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.