Finally Back to Blogging (I hope!)

Hello everyone!  I want to thank those of you who have followed me in the past, and I hope you'll continue to read, and hang in there with me.  Life has thrown some curves and some mountains in our way but we're carrying on...   My husband is not able to kayak this season, at least not yet.  I've been able to paddle just 3 times so far this year with our daughter.  It has been a great stress-reliever, and Brody is ALWAYS ready to go!

I promise to finish up later with Taylorville Pond from the last time I blogged.  But wanted to share a few more recent photos instead for this post.

Here is Brody.  Remember this guy?  He still enjoys kayaking as much as I do!  He looks so serious here.  He may have been watching for my daughter who was behind us taking photos of her own.
Brody's still our navigator and usually faces forward in my kayak.  He turned 5 years old in January and is still as active and excitable as most Boston Terriers!

Our first paddle of the year came very late, but it sure felt good to get out on the water.  We chose the Black River since it's the closest to us and we didn't have a lot of time.  It was a perfect late morning in June. 

 Brody likes to keep an eye on our daughter.  As she went ahead of us, he was happier and went back to facing forward as he usually does.  The pine pollen was very thick this year as you can see by the water lines on the rocks in the photo below.  Also, it made many areas of the slow-moving river appear "dirty" in my photos due to all the pollen floating on top!

I want to thank one of my blog readers for contacting me recently and letting me know that they enjoy my blog, use it to find places to paddle, and asked if all was well.  I have been so busy with work and doctor appointments for my husband, etc. that blogging just fell by the way-side.  I missed writing and sharing our kayaking adventures, and the message just reminded me of that.  I would also like to thank a good friend who has been a huge supporter, especially of my creative endeavors-- photography, writing, music...  it is very much appreciated!  

I know this is a short post, but I wanted to write something, share a bit of our first paddle with you, and thank you all for reading.  I hope you have all had a great season of paddling so far! yXp

I'll leave you with another photo of Brody as the navigator on the Black River.

 

 Happy Paddling!

Raquette River, Part 3

Finally getting to part 3.  It's been a busy month for me.  But our kayaks have been put away for quite some time.  It is cold and a bit snowy here.  Winter has decided to stay, I think.  (I know, it's a long way from the official start of winter, but in the North Country of New York State, mid-November is a fairly average time for winter to begin!)

When I ended part 2, Brody was looking for chipmunks.  He's still at it in the photo below.  He sure has an adoring look on his face, but it's not for me, it's for the chipmunks!  He can be very still and intent when he is focused on chipmunks and squirrels!

Here is another photo of Brody.  He looks like he posed for this one.  He's such a handsome boy!

Here is a the campsite where we stopped for a break and a picnic lunch.  It was a perfect spot.

After we ate lunch, we relaxed under the trees.  I took some more photos of Brody, including this one, which would have been better without my knee in the shot!

And this is a look at the trees from a different perspective!

I like this one of the dark tree trunk and branches with the bright green needles and the sun shining through with the bright blue sky in the background.

My husband took this one of Brody hanging out with me after lunch:

And I enjoy the patterns made by branches.  These reminded me of the shape of an eye.

And here is one of Mr. Brody's back paws!

 

Here is another shot of the river below the campsite.  We could have stayed here for hours enjoying the trees, the sun and the gentle flow of the water below us.

Brody and I took a walk along a path in the woods.  The white trunks of this paper birch and the brilliant colors took my breath away.

You can almost see a mountain behind the bright trees in the middle of the photo.

I think I mentioned liking dark trunks and branches, didn't I?  This is a perfect example of the type of scene that catches my eye:

We finally decided it was time to get back on the water and enjoy some paddling along this beautiful river.  Since we'd spent so much time relaxing after lunch, we decided to head back upstream toward Axton Landing. 

The views were just as pretty on the way back, though the angle of the sun and a bit of a breeze meant less reflections to capture.

I believe that is Seward Mountain's point, just above the trees in the middle of the photo.  I've tried to be sure which mountain it is by checking maps, but since the river twists and turns at times, Seward is only a guess!

 

Here is Brody again.  He's got his gaze on the bank of the river.  Not sure what he saw over there.  Since it was the middle of the day, we didn't see much wildlife at all.  My husband is up ahead, ready to take another bend in the river as we paddle back to the landing.

 

I paddled past this natural frame and had to turn around and go back to it for the shot.  I like how the mountain is framed with the tree trunks and branches.

 

We paddled a short way past Axton Landing upstream.  Here you can see the mountain peaking out above the trees.

And here is a zoomed in photo once I got up near the bend in the river:

Brody, in his customary position as navigator:

This is one of my favorites of the day, even though I got some great reflection photos.  I love the colors, the sun shining through the trees, and the bent shapes of the tree branches, especially the tree in the middle of the photo.

I got a few more reflection photos at the end of our paddle when there was a lull in the slight breeze:

We headed back to Axton Landing, having enjoyed one of our best paddling days of the season.

Brody had a pretty good time, too.

I would recommend Raquette River to anyone looking for a nice paddle.  We paddled here in July when it was busy and it was still peaceful for most of the trip.  Paddling here in the fall was even better.  We had a great time and plan to return and hopefully make it upstream to Raquette Falls from Axton Landing.

Join me here in a few weeks for a post on another location.  I still have lots of places to tell you about and lots of photos to help me remember what we saw along the way.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Raquette River, Part 1

 

Hi everyone!  Welcome back to my blog about kayaking in NY state.  I usually start my posts off with photos that are chronologically from the beginning of our paddle, but I decided to post this pretty photo of Brody to give you all an idea of the GORGEOUS day and beautiful Raquette River.  Don't be fooled by the photo above-- our paddle here was 3 weeks ago-- the brilliant leaves have all fallen in this area.  But it was a great day to be on the river that Saturday.

We paddled the Raquette River a few years ago and I have some great photos of the reflections from that summer day.  The river was lazy and very still in many spots as it twists and turns and contorts back on itself.  That trip was taken from the state boat launch just north of the village of Tupper Lake.

This time, we decided to put-in further upstream at Axton Landing.  Below are 2 photos taken from that put-in.  The first is looking upstream from the creek which is only 50 yards or less from the river.
The second photo is  looking downstream, with the Raquette in the background on the left.

Once on the river, the yellow leaves were so bright, they were almost neon!

We headed downstream from Axton Landing.  Here are my husband and Brody just a few minutes after starting our paddle.

There was enough current to float us along, but it was sometimes almost non-existent.  Brody is checking the banks, just in case a duck is hiding there somewhere.

As I mentioned, the day was just gorgeous.  The sky was a perfect blue, there was a barely detectable breeze, and the sun warmed us up nicely.

Here is one of my favorites photos from our paddle that day:

I love reflections and love taking photos of them.  I also love how usually the reflections in the water are more vibrant that the actual objects!

I took this photo as I was floating by these leaves in the water.  The resulting photo reminded me a bit of a Monet watercolor-- not in composition or technique-- just the general "feel" of it.

As I am looking over the photos for this blog post, I am realizing that most of my favorites were taken during the first half of our paddle.  I think there are 3 reasons for this:  One, morning light (even late morning light) is better for photos than afternoon light.  Two, we paddled downstream when we started and it's much easier to float and take photos while going downstream rather than up. And three, a breeze began in the afternoon which makes the water ripple, so reflections aren't as clear.

At any rate, another of my favorite photos from this trip is below.  In fact, I think it is THE favorite:
*NEWS: The photo below just won Photo of the Week on Adirondack.net!!

This next photo, as we paddle downstream, shows just how little current there was in some spots.  It looks like a lake, doesn't it?

And, what do you suppose this is, hanging out on the bank of the Raquette River?
 

We really got a kick out of it.  My husband spotted it first and I snapped a shot for posterity!


Brody in his red dfd (doggy floatation device) and my yellow kayak fit right in with the colors of fall, don't you think?

I actually got one of his face!  He's such a sweet boy.

If you're looking for a place to paddle that allows you to get out and stretch your legs, this one should be on your list.  I'm sure in the middle of the summer, and/or especially on weekends in the summer, there are a lot of people on this river, including motor boats. But in the fall, there are less people around  AND the primitive campsites along the river are great for a picnic lunch.  They can be used as long as no one is already occupying them.  A big plus is that they are, naturally, made for boating campers so the sites are easy to get to-- gradual sandy banks.

This was such a relaxing paddle.  It's exactly what we're looking for when we plan a trip.  Here is another photo showing the stunning yellows with the bright blue sky as a backdrop.

We're about a third of the way through our trip, so I'll end this post now and pick up here next time.
I hope you are all enjoying the fall season and have been able to get in a few more paddles if you're in the northeast.  Those of you further south, keep on paddling!

West, Canada and Lily Lakes, Part 1

August was a busy month!  We haven't gotten much kayaking in since the end of July, but we've had a great time visiting our daughter in Michigan and visiting with my husband's brother who came to visit from California.

We had planned to kayak on West, Canada and Lily Lakes a few times but it never worked out.  We made it there this summer, finally.  I have to admit that one of my favorite spots on the entire paddle was the little creek where we put-in, north of West Lake.  Here is the put-in. It is made for trailer-ed boats, so it's not as gradual a slope as we prefer.  But we got in without much trouble.

The creek twisted and wound around before reaching West Lake's northeastern shore.  There was a tiny breeze, but the reflections were still quite visible.

Brody liked this part best also.  He loves the closer shores of creeks and narrow rivers, compared to the openness of lakes.  I think he is some times bored with the expanse of water and far away banks of many lakes.

I forgot to mention that West, Canada and Lily Lakes are in the southern part of the Adirondack Park.  There are no large towns in the area, but it is northeast of Johnstown.

Here is my husband, on his way to West Lake from the creek.  As you can tell, it was a beautiful day!

 
Brody really enjoyed the views, and I enjoyed not only the views but the reflections as well.

After reading about the area, I knew that our favorite type of paddling-- in the wilderness, was not what this destination is about.  There are many camps on Canada Lake, quite a few on the north and western shores of West Lake, and some on Lily Lake.  We crossed West Lake, paddled through a small portion of Canada Lake, and ended up on Lily Lake where we spent most of our paddling time.


As you can tell, Brody was featured quite prominently in my photos of the first part of our trip.  Here he is showing you the southern and western shores of West Lake.

And this is a view looking east from the entrance to West Lake.

We paddled along this peninsula once on Canada Lake.  The peninsula divides the waters between West and Canada Lakes.  Anyone know why these 2 bodies of water are named separately instead of being one bigger lake with one name?  I wonder if it has something to do with the water source?  Or is it just "the way it is"?

After paddling along the peninsula past a number of camps, we arrived on Lily Lake.  And it is full of lily pads, so I see where it got its name!

Since it was a weekend summer day, we did encounter some motor boats.  In the morning there were only a few and most were fisherman who slowed for us and gave a friendly wave.  There were also people outside around their camps puttering around or getting their boats ready for a spin.

Brody watches both lily pads and the shoreline for anything interesting.  He didn't find much except the rock ahead of us,but he was intent, just in case!

I have more photos and descriptions of the area to share with you.  Join me again soon for part II.

Happy Kayaking!