Raquette River, Part 2

Welcome back to the Raquette River!  Here is Brody, watching the riverbank's shadows in case there is a duck to be found.  He's panting just a bit because by the time we got on the water, the sun had warmed the air to a comfortable 72 degrees or so and felt much warmer with the sun's rays beating down on us.

As I mentioned in part one, we're paddling downstream from Axton Landing.  The river has a gentle flow most of the time.  There are lots of twists and turns with some spots that are extremely quiet-- the current is negligent in these areas.

Brody likes to keep an eye on his daddy, as is evident in this photo:

I took so many photos on this trip due to the brilliant colors and the backdrop of the blue sky.  It was not only a perfect day for paddling, but a perfect day for photography!

The tree in the middle of the photo caught my attention as we paddled by.  The large bottom branch/trunk is so sinuous, it's snake-like.

As we passed this grassy area, I imagined the tree standing guard to the entrance of a side-passage.  Some of the branches looked as if they were waiting for someone to enter, at which time the would raise the barrier higher.

This close-up photo gives you a better idea:

I may not have mentioned that we use a paddler's map for some of our kayaking trips.  It is helpful when there are a lot of side-channels or any carries for rapids, etc.  Although we try to plan trips where carries aren't necessary.  It's also nice to know how much progress (or lack of it) we've made on a trip.   We use the Adirondack Paddler's Map for Canoe & Kayak Travel.  It is a detailed waterproof map. It shows the northern areas of the Adirondack Park and its waterways.  It is very handy for finding primitive campsites that are only accessible by water.  We used it on this trip to find an unoccupied campsite.  (Yes, there were people camping here in October. We saw one bow hunter at his campsite.)  The primitive campsites are, well, primitive.  But we like to use them for our picnic lunches.  We had to pass by several occupied sites before we came to the site we where we stopped.  This is the tranquil area just before we stopped for lunch.  The campsite is in the middle of the photo where it's lightest along the water's edge (sandy.)

I'm not sure how I got a photo of Brody NOT looking at his daddy!  There had to be something quite interesting to our right-- but I don't remember what.

 This photo of my husband shows the nice gradual sandy bank at the campsite. 

 

The site itself was up from the river bank.  Isn't it a pretty spot?

We spread our "Neat Sheet" on the pine needles and opened up our cooler for our lunch.  You'd think Brody was looking for a treat from our sandwiches in the photo below, but he wasn't.  He heard chipmunks all around us in the pine trees.  His attention was more focused on them than our food!  BUT that doesn't mean he didn't take a bite of chicken when it was offered!!

I'll end this post with another tranquil shot of the river from the campsite.

Join me soon for part 3 of Raquette River.  And happy kayaking to those of you in the south!  Most  of us in the northern areas (unless we have dry suits and like being out in the cold) have resigned ourselves to the fact that kayaking season is over and winter is on its way.  (Our temp. 2 mornings ago was 18 degrees!)  I'll be continuing to blog over the long, cold winter months.  I have tons of photos and many locations that I haven't yet blogged about.  I am looking forward to sharing them with you.