Long Pond and Round Pond, 2013, part two

Welcome back to part two of Long and Round Ponds!  Here is Brody, checking out the inlet to Round Pond, which is one of the branches of the Oswegatchie River.

The water was much higher than it normally is when we've paddled here in the past.  There is a swift water area which is indicated by the ripples in the photo below.  The water is usually shallow and the passage has lots of big rocks, making it impossible to paddle.

This time we thought we might be able to make it.  We both began paddling hard and made it most of the way up due to the higher water level.  But there were still a few extremely shallow and sandy areas that stopped my husband.  He decided to turn around rather than get out and pull his kayak through.  I continued on until I reached an area that was deep enough, but the passageway was narrow due to some large rocks.  The current kept throwing me back into a rock and prevented me from making anymore headway.  Since I had spent several long minutes making progress, I decided to get out and pull Brody through the last 15 feet that I couldn't paddle.

I was hoping to find a long stretch of quiet water, and if I had, my husband could have pulled through the shallow area and joined me.  As it was, there was only about 50 feet of calm water before another section of swift and shallow water, as shown near the bend in the river in the photo below.

So, I turned around and let the current take me back down to where my husband was waiting below the swift section in his red kayak.

Here are a couple of cute shots I was able to get of Brody:

We paddled back the way we had come, on our way to Round Pond from the inlet.  As I said in part one, it was a very peaceful day.

On Round Pond, several things caught my eye.  One was this tree in the water:

Another was the clouds.  I had noticed them when we began our paddle, but could not get a photo that did justice to the wispy clouds.  I tried again, and used sunglasses (my husband's great idea!) to capture the clouds in more detail.  The photos still don't really show what we saw, but at least you get the idea.

Brody and I paddled over to see a beaver lodge and as we approached we heard some squeaks that may have been beaver or muskrat.  The noise only lasted a second or two.  Brody's ears perked up immediately and he was on high alert for a minute, but with no more sounds coming from the lodge, he quickly lost interest.

I wanted a low shot of the just emerging reeds in the photo below.

It took several tries, but I was finally able to get the perspective I wanted by holding the camera out and close to the water.  (I had the strap wrapped tightly around my wrist!)

We were soon back at the footbridge marking the connection between Round Pond and Long Pond.
Brody is keeping an eye on his daddy ahead of us.

OK. I took a number of photos of the footbridge from underneath.  Which one (s) do you like best?

1.

 2.

 3.

 
4.

I think my favorite is #3, but then when I look again, I see different things and change my mind.


On Long Pond, we headed back to the put-in/take-out.  The wind had picked up a bit, giving us some ripples, but nothing too serious.  With the hot sun, the breeze felt good.

Brody tracked a loon for a little while as it dove for a meal.  It was too far away for a good photo.

Before we reached the end of our paddle, I turned Brody around for a shot of his face.  He would much rather be facing in the direction we're headed, but graciously posed for this photo.  (I had to hold a treat above the camera just to get him to cooperate-- he usually looks away when I put the camera up to my face for a photo of his!)

Although Long and Round Ponds are not very large, they still make for a nice half-day paddle if you bring a lunch along and take time to beach your boats and stretch for a little while.  We didn't do that on this paddle, but have in the past.

I hope you're all enjoying the paddling season so far.  Here in Northern New York, we had a few rain free days and were able to get a paddle in, but since then we've had days that can't seem to stay dry the entire day.... hope this weekend's weather is better!

Happy Kayaking!