Paddling Browns Tract

The weather finally cleared enough today for us to do a new paddle.  We put in on Raquette Lake at the town launch in the upper right of the photo and paddled up Browns Tract.  It was a beautiful paddle with acres of white water lilies and lots of rose pagonia orchids.  I don't have my new waterproof camera yet, or I would have taken photos.  We lunched on the boardwalk at the end of the carry from Eighth Lake (the white line you can barely see coming out of the woods on the bottom left of the picture) and then retraced our steps.  The total paddle was just 5.5 miles.

Quilt for Dad - #26

I finished the quilt for Dad's bed at his assisted living apartment.

Rain, Rain Go Away

It has been raining and raining.  I just read that May and June were the wettest consecutive 2-month period on record at Burlington, Vermont with 18.6 inches.  I managed to paddle a bit on the Flow yesterday between rain showers, but the weather is so uncertain there are no group paddles scheduled for this week.  I've been quilting and starting some more genealogy research but I wish I could be outside more.  Hopefully the next 2 months will be better.

Paddling to Weller Pond

This morning a group of us dared the weather and paddled South Creek to Middle Saranac to Little Weller and Weller Ponds.

We were happy to see a pair of eagles on Ship Island; we never saw them last year and were afraid they were gone for good.  Also, the iris

and swamp laurel

are blooming.

We were lunching on Tic Island when the thunder started rumbling.  Some of us made a hasty retreat, worried as much about winds on Middle Saranac as the lightning.  The storm never hit us, but it had obviously rained buckets just before we got to Tupper Lake.  It has been very hot and humid so afternoon thunderstorms have become the norm.

Paddling the Raquette River from the Crusher to Moody

Today a group of us paddled the 8.5 miles from the Crusher put-in on the Raquette River to the state boat launch at Moody on Tupper Lake.  It was a fast downstream paddle so not nearly as strenuous as yesterday's paddle.  The weather was beautiful.

A New Paddle

The water is still very high, so today we tried a paddle we hadn't done before.  We drove just a few miles west on Route 3 and stopped at the parking area next to Dead Creek.  We put in there and went upstream.  We thought we would be stopped by beaver dams, but the few we encountered could be "skooched" over.  The water was very fast and the turns very tight.  So after paddling upstream for 3 miles, we called it quits due to fatigue instead of beavers.  We are paddling again tomorrow and didn't want to completely exhaust ourselves.

It is very hard to see on this map, but Route 3 is on the upper right and we paddled up the winding stream almost to the lower left.  It goes on and on from there.  Maybe we will go farther next time, though there are few places one can get out of the boat and I'm sure it can only be done during high water.  At least now we can say we explored at least part of Dead Creek.

Picnic

Today was the traditional picnic at the camp on the shore of the St. Lawrence River.  Good weather, great food, and great company.  This was earlier than previous years, so we didn't think swimming was an option.  But one of our friends went in, complete with wet suit.

Luna Moth

We went to the neighbors this morning to deliver the veggies from the farmers' market and found 2 luna moths on their steps.  They must have just come out of their cocoons.

Paddling the Floodwood-Rollins Loop

15 of us had a nice paddle today, starting at the put-in on Floodwood Road and going from Floodwood down Fish Creek to Copperas, Whey, Rollins, and back to Floodwood.  The water was very high, giving us good rides down the creeks.  The weather was overcast with pleasant temps and low winds - and no rain and few bugs.  We were surprised at how few loons we saw.  Usually they are in abundance on Floodwood.  After the paddle we went across to the boat launch on Upper Saranac to take advantage of the open area to share cake in honor of Marilyn's 70th.

Paddling the North Branch of the Saranac River

Five of us put in near the bridge between Rainbow and Kushaqua Lakes north of Onchiota and paddled up the North Branch of the Saranac River.  The water is still quite high.  We made it 3.25 miles before having to turn around, and only had to get out and pull over 2 beaver dams.  We had another day of good weather with few bugs.