North Branch of the Moose River, Part Two

Time to finish up my description of our paddle in August on the north branch of the Moose River, paddling upstream from the North Street put-in.

As we paddled around the next bend, we came to a quiet area of the river.  The banks are quite high with the water level being lower.  The outside bend in the river at this spot had a bank of clay.  I was intrigued by the patterns made by the layers of clay.  There were gaps throughout the layers.

And near the water's edge, there were broken pieces of the earth.  I know it looks like shale or some other thin layered rock, but it is the consistency of clay that is beginning to dry out.  I tried to bring a piece home to see what it'd end up being like completely dry, but it crumbled in my kayak and all I ended up with was mud!

With another bend in the river, we came upon this hawk on a dead tree.

Below is my best photo out of six shots of the hawk.  Based on its call, I was guessing this bird is a northern harrier/marsh hawk, but after checking some of my other photos of the bird, I'm leaning towards red-tailed hawk.  Juveniles of almost any bird are difficult to identify, so if someone knows what this bird is, let me know!  I have limited knowledge and a Northeastern United States bird identification book to base my guess on so I am not 100% sure of this identification.

We saw beautiful scenes like this all day long:

There were a couple of beaver dams across the river at various spots.  Neither were a problem to negotiate.  Below, Brody watches as my husband paddles over the low end of a small dam.

We'd been paddling upstream for over 2 hours and decided it was time for lunch, even though it wasn't quite 11:30.  We found one of those sandy areas to pull our boats out and spread a towel for Brody to relax on:

This is how he became "Beach Dog" for the day.  He really enjoyed his time on the sand, soaking up the rays!

This view is looking back downstream from the "beach" where we ate our lunch.

And here is a close-up of a cardinal flower.

Brody, looking cute, as usual!

And, the photo which proves he really is "Beach Dog" at least on this day.

We talked with a number of paddlers who were going downstream from the Rondaxe Road put-in.  This is another popular put-in site for those being shuttled.  We asked how long they'd been on the water, hoping that maybe we were almost to the bridge.  Unfortunately, no one had a good idea, but guessed it had been close to an hour.  Because of this, we decided not to venture much further upstream.  We knew if it took them an hour to paddle downstream, it'd take us longer to reach the bridge paddling upstream.  So, we headed back the way we'd come after our nice, relaxing time on the beach.


The sky was so blue that day.  I kept glancing up at the brilliant white clouds and the many shades of green in the trees against that blue sky:

The pattern of these leaves against the sky also drew my attention:

Further downstream, I turned Brody around for a photo and he kept turning away as he usually does when I have the camera up to my face.  I tried to hold him still and scolded him a bit for not cooperating and this is the expression I got out of him-- sad, isn't he?

Along with a few beaver lodges, there were also places with fallen trees and branches which caught many items that were floating on the river's surface.  I saw this white feather (a duck's?) and wanted a shot of it among the branches.  I think the photo ended up looking a bit abstract with the different angles of the branches, the dried grasses and leaves, etc.

What do you see in this one?  We saw either a mouth, or a funny creature face, almost like what people do with their thumb and index finger to make a mouth and draw on eyes (and in this case, a nose too.)

 Brody actually faced me and I was able to get a nice photo of him... except he was mostly in the shadows...

Near the bank of clay on the way back downstream, we stopped so that I could photograph these plants.  I'm not sure what they are, but my husband named them "Adirondack Palm Trees."  I thought they reminded me of some Muppets character with crazy '80's hair.

I like this photograph because there are clouds in the upper left and lower right of the frame as well as dark green and light green in other parts of the photo, giving it an almost patchwork look.

Here are two hawks.  We are guessing that one is the patient one that allowed me to take a number of photos of him/her.

Here I am with Brody in a calm area as we paddle back to North Street.

Another typical scene along the Moose River's north branch:

Uh, oh-- I lied!  I have more dead tree photos-- we passed them on the way back and this time the sun was shining on them:

We were almost back to the North Street put-in when we met up with some more black ducks (or the same ones... who knows?)  Brody was naturally as interested this time as he had been earlier.  I was able to get this close-up once Brody got out of my line of sight!

Here he is, once more, guiding our way down the river, always on the look-out for all things interesting to his doggy eyes and ears.

Our paddle back was just as enjoyable as it was on the way upstream, maybe just a tad better since we were going with the current.  At each bend, we wondered what we'd see beyond.  It was a perfect day for a paddle.  We enjoyed it and so did Brody!

I'll leave you with one last photo of the north branch of the Moose River with some cloud reflections.

Thanks for reading and happy kayaking!

Limekiln Lake, part one

A few weeks ago, we returned to one of our favorite paddle spots, Limekiln Lake.  It's north of Old Forge on Route 28.  You'll go through the village of Eagle Bay, and then the hamlet of Inlet. Limekiln is a pretty lake, having a peninsula, three tiny islands, and two marsh/creek areas to explore.  Even with some summer homes, motorboats and a state campground on the lake, the features above keep it on our list of favorites. You do have to pay for a day pass to paddle here since the boat launch is part of the campground.

 Here are the GPS coordinates for Limekiln Lake:  43° 43' 3.2952" -74° 48' 4.2726"  I'm sorry to say these aren't from my TomTom, as I forgot to plug it in!  That's what happens when you already know how to get somewhere, I guess.  Hopefully I'll remember to check the TomTom coordinates next time.  So, these numbers came from Google Maps and may not be quite as accurate, but should get you near the boat launch.

It was a chilly morning-- by this summer's standards anyway.  Again we had morning wind...  in the seven seasons we've been kayaking, we've never seen this many windy mornings.  I'm not sure if it's the overall weather pattern, a fluke that we're kayaking on all the windy mornings lately, or what.  The good news is, each time this has happened, (3  times) we've paddled to a more sheltered area and within an hour and a half or so, the wind has died down.  The ripples in the above photo don't seem to show how strong the wind blew at times, right in our faces.  Around the point to the left is an inlet which is sheltered, and that's where we headed.

Here is a photo as we neared the sheltered area:

This sheltered area with a marsh and sometimes a beaver dam, is in the northeast part of the lake.  From the boat launch, paddle left/east, past a bay where the private houses (and the motorboats) are and toward the three small islands in the distance (all of them are near the southeastern shore.)  Once near the smallest of the islands, which isn't much more than a big rock and some pine trees, head northerly to the scene in the photo above.

A lot more water plants, particularly grasses, were growing here compared to our last paddle a few years ago.  We're guessing the water level is lower, though that is really the only sign we saw of the dry summer here.  With a dam at its outlet, it's safe to say that when possible, the water levels are kept at a consistent level.

As we approached the inlet, we began to see many sets of eyes peering at us from the surface of the water.  I planned to post the photo, but there's no point since it's far enough away that you can't really tell what all the eyes are all about.  Let's just say that there were a gazillion frogs on the thick grasses in this area!  I'll get to their individual portraits in a couple of minutes.

We saw many black ducks, known to reside here.  They have never failed to make an appearance-- either in the inlet or the outlet.   Below, Brody sees the ducks and is, naturally, very interested.

Here are the ducks, having a late breakfast.  I love it when they go under to eat and leave their bottom halves sticking out of the water.  Sometimes they do it in unison, like synchronized swimmers!

As the wind blew the larger clouds away, the bright blue sky and sun lit everything up.  I like the wispiness (is that a real word?) of  the clouds in these two photos:

On our way into this area, we saw a kingfisher hanging out on the branch of a dead tree.  We hadn't seen one here before so it was fun to catch a glimpse of him.  Since we were headed his way, he didn't stay long and flitted off to another tree in the distance.

The inlet is the perfect spot for many marsh loving plants, including the Soapwort Genetian:

And the Pitcher Plant:

Look closely at the plant on the right and you will see a bee on its tip.  Chances are he'll end up in its liquid at the base of the pitcher plant, soon to become plant food.

The flower below is a mystery.  They grow on long, thin stalks, and those that I've seen fully open, look a bit like tufts of cotton, reminding me slightly of milkweed, but without the seeds (that I could see) and much shorter strands of cottony fiber.  The wildflower site I was so happy to find did not yield any results.  If anyone knows what this plant is, please let me know.

While trying to take photos of the many frogs on the lake's grasses near the inlet, I snapped this reflection shot of my husband:

Here are my Northern Green Frog portraits:

Which one is your favorite?  I'm not even sure myself-- it's a tie between numbers 2 and 3.

Once we'd had fun watching all of the frogs, who often stayed right where they were as we paddled by, we headed out toward the islands to look around.  This is the smallest island:

 The largest of the three has landing possibilities, but you need to have good balance if you're planning to get out.  We've seen others land on the rocky side (north) but there is an area on the southwest side that has some dirt and tree roots which make it a bit easier to get out.  We did not attempt it this time since the bugs seemed pretty thick as we neared the island.

Here is a shot of the largest island:

There is a rock sticking out of the water before you reach this island and this is what we found hanging out there:

Certainly not the first time we've seen a seagull on a lake, but definitely the first time we've seen one at Limekiln!  Pretty sure this guy is a Herring Gull.

We also saw a bird that we hear often when paddling and see infrequently.  It was a treat to actually get a photo of him/her.  A Cedar Waxwing.  He almost looks tropical with his various colors, doesn't he?

Oh, I forgot to mention that while we were in the inlet, I was intent on taking photos and floated up to some boggy plants in a group.  It apparently looked like "land" to Brody.  Since we weren't moving and we were up against "land,"  he decided that it must be time to hop out of the kayak.  Yup!  Right into about 4 inches of water.  Luckily, the plants held him and he didn't get anything wet except his feet and legs.  But the wind was still blowing so he was a little chilled from his adventure.  We called him "Swamp Dog" for days afterward.  He SMELLED like a swamp, believe me!  He got rinsed off once it warmed up, then had a real bath at home later on.  

Here he is with the evidence all over his paws  (and notice he's not too happy about it!):

From the islands area, we paddled to the peninsula on the southwestern shore, almost across from the boat launch.  I'll end part one with a photo of this area in the background, with Brody watching his daddy as he approached the peninsula.

Thanks for reading.  And Happy Kayaking!

Oswegatchie River near Star Lake, part two

In part one, I ended with a beautiful stillwater scene of the Oswegatchie.  The still areas are around sweeping bends in the river where the current flattens out.  In July, there are a number of spots along the river that are quite calm on the surface even with the current running underneath. 

I'll get back to our 2012 trip in just a few minutes, but wanted to share a few photos from our paddle in 2008.  All four of the following photos were taken then. 

Here is one with some pretty white flowering bushes (sorry I don't know what they are.) They seemed to be past blooming in 2012.

I mentioned that we did not see any ducks this trip.  I'm surprised since we saw many on our last trip.  Here is one of a momma black duck and her juvenile ducklings.

In part one I said that we had planned to paddle as far as High Rock but didn't make it.  In 2008 we did get as far as High Rock.  Here is a photo of the put-in area for High Rock's campsite:

 I know-- it doesn't look like a high rock at all.  But that's because my shot is just of the put-in area.  To the left, the rock rises.  There is a path around and up, leading to a flat area for a tent, and a clearing that looks back on part of the Oswegatchie just traveled.  Here is a shot from there:

No, it's not real "high" but it IS the highest going upstream, at least up to this point of the river.  So the vantage point is very nice, especially for looking back downstream.

OK.  Now back to my description of our 2012 paddle.  We stopped for lunch at campsite 42 which had a sandy bank area to pull our kayaks up on, and it looked like a decent primitive campsite, up from the water in the trees.

We sat on the grassy bank to eat our lunch.  It wasn't long before the deer flies found us.  (In the Adirondacks it seems like if it's not black flies it's deer flies!)  Brody was snapping at them constantly while we were swatting at them.  They weren't biting, just buzzing around us, doing a great job of annoying us while we ate.

When we began gathering up our picnic and reloading the kayaks, we had a visitor!  Yes, I jumped and probably made some kind of surprised and not-delighted noise when I saw this guy.  But, because I'm documenting all of our paddle adventures, his photo had to be taken.  So, here he is, Mr. Garter Snake.  He looked more than 2 feet long-- maybe 2 and a half.  He slithered right into the water and wriggled back and forth to the other side of the narrow river and up the other bank in a matter of seconds.  At least he didn't slither across my bare foot like the small one in my backyard did just a few days ago!

 

 Here is one of those inside curves with an exposed sandy bank.  This one looks large enough for a few kayaks to pull out onto, but the vegetation is just outside of the frame on the left and you would only be able to walk a couple of feet from the water.

Brody has his eye on his daddy in the kayak next to ours.  Whenever I try to get his photo, he completely ignores me. Treats work wonders, but I only have so many hands...

This tree amazes me.  Look how it's grown, despite it's angle.  It would be quite a tall tree if it were upright!  The river goes under the tree, so it's fun to look up at the sky from between the pine needles.

Below is a reflection photo.  As we headed back downstream we were pleased to note that in many areas of the river, the current would take us downstream without paddling.  But, steering was very important!  Then we'd reach one of these quiet spots and paddling was necessary.  We did so slowly, enjoying the reflections as we moved on.

The trip back downstream from campsite 42 took about half the time as paddling up.  Keep in mind that part of the reason was, of course, the current.  The other part of the reason is that I took less photos, and we were retracing our path upstream, so we'd seen most everything on the paddle up.  One of the best things about this up and back type of paddle is that you know where the rocks are (mostly) and you know which side of the beaver dam to paddle over, etc.

In the photo below is an example of the red cardinal flower that just seems to pop right out from the green vegetation.

And  here is is campsite 45.  It is the one closest to the put-in-- probably 2 miles or so upstream.  It looks like a good spot, with a nice area for pulling your kayak or canoe out.

We saw many butterflies long the river.  These yellow ones really seemed to like the Joe-pye weed.  I believe the butterflies are yellow swallowtails, but don't quote me on it!

Our trip up and down the Oswegatchie was almost at an end.  We found that there was more paddling than we remembered from our earlier trip.  My husband and I tried to figure out if we were just in better paddling shape in 2008 or if we'd really forgotten what a work out it was.  We've decided that the newness of our first trip probably accounts for the difference in our experience the second time.  But this is still one of the best places to paddle in northern New York.  It's in a wilderness area and there are no motors allowed.  Two great reasons to paddle the Oswegatchie.

I'll leave you with one last look at this gorgeous river, with half of our paddling party in the mid-ground, making their way back to the put-in.

Happy Kayaking!