It’s been windy here on this offshore island. Seas are big, waves are crashing in the cove and we had a super, high tide, with the full moon and a north wind.
Bottom line, no visitors for a few days and lots of debris and seaweed in the cove.
We had to haul the dinghy up to higher ground. Our next few dinghy trips should be interesting. Not today though. Small craft warning persists.
Land snails seem happy enough, until I hear one accidentally crunch underfoot.
It has been a crazy couple of weeks. First we went camping to evade a music festival in town.
We worked out a kayak lift system that didn’t break us. We hitched our kayaks to a horse drawn carriage and were transported in comfort to the shore of a beautiful lake.
We loaded up the boats and headed to our favorite campsite, complete with Adirondack chairs.
It was sunny but cool. I swam my final letter in the alphabet, “W”, and sunned myself on a rock to stave off hypothermia. Tim swam longer than me and had a harder time warming up.
Not my best but it’s too cold to keep swimming.
We found a great tent site, where a tree had already fallen. Nature won’t strike twice in the same place, would she?
We sat and looked at the water and clouds for hours on end.
We returned home Sunday, I worked Monday, we went out to dinner for our 18th anniversary, then packed again.
We are back on Seguin Island! This will be about our 14th fall. We spent summer 2008 ad season caretakers and have returned most years since then to help close up the island in the fall.
We packed enough food and water for as long as we will be here. Luckily the Wednesday Warriors were here and they were a big help hauling our gear from the boat to the beach and then up the hill.
We were soon joined by one set of kids and grand kiddos. What a blast. Naturally we ate lobster and corn, found beach glass, hiked trails, gave tours of the tower, flew airplanes, cracked crab claws, watched sunsets, ate delicious meals, hunted crickets in the kitchen, and played lots of cards.
So much to do before the end of summer: finish swimming my gps alphabet; canoe camping at Great Camp Santanoni; train to climb a big hill with stuff.
The hill starts today. We’re hiking Rooster Comb, with friends but no gear. I will hopefully get to swim an “R and S” after our hike.
We’re getting ready to return to Seguin Island for a few weeks to help tuck it in for winter.
This is truly one of my favorite places in the world. We’ve helped out almost every year since 2008. I may know the 64 acre island better than my own little piece of paradise.
But to get there, we have to take a boat, then a dinghy to the beach, offload everything, then climb up another couple hundred feet to the top of the island, where the lighthouse is perched. I have knots in my stomach already even though Tim does most of the hauling while I unpack in the kitchen. I and/or some our stuff usually take a dunking as well.
Next weekend there are big goings in in our little town and we like to high tail it out of here. Tim arranged a horse drawn carriage to bring our kayaks four miles in to the great camp, where we will look for a nice camping spot- another of our favorite places.
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.
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.
Smiley worm
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.
We just spent a remarkable, relaxing respite at White Pine Camp in the Adirondacks.
Tea house on Osgood Pond
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.
Canal and footbridge
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.
Not CanadaTim’s rock
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.
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.
Loaded
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.
Gaia image of Boreas Ponds
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.
Nice cloudsTim
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.
Happy me
Then it was time to head home.
The takeout
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.
Island and North Country Life 