed Mt Arab today.It was easier than I remembered, though the weather was very hot and humid, for here anyway.

Wild Center

AA&J arrived Thursday evening and today we went to the Wild Center, where we saw the cute porcupine named Stickley.