Santanoni and Newcomb Lake

Today's paddle was unique in that it started with a wagon ride.


All the boats were loaded onto one wagon, the people into another, and the horses took us the five miles into great camp Santanoni on the shore of Newcomb Lake.  It was originally built in 1892-3 by Robert Pruyn, a prominent Albany banker and businessman.  It is now part of the forest preserve.

We paddled about 5 miles around the lake then had a bit of time to walk around the property before having to head back on the wagons.


The many buildings are linked by many porches.


After the adventure some of us stopped for dinner at the Adirondack Hotel in Long Lake.

Paddling/Walking Rollins, Floodwood, Fish Creek, Square Pond

We did one of our favorite paddles today.  We drove to Rollins Pond to put the boats in.  It was another beautiful, calm day, though with temps in the low 80's it was hotter than we would like.


We saw several loons.


When we reached the end of Rollins, the walking portion began.  The water was too low to make it through the stream into Floodwood in the boats.  But given the temperature, it was great to have an excuse to get out and wade.


Then on through Floodwood, down Fish Creek and Fish Creek Ponds, and through Square Pond to an empty campsite where we took the boats out after a paddle of about 8 miles.  We then walked half an hour back to Rollins to get the car and drove back to retrieve the boats.

Paddling Lake Lila

We had a beautiful paddle today.  It was such gorgeous weather, with bright blue skies and no wind, it was even worth the awful drive and the long carry to get to the Lake Lila put in.  The drive was as bad as we remembered - one half hour on a potholed, rocky road.  The carry wasn't too bad, especially when you take one boat at a time.  The reflections on the smooth water were great.

Paddling the 90-Miler

Well, not exactly.  We put our boats in at the home of friends along the route near the end of the race and paddled for a while and watched the racers.  There was an incredible variety as usual.  Then we went back to our friends' home for a nice visit.

Paddling Follensby Clear

The weather has finally changed - only a high of 70 degrees today, and much less humid.  To celebrate the beautiful weather, we went paddling today.  We put in at the southern parking area on Follensby Clear and paddled to the carry to Fish Creek.  We did the carry - taking one boat at a time was a painless way to do it.    Several green frogs were at the end of the carry.

Then we paddled down Fish Creek, through Fish Creek Ponds, up Spider Creek and back into Follensby Clear.  These gulls were resting at the side of one of the ponds.

We stopped at one of the many campsites on Follensby Clear for lunch then paddled around most of the lake, for a total paddling distance of just under 8 miles.

Paddling Cranberry Lake

It continues to be very hot and humid here so we have not been exercising outside very much.  The winds today were forecast to be "light and variable" so we left early this morning for a paddle on Cranberry Lake.  We put in at Wanakena as usual and assumed we were headed for Dead Creek Flow.  We stopped first at Black Duck Hole.  This beautiful view is looking back out of that bay.


We then decided it was too hot to do the entire paddle of 13-14 miles necessary to paddle to the end of the flow.  Instead, we explored the many islands shown at the upper right on the map, then paddled back to the car, for a total of about 10.5 miles.  That was enough in the heat.

Trip to Oregon

I just got back to camp after helping my father celebrate his 100th birthday.  Since the best flights to the west coast leave from NJ, we drove there on the 18th.  On Sunday we participated in the road rally run by the car club.  On Tuesday I flew to Portland, meeting my siblings in the airport, and we drove down to see Dad.  Since one brother hadn't seen the carousel, we of course had to visit it.  I never tire of seeing the amazing workmanship.



The balloon festival takes place Friday-Sunday and we went to see the balloon rise twice.  What fun.


These huge balloons came all the way from Indiana.

Paddling Lower St Regis, Spitfire, and Upper St Regis Lakes

Today the group put in at Paul Smith's College, but at the swimming beach which was a much better spot than we had used before.  We paddled across Lower St Regis Lake, through Spitfire into Upper St Regis Lake.  We turned right and went into North Bay where I'd never been before.  We had lunch at the carry at the north end of the bay, then retraced our "steps" for a total of 9 1/2 miles.


There are many amazing great camps on these lakes.  One of the most spectacular is Camp Topridge on the western shore of North Bay, built in 1923 by Marjorie Merriweather Post.  This is just one of the Topridge boat houses with our group posed in front.


Since the lodgings tend to be hidden back in the woods, I concentrated on photos of boat houses.


This one has one of the wooden boats the lakes are famous for.

Paddling the Upper Osgood River

We had a wonderful paddle this morning.  Our Adirondack weather is finally back, with bright blue skies, low humidity, and high temperatures only in the mid-70's.  First thing this morning we drove to the put in on Osgood Pond, off the White Pine Camp road.  With the water so low we figured we would never make it through the canal from Church Pond.  We were on the pond by 8:30 and it was cool enough for me to start out with a jacket on.  We paddled across the lake and down the river to the dam and back again for a total round trip of 8 1/4 miles.  We stopped at an unmarked campsite on the right as we headed downriver, just about 1/4 mile from the dam.  The river was beautiful and we had it to ourselves, not encountering any other boats until we were on our way back.



There were white water lilies at the beginning of the river

and LOTS of pickerelweed infringing on it further on.

Paddling Middle Saranac Lake and Weller Pond

We had a great paddle this morning.  Thunderstorms were forecast for this afternoon, so we headed out early while it was still foggy.  Even though the overnight temperatures just got down into the mid-60's, it is so humid it does not take much drop in temperature to produce fog.  And the winds were light, so Middle Saranac Lake was really neat when we got there.


We had put in at South Creek, where the water is still very low.  W usually likes to put in at the dock, but not today.


In Middle Saranac we found the usual eagle on Ship Island.


Then we paddled into Weller Pond.  We didn't even attempt to get into Little Weller with the water so low.  We circumnavigated Weller, stopping for a snack at one of the campsites.


Then back through Middle Saranac where the winds were still light and back up South Creek, for a total of about 8 1/2 miles.


In addition to the eagle, we saw a great blue heron and MANY loons.  We have never seen so many taking off and flying and landing.  W decided Weller Pond must be the local take off and landing practice sites for young loons.  I tend to agree, given how incompetent some of them were.  We watched one attempt to take off three times before giving up.