Quilt #62

New Jersey Activities

We have been very busy since we got back home on October 5th.  We've started up our usual activities and finally got to go hiking with the community hiking club today.  We walked about three miles in Cheesequake State Park on a beautiful sunny day.

Summary of 2019 Paddles

We managed to do 12 paddles in our abbreviated season this year.

• Bog River
• Follensby Clear Pond
• Oswegatchie River
• Piercefield Flow
• Raquette Lake to Blue Mountain Lake
• Raquette River from Axton to Crusher
• Rollins to Square Pond
• Second Pond to Lake Flower
• South Creek to Second Pond
• South Creek to Weller
• South Inlet to Raquette Lake
• Upper Osgood

Paddling the Oswegatchie River

We just completed our final paddle of the season.  We head back to NJ on Saturday.  We put in the Oswegatchie at Inlet

and paddled the 3 1/4 miles to campsite 42 on the river where we took a break.  The current was quite fast so it took us 1 1/2 hours to get there paddling upstream.


But then it was an easy paddle back downstream, taking us less than an hour.

Paddling from Second Pond to Lake Flower

We took advantage of having two cars and paddled a bit over 6 miles to where we parked a car in Saranac Lake, then went to Hotel Saranac for lunch before retrieving the other car from Second Pond.  Another beautiful day.

Hiking to Cobble Ledge

Paddling the Bog River

We had another beautiful day today.  We put in at Low's Lower Dam and paddled the 3 miles to the carry at Hitchin's Pond.  There was no wind when we started out so the reflections were perfect.






We had not climbed up to the ridge for many years because of my bum knees.  So we did the climb of a little over a mile to spectacular views.

Hiking Along Fish Creek

We had a nice 3-1/2 mile round-trip hike along a trail from Fish Creek campground.  The weather has been gorgeous with plenty of sun and mid-60's temperatures.  There has been plenty of rain so everything is green and lush.

Raquette Lake to Blue Mountain Lake

We are back in the Adirondacks, having driven up on Saturday.  We had a great but exhausting paddle today from Raquette Lake through the Marion River and Utowana and Eagle Lakes to the beach at Blue Mountain Lake, including a fairly long carry and a big beaver dam, for a total of over 13 miles.  It was a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine, cool temperatures, and not too much wind.  We have done the paddle several times before but this time it seemed exceptionally long.  I guess we are just getting older.




A well-deserved lunch break after the carry.

Audubon's Plainsboro Preserve

We had a nice walk this afternoon at Plainsboro Preserve.  We found huge trees that very ambitious  beavers have been chewing on and in some cases cutting down.




We saw evidence of their dragging branches and finally found a lodge above the water's edge and quite a bit away from the most recent activity.