Introducing... Brody!

I promise I'll get to our first kayaking trip of the season very soon.  We went to one of our favorite places, Francis Lake and I have some cool news about that trip.  BUT, first, I want to introduce you to our kayaking companion, Brody.  Here he is on his first kayaking adventure, ever.  This was May 2011 on Francis Lake.  He is about 4 months old in the photo and has strips in his ears to hold them up since they were peeling backward and needed some help to stand up.  Brody is sporting his Ezydog life jacket.  I recommend this brand.  They are very well made. 

Brody is a Boston Terrier, for those of you who weren't sure.  Bostons are not very good swimmers.  In fact, as much as he likes to play in water and run in the rain, he does not like to swim.  This is just one good reason for the life jacket.  The other reason is that even a good swimmer gets tired.  So we think all dogs should wear a life jacket, just like their human best friends!

Here is Brody, May 2012, on the same lake, Francis, for our first paddle of the season.

Hmmm... I guess it's hard to tell from these 2 photos, but he's quite a bit bigger this year than last.  In fact, we had to get him a new life jacket.  He can still fit underneath when he wants to take a snooze, but there's a lot less room now!  Last year, he could do just about anything while in the kayak and it didn't effect the balance, but this year, the kayak leans if he's not in the middle.  It's not enough to cause a problem with paddling, but I do notice it!  Anyway, Brody loves kayaking.  He is a great buddy, along for the ride, and we really enjoy having him with us.

I'll leave you with one last photo of Brody for the time being.  But expect to see him regularly!

 

Payne Lake, part two

Well, I was going to start out my back to blogging by introducing our kayaking buddy, Brody.  But that will have to wait since I stopped blogging in the middle of Payne Lake's description and photos. So, I'll finish up with that before moving on to trips that we've taken so far this kayaking season, 2012.

This is the northern area of Payne Lake.  Isn't it pretty?

And this is a shot looking back toward the south of the lake and the cliffs we just passed (photos in part one.)

At the northern end, it gets very dense with water plants in the summer.  The guys decided to see just how far they could go downstream in the outlet.  Look real close in the middle of the photo to see them paddling amid the water lilies.

Karen and I ventured in after them and stopped to admire these tiny water lilies.  I don't know their name, but this is one of the few lakes I've seen these tiny ones.  The flowers were about the size of a nickel.

Our adventure into the outlet ended with the guys being unable to pole or poke their way through any more of the plants. The water was getting rather shallow so we backed up and got out onto the lake again.  We stopped to admire the rocky cliffs and banks of the eastern shore.  That gave Karen and Gary the opportunity to apply more sunscreen.

We found a small cave on this side of the lake (right side from the boat launch site-- east side of the lake.)

We couldn't see through this side, but there is a bigger opening on the south side.  Here is Dick paddling into the cave.

And me, backed into the cave for a photo-op.

Here's one more photo of the opposite side of the lake, as we were almost back to the boat launch.  This is the southwestern area of the lake.

This is Gary, in the trees.  There may have been a stream entering here over the rocks, or maybe it was a tiny cave... I'm having trouble remembering just what he was checking out in there!

This is the southern most part of the lake as we head back to the boat launch.

And another view of the cliffs once we were back to the boat launch.

And once ashore, Gary and Karen posed for a photo to document our great trip on Payne Lake!

Please go back and read Payne Lake, part one so this post makes more sense.  This isn't as informative as part one, but hopefully you'll get an idea of how pretty this lake is by the photos.

Thanks for reading!

Back to Blogging

Hi everyone,

If you've given up on me, I hope my return will encourage you to follow me once again.  I have been dealing with a medical issue since the end of February of 2011.  I got a (non-life threatening) diagnosis near the end of summer 2011 and began life-long medication which takes many months before seeing any sign of improvement.  It is working, little by little, and although I am not back to my former health, I can at least do something that I love, if in shorter doses-- quiet water kayaking.

The 2011 kayaking season was next to nil for me, but we did manage a few short trips and even 1 new location.  We went to a few of our short paddle favorites in 2011, such as Francis Lake and South Inlet.  The new place we paddled in September of 2011 was Nine Mile Swamp.  It was a beautiful paddle, despite it being a popular place.  We also got a puppy (had already planned on him before I got sick) in the spring and he is now our constant kayaking companion.  I'll introduce him later, just don't expect  a water dog.  This guy is happy plopped down inside the kayak, not swimming around it!

We got a late start on the paddling season, but have managed a short trip on Francis Lake as well as one to South Inlet (of Raquette Lake.)  Those will be first up in my coming blogs.

No photos with this post, but I am hoping to stay in good enough health and with enough energy to get back to blogging.  I enjoy sharing our kayaking experiences and photos with you and look forward to your comments in the future.

Payne Lake, part one

Hello and happy almost spring!  Here in northern NY, we still have more than 2 feet of snow on the ground, but the ice on the rivers is breaking up, the melted snow rings around the tree trunks are getting larger, and the chickadees are singing their warm weather song on mild mornings... so, I think we might actually get some temperatures above the 30's eventually!

In the meantime, I'll write about another flat water paddling location we visited.  Payne Lake is in the northwest area of New York, not far from the St. Lawrence River, and near the town of Oxbow, NY.  The lake has a couple of great features including a sandy, gradual put-in, marshy areas on both ends, cliffs on one side and rocks with a tiny cave on the other.

NOTE:  There is at least one other lake named "Payne Lake" in NY state.  It is in Lewis County, 10 miles east of Lowville.  This blog concerns the lake in Jefferson County.

This lake has a DEC maintained boat launch area with a parking lot and a place for fisherman to cast from the shore.  Unfortunately, no outhouse.   Here is the put-in:

Here is a view of some of the cliffs from the put-in:

We paddled here in the summer with friends of ours, Karen and Gary, and had a great day!  We began our trip by paddling left-- south-- from the put-in and paddled in a clockwise direction around the lake.  Gary is on the left, Karen on the right in the photo below:

Our first wildlife encounter was with a Great blue heron in the marshy area on the southern end of the lake.  He's in the middle of this photo, flying away.  He was intent on fishing and wasn't very bothered by us as we paddled by, but as I floated to take his photo, he got nervous and took off.

This end of the lake is fairly shallow with lots of plant life, particularly water lily pads.  Actually, the depth of water in this lake only goes up to 15 feet, so it's pretty shallow compared to many lakes in the Adirondacks.  (This lake is NOT in the Adirondacks, where we do most of our paddling.)  In the photo below, everyone's ahead of me as we near the bottom/southern tip of the lake.  My husband is in the red kayak.

Even though I tipped the camera on this one, I really love the colors, so I'm including it:

Here is one of the beautiful and sweet smelling water lilies we paddled by in the southern area of the lake:

As we turned and began paddling north along the west side of the lake, the cliffs loomed large and imposing-- drawing our eyes up as we kayaked along:

I am looking for a photo that gives you a better idea of the height of these cliffs, but I haven't come across one that really illustrates it the way I'd like.  I may find one later....  But anyway, they are high.   Ahh... here we go.  This photo will give you a bit of an idea:

From the perspective of the water, the cliffs seemed at times to be leaning over us as we paddled beside them.

During this part of the trip, we spotted a loon out in the middle of the lake.  Even with my lens zoomed, my photos were too far away, but we always enjoy seeing the common loon on our paddles.  They're beautiful, both in looks and in voice, and their diving skills are amazing!

One of my favorite shots of the day is of the cliffs and the sky:

And here are two others that I like as well:

We were nearing the end of the cliff area when I took this photo.  It's a bit dark, but I like the composition, and I love the sky.

Here is another photo of Karen and Gary enjoying the beauty of Payne Lake.  I am forever taking photos of everyone's backs... one of these days I'm going to have to lead the way so that I can turn around and snap some pictures of people's faces!

This is my husband in a little opening in the cliffs.  This is not the tiny cave I mentioned earlier.  It is on the east side of the lake and we'll get to it later.

We have almost reach the northwestern corner of the lake, as shown in this photo featuring Gary and my husband, Dick.

And here is Karen (yes, from the back, again) with her floppy hat that matches her kayak.  Isn't she pretty in blue?

The weather was absolutely perfect the day we paddled Payne Lake.  It was warm and sunny and there was not much of a breeze.  We did not have bugs to contend with, and for some reason, there were hardly any boats on the lake.  Motor boats are allowed up to 10 hp, but we didn't encounter any during our time on the water.  I imagine this lake can get busy at times, but it was quite serene while we were there soaking up the peace and beauty around us.

I'll be back soon with part two of Payne Lake.  And maybe by then, those of us in northern NY will be able to start thinking about readying our kayaks and canoes for another wonderful season!

I'll leave you with one more photo of Payne Lake to tide you over until part two:

Please feel free to use the comment buttons to express your opinion if you don't feel like leaving a comment.
Thanks!

Massawepie Lake, part two

Welcome to part two of my blog on Massawepie Lake.  We left off with our stop at the trail to Pine Pond.

Here is a photo of that well marked trail on the west side of the lake, on one of the fingers that extend out to the west:

Along the trail, we saw a burl on a tree, and of course I had to take a photo of it:

Here is a close-up of the burl:

As I mentioned in part one, the trail to Pine Pond was uphill from Massawepie Lake, but it wasn't real steep.  Though, keep in mind, we were not carrying our kayaks.  We didn't care to "pond hop" on this day, so we left the kayaks on Massawepie and took a walk up the trail to tiny Pine Pond.  On the way, a plant caught my eye, so I snapped a shot.  I love how the red berries and dark green, glossy leaves stand out against the reddish brown of the pine needles and earth.

Here is one shot of Pine Pond:

We saw a frog in the shallows at the edge of the pond when we went for a closer look.  He is doing a good job with his camouflauge!

And here are a couple of mushrooms near the trail at Pine Pond:

Here is my favorite photo of Pine Pond.  It seems to have "mood" to it-- I think it expresses this pretty little pond perfectly-- serene, wild and beautiful.  What do you think?

After our short walk and our visit to the pond, we headed back down the trail to Massawepie Lake where we had left our kayaks:

Usually when we stop to stretch our legs, we find a place to sit and eat our lunch.  But I don't think we did on this day.  Since we got a late start, I think we may have eaten our picnic lunch on the way, or before we got on the water.  At any rate, this would be a nice place to have a drink and a snack or your lunch.  Just pull up a log and have a seat!

Once we were back on the water, we headed straight for the put-in.  The wind had picked up and we were ready to get off the water.


In the car, we decided to drive south on the camp road, knowing we'd be able to see one or two more of the ponds in the area.  We followed the narrow dirt road and it seemed as if we were driving on the ridge of a very large esker.  It was sandy and both sides fell steeply away.  The short drive was worth it as we came to Horseshoe Pond:

Although we didn't get our kayaks out and paddle here, it's easy to see why someone might want to.  The put-in requires a steep downhill walk (uphill when you're getting out) but it may be worth your while.  This next photo will prove it even more:

There is also a put-in for Boottree Pond, which we didn't visit.  And in the area are three other ponds, though my information doesn't show any access to these:  Catamount Pond, Round Pond, and Long Pond.

It is a beautiful area, and a great place for a Boy Scout camp.  I will leave you with one last photo of Horseshoe Pond.

I hope you've enjoyed the photos of Massawepie Lake and some of the ponds surrounding it.  Please use the "reactions" buttons to let me know what you liked about this blog post.  Thanks, and keep thinking spring!