Or not yet to fall. A tree has already changed in the Adirondacks.
But I’m stil swimming.
Letters of the day: “N & O”. It took a bit of flipping and turning to make it legible. I stopped the track when I was still across the lake so I didn’t have to backtrack.
The water is starting to warm up again. I swam without getting hypothermia and there were even a few other people splashing in the lake.
“KLM” Is next but there are issues.
I don’t know what happened with this “K”. The bottom leg is way too close to the start.
But if I flip it over, I’m ahead of the game and have a “T”.
“M” needed a little tweaking.
Not sure what I was thinking when I started it sideways.
Next up is controversial. I took a short run for the first time in quite a while.
And ran an “L”. I’ll have to think about this one.
In the meantime, the wildlife is getting very comfortable in our front yard. The other day, I woke a fawn up when I went to check on my bees.
My swim quest continues. We camped with family and friends on Halfway Island in Lower Saranac Lake. The open water swim from site 16-18 inscribed a sideways “C”. I didn’t feel compelled to go in strict letter order.
We were pretty busy, lots of swimming, crafts, boat trips. The grand kids took a canoe to scout for blueberries on an adjacent island.
We had tarps set up beautifully so did not mind one night’s train. Lightning in a nearby cloud kept us entertained as if it were a fireworks show.
Today I had time for a quick swim before supper. I question my gps’ accuracy since it showed me swimming over land. No wonder I am so slow.
I can’t. My alphabet gps track continues. We had several days of strong wind and took a hike instead of swimming. I guess this could be an “I” but i feel like it would be cheating.
No problem retracing my lines up and down Debar Mountain. The worm’s tail is red because my pace slowed near the summit. Sweet pic.
Back home in our favorite pond, I was ready for a “Z”. Except I couldn’t remember which way it slanted. Try it yourself without cheating.
Anyway, I swam this:
I missed the diagonal on my return and did the whole thing backwards. While I don’t intend to edit my gps tracks, I flipped the photo and don’t feel guilty.
Voila, a pretty good “Z”.
I might just head to the beginning of the alphabet now, or randomly select letters to draw. I’m thinking of swimming an “O” around a small island.
Today Tim ticked Lake Clear off his list and I swam a “Y”. The lake was gorgeous and large, with a nice sandy beach.
Seen another way, my gps track drew a soaring bird.
I find it hard to retrace a leg of the letter. I may have to tuck a compass in my swimsuit. Notice the corkscrew finish!
No, it is Osgood Pond, upside down. The water was still this morning and reflections, very clear. Stand on your head and you may be convinced.
We scouted out Upper St. Regis Lake and came upon this lavish boathouse! An Idem class boat was seen on the water as well.
Next up – “Z”.
We just spent a remarkable, relaxing respite at White Pine Camp in the Adirondacks.
Tim has undertaken a quest to swim 3/4 mile in 47 lakes in the Adirondacks and we took dips in Lake Colby, Lower St. Regis Lake and Osgood Pond. I finally shed my wetsuit and breathed deeply.
We kayaked the Osgood River one day with friends,
and through a canal system to get to Church Pond and a short walk to Paul Smiths college.
We had to shimmy ourselves off some shallow spots in the canals.
We hiked to the St. Regis Mountain fire tower, where the views of the Adirondacks were stunning. A young boy told us he could see Canada, but I think he was dreaming.
Tim recalled taking cover under this ledge 30 years ago when he was caught in lightning near the summit. We dodged a few ourselves this trip.
We took time to smell the roses.
We never had to pick up a kayak, they slid into the water from the boathouse.
We went bowling, on an ancient alley, reset the pins by hand, played pool, ping-pong, and took lots of naps.
Camp is good for all ages.
Memorable largely because I will be scratching deer and black fly bites for days.
The fun began with getting the kayaks on the car. My vehicles get taller, the kayaks get heavier, and I get weaker.
My blue kayak is very strong. How do I know. I’ve had it for 24 years and yesterday it sustained a fall from the roof to the ground with no damage. I may not be worthy of a lighter model.
We have to rethink our method. Part of the problem is the roof racks change every time one switches cars and my favorite system doesn’t work with my current racks.
Enough said. We drove an hour south to check out the recently opened access road, which runs most of the way to Boreas Ponds, in the high peaks wilderness.
We parked at Four Corners and put in at Boreas River, a very shallow, rocky, muddy water that shortened the carry by four tenths of a mile. But Tim got sucked into the mud getting out and it looked like he was wearing brown socks. He had to recover his crocs once or twice as well. Most importantly though, he found a better spot for me to get out.
Then we walked the kayaks a half mile to the First Pond. The paddle part was lovely, although the thought of getting the kayaks back on the SUV hovered in the background.
Wind picked up and a dark cloud passed overhead but all was good.
The water temperature was a tad cool but we never saw an easy place to get out and swim.
We wandered through the three ponds, watching out for tree branches rising out of the water and rocks below us.
Then it was time to head home.
We walked the whole way to avoid the muddy river.
I missed, but Tim saw, moose tracks on the road.
Luckily noone was in the parking area while we worked out a scheme to get the boats back on the car. It was peak bug feeding time and I can assure you, they feasted, on me! With Tim shouting at me not to shout at him, we got the job done and hightailed it out of there.
Dinner and a beer at Paradox brewery completed the day.
Glorious weather has arrived in the Adirondacks. It’s time to play outdoors. We took two ferries to ride our bikes on the causeway in Lake Champlain. It’s a great ride spanning several miles on a narrow strip of roadway that was an old railroad line. A bike ferry takes you across a small gap in the path. We made it a 30 mile round trip ride by starting at the Plattsburgh ferry.
Tim is on a “Swim 47 Adk Lakes” quest and we headed down to Blue Mountain Lake, where we also visited the oddly named, Adirondack Experience. They have a great boat exhibit with a fully restored Idem class boat.
One of my favorite exhibits was found in an outdoor gazebo. It was an empty picture frame with a view of the lush scenery.
After the museum we swam in Blue Mountain Lake, where the water temp was 70 degrees. I’m still wearing a wetsuit and the swim was lovely. We had dinner in reverse. First, ice cream at Hosses in Long Lake, then pizza and a beer at Paradox brewery. So much for burning off calories!
During a fairly big rainstorm, the beaver dam on the mountain next to our house failed. Tim thought he heard an engine running and went to check it out. This is usually a small stream. It became a raging river. We did not swim in it.
I keep trying to grow peonies to no avail.
I did not grow this one. My sister in law gave me a cutting. I forgot I had left it in my 88 degrees car, while I worked all day. I put it in a little water and it has been in full bloom for over a week. I transplanted my patch of peonies because Tim always threatened to mow them down. Time will tell if they like their new spot.
I like my spot.
We have been lucky to be able to experience stellar sky events right from the comfort of home, sometimes without even leaving the couch. This could become dangerous.
The total solar eclipse was visible right here. Tim considered climbing a local mountain to view it, but I was confident we would have a clear display, right in the comfort of our own driveway. And we did.
Glasses made all the difference. In the past, I had only used a pinhole camera. Glasses were a game changer because we could look directly at the Sun as it was obliterated. The sky darkened, the wind picked up, animals quieted and it became cool. Eerie. For those who traveled here, however, traffic was horrendous.
This image was captured down the road a piece. I have no Astronomy photo skills.
Then out of the blue, a major solar flare occurred and the Aurora Borealis could be seen here.
After watching outdoors for a while, I came inside, sat on my easy chair and viewed the show from a cozy spot. I have traveled to Iceland and Manitoba for these displays. And here they were, right out my window.
A Phoebe also thinks it is a cozy spot and has been pecking the windows. I posted owl deterrents. Her nest building continues but tapping is slightly reduced.
We’ll continue to travel as much as we are able but will always be happy to return home.
I probably don’t spend enough time playing outdoors in the winter. Sitting near the wood stove is so cozy.
Because I’m a princess, conditions have to be just right: not too cold (above -10 f); not too icy (this could keep me in all season); and a chance to spend time with family.
Grandkids drew me to Vermont, where I skied with my son’s family. Conditions met all my criteria and, for some reason, there were no crowds. I even went tubing! Our faces show it all.
This week Tim and I stayed at White Pine Camp. He had high hopes to cross country ski, but there wasn’t enough snow. So instead we walked and hiked.
First to Debar Pond Lodge, which is in a beautiful wilderness setting. The buildings themselves are in disrepair and there is some controversy over what NY State should do with the property. I hope we the voters decide to keep it as is.
The wind picked up ahead of a cold front and we could see how it funneled down the pond by the lean of the trees.
It was an easy walk with microspikes although my dendrophobia (fear of trees) kicked in. I don’t fear trees, just the possibility of them falling on me.
So I kept my head down and examined the pond.
These reflections morphed from a hawk flying overhead to a large goose.
At least to me.
Back at the Camp, we played pool, ping pong, and Tim tried his hand at bowling on what must be one of the oldest “functioning” bowling alleys. There was a sharp curve to the right but the ball return worked.
He had big plans for us the next day. The temperature had plummeted and the strong winds continued, creating a windchill that barely met my criteria. We walked from Paul Smith’s Visitor Interpretive Center, the VIC, to the summit of Jenkins Mountain.
A good part of the walk is along a part of the 85 mile long Rainbow Esker in the St. Regis area. An esker is a narrow ridge, formed by an underground ice tunnel when glaciers covered the land. Very cool.
Trees squeaked, groaned, and scraped but I only saw one branch actively fall. Active fall?
Then we headed home to our house, which had lost power due to – fallen trees!
Island and North Country Life 