Francis Lake 2013, Part Two

Time to finish describing our first paddle of the 2013 season on Francis Lake.  It was almost 2 weeks ago already.  The weather did not cooperate last weekend with rain and wind.  This week we have snow on our deck one morning and we've had frost 3 nights in a row!  It's supposed to warm up later this week.  I sure hope so!

I left off last time with us paddling out of the eastern lobe of the lake beyond the esker.  It was time to head back to the put-in/take out. On the way, I stopped for photos of course.

I found the contrast between the dead, dull tan/brown grasses and the vibrant green pine needles along with the blue sky intriguing enough for a quick shot as we passed by.

Here is Brody keeping an eye on his daddy who is too far ahead of us in Brody's opinion!

I took these next two photos using a setting on my camera which gives everything a bit of an unnatural color vibrancy.  It turned reds to orange, but deepened the trees reflections in the water in the photo of Brody.

On the photo below, it turned the dull browns and tans of the grasses on the bank a bit more interesting in color as well as making the sky and water even more vibrant than they already were.

As my husband paddled on, I changed the settings again for a sepia-toned one of him:

And then a black and white of the trees:

Pretty soon I had almost caught up with him and thought this image as he waited for me was worth capturing!  You'd think he was trying to hide, wouldn't you?

And.... there he is, hanging out, waiting for me to quit fiddling around with the camera so we could finish our paddle!

There was a breeze but the sun was quite strong.  Brody is panting a little as he surveys the lake looking for geese, ducks or maybe a loon or two:

Approaching the put-in/take-out, we see the loons diving.  Brody is quite aware of them diving and surfacing.  I got a few photos but they were far away or were diving under as I snapped a shot.  They also have learned how to avoid us humans (and canines!) in our boats.  They dive and swim in the opposite direction that we travel in.  The next time we look for them, they are way behind us.

We are always happy to see loons on the lakes we paddle.  Our feeling is that the lake must be pretty healthy if the loons are hanging out there.  Hopefully, there will be a baby loon later this summer.

I'll end with one more photo of Brody.  We're almost back to land and he knows it.  He enjoyed his first paddle of 2013 and so did we!

Happy Kayaking!  Get out and enjoy if you are able!

Lakeview Wildlife Management Area, Part One

Hello fellow kayakers waiting for spring!  I know, it's only February.... for Northern New York, that means we have 2 solid months of winter left.  (We really can't count the snow and cold "out" until April and it's even been known to snow here on Mother's Day!)

I am hoping the photo storage issue has resolved itself.  It may have been a Blogger glitch... we'll see how it goes.

Here is Brody, checking out the scenery on beautiful South Sandy Creek, part of Lakeview Wildlife Management Area, which is next to Lake Ontario.  This awesome spot is just off Route 3 at the bridge crossing the creek.  There is a parking lot, an outhouse, a few picnic tables and a trail to walk if you'd like.  The put-in is fairly level, depending on how much water's in the creek.

I have TONS of Lakeview WM photos since we've been there 4 or 5 times.  There are lots of reasons it's one of our favorite spots.  Usually we prefer the "waters less paddled," but this is a popular place that is still in our top three despite the number of paddlers.  It's easy to get to, it has such varied scenery-- the creek spills into ponds and there is an outlet to Lake Ontario-- and because it's protected, we see a lot of wildlife, especially if we get there early enough in the day.

Our latest paddle here was in July 2012. All of the photos, unless noted, were taken during that paddle.  Our daughter and her partner were visiting from Michigan.  Since they own kayaks, we were able to paddle about 4 times during the week they were here.

 Below is a shot of them with my husband, paddling downstream from the put-in.  I love the trees here.  I believe they are alders.  Their bark is dark and their leaves bright shades of green.  Some older/larger ones used to hang completely out over the creek so that it looked like you were paddling through a tunnel of green.  Some of those are now gone, due to very high water one year-- the older trees just couldn't hang on to the eroded banks.  But it is still very pretty as you paddle down the creek. 

The creek is widening out at this bend, and we'll soon be in the marsh area which runs along several of the ponds. It was a perfect day for kayaking!

We took a few photos of our family in front of the dead tree.  Brody watched intently as his daddy maneuvered his kayak to get set up for the photo.

A bit further downstream, the land flattens out more, and there is a huge marsh with numerous channels (some that lead nowhere!) branching off from the creek, and later, branching off the ponds.  Still on the creek, there are spots with barely any current which are shallow enough for these pretty water lilies to grow. Brody likes their scent as much as I do!

As you can see, the creek is wider as we head toward the ponds and Lake Ontario.

Around another bend in the creek, we saw some dead branches above a shorter tree. I followed the flight of a bird crossing in front of us (a football field length away) and got excited-- it looked like an eagle!  He/She landed on the exposed branches, far away from us. But with his white head and tail feathers, there was no doubt about it.  I took photos, but since the eagle is smaller than Brody's ears in the photo above, I won't post any of them.  We were so excited to see the eagle, and even more pleased that our daughter and her partner were there to share the moment with us!

That wasn't the only exciting wildlife viewing of the day.  Check out the photo below.  She blends in perfectly with the reddish brown foliage in the background, but if you look closely at the very center of the photo, you will see her head-- ears up.  Yes, it's a doe, swimming across the creek.  We've seen deer at the water's edge, but this was the first time we saw one swimming.  It took her only seconds to cross the creek (I scrambled for my camera and barely got this one shot off) and climb up onto the bank.  She was gone in less than 15 seconds.

There were many dead tree "sculptures" along the way, as the photo below proves.  We saw many turtles sunning themselves as we paddled by these and other dead branches in the creek. Often a bird or two were also hanging out higher up on the branches.

It's about 3 miles from the put-in to the Lake Ontario outlet, but the great thing about this section of Lakeview Wildlife Management Area is that there are three connecting ponds and several other channels to paddle, heading north.  That means you could spend many hours paddling this section without having to take your boat out of the water.  There aren't many places to pull out along the creek or ponds but the sandbar along Lake Ontario is perfect for a rest and a picnic.

 Here is Brody checking out the farther bank.  I  believe there were bank swallows going into their holes at this spot.  It's interesting to note that the birds make their nest in holes they create at an upward angle so that rain doesn't run into the nest.  We enjoyed watching them fly to the hole then disappear, and evidently, so did Brody!

I'll end part one of the blog on Lakeview Wildlife Management Area with this photo of the ponds area, just before the outlet to Lake Ontario.

Join me here for Part Two where I'll describe more of our paddle and hopefully help you beat the winter blues that have to be setting in for those of us in the Northeast!

Blake Falls Reservoir, part two

O.K. back to Blake Falls Reservoir and the finish of my description of our paddle there a few weeks ago.  See part one for GPS coordinates.  Below is another pretty view from our picnic spot.  Just to the right, out of the frame and across the reservoir, is the southern put-in.  Also, this view is facing south/southwest.

Once out on the water, we paddled along the eastern bank, bringing us into a quiet area where there was another good spot for pulling out a kayak or canoe.  But it wasn't as shady, so we made a good choice by stopping where we did.  (see part one)  Here is a photo of Brody and I in that area:

My guidebook mentioned seeing lots of wildlife on this reservoir, but we weren't so lucky.  We did hear cedar waxwings, crows, chickadees and sparrows (not sure what type.)  But we didn't see any birds.  I'm sure it was due to the motorboats.

The reservoir has some large rocks that may or may not be covered at other times.  We have never been here before, so I can't tell if the water level has been kept near normal by the dams or not.

As I mentioned in part one, this reservoir reminds me a lot of some NY rivers we've paddled on, including the Beaver River. This is a fairly narrow reservoir, making it only as wide as some rivers in the Adirondacks.  It is definitely a pretty place to kayak, with trees right up to the banks of the reservoir.

We paddled south past the put-in to check out the end of Blake Falls Reservoir.  The map shows the reservoir just ending, rather than trickling out, narrowing in size.  So, we were pretty sure one of the "arms" we traveled down would be an abrupt end.  On the way, this triangular-shaped boulder caught my attention:

We took the left hand (eastern) arm to see where it led, but knew we probably couldn't go far.  We had prior warning by a sign on a peninsula that said "Canoe Carry."  Also, I forgot to mention that we saw a number of signs along the reservoir saying "No Swimming."  I did not check into this further since we had no plans to swim, but it's something to keep in mind if you paddle here.  I wonder if it is allowed at the campground?

Squarish boulders lined the bank along this stretch.

Within a few minutes of entering that eastern arm of the reservoir at its southern end, we could see a dam area with gates and a building.  We turned around way before the area just to be on the safe side.  Although I thought the water would be flowing north, this area seemed to be flowing south.  I know nothing of the set-up of these reservoirs, so don't take my word for it! All I am sure of is that the Raquette River flows north.

Here is another shot of intriguing boulders in the water:

We paddled back up to the peninsula and took the other arm of the reservoir south.  There was a long skinny island in the middle of this arm and before we'd paddled halfway down either side (we tried both) we were met with a sign that said "Restricted Area."  So, our exploring of the southern part of the reservoir was over.  We headed back to the put-in.

 Along the way, more boulders, of course.  But I saw something on one that made me pause in my paddling and go over for a closer look.  It was bones.  If they had been fish bones, I wouldn't have given it a thought-- an otter, mink, eagle or osprey could have possibly stopped to eat on the boulder.  But these weren't fish bones. I am not good with bones, so I'm not sure what we're looking at.  My guess is a red fox or some mammal similar in size.  I have wondered if it was hurt and crawled up or something, but probably the best guess is that a turkey vulture, raven or other scavenger brought it to the rock to eat.  Maybe not-- it's just my best theory at the moment!

One more boulder photo for you, then I promise to stop!

This is another one of those photos that just come out looking different than you expected.  Here is Brody checking out a set-back on the southwestern side of Blake Falls Reservoir.  Yes, it was a bit shady, but it actually looks dark in this photo!  And once more, Brody looks superimposed.  Well, it wasn't in the plan, but it's kind of neat, anyway.

I think this is actually out of order and should go before the photo of Brody.. but we'll leave it!  This is the set-back before we entered it.

And this is the view as we approached the boat launch, facing north.  I just love the way the clouds are stacked up, don't you?

Before getting off the water, I was able to get one last shot of the clouds using my zoom.

By the time we got back, the small parking area and roadside was full of trucks and boat trailers as well as a few cars with kayaks or canoes.  It was about 1:30 on a Sunday and it seemed the warmer it got out, the more boats arrived.  As I mentioned in part one, if you want a quiet paddle, try a weekday morning, or very early on a weekend.  Of course, this is summer we're speaking about.  I'm sure it would be much more quiet in the fall or spring, as all of us who paddle in the northeast know.

That's it for my description of Blake Falls Reservoir.  A pretty place to kayak or canoe, but choose your time wisely for a peaceful day.

Thanks for reading and Happy Kayaking!