More July Fun!

It's been a fun month in the sun...


Sarah on the dock at Camp Sunrise with Gail and Ben in their kayaks in the background...


Ben and Ayla noodling around in the water...


Trying to dump her off and into the water...


Kids and dogs in the water on the 4th...


Ben and Autumn and Ayla jumping off of the raft...


Ben and the girls up on the boathouse roof-deck...


A pretty sunset with a weird cigar-shaped cloud...


Sarah and Wendy enjoying the afternoon up on the boathouse above the water...


Ben and I went out paddling pretty mch every day, this day we went out for a morning paddle to Tommy's Rock, we bought breakfast along...


It was a gorgeous morning for a paddle, and Ben and I took a serpentine route out to Tommy's Rock to enjoy the morning and explore the newfound freedom of paddling your own boat...


We dragged our boats up on the island, happy to be the only ones out that early in the morning...


Ben played with some toys and explored the island a bit before we enjoyed our picnic breakfast...


I set up the hammock chair between a couple of trees, and enjoyed the shade and the breeze and the sounds and smells of the lake while reading a fun book about...zombies...


Later on in the morning, Ben took a break from running around and swimming, and ate some Smartfood and chillaxed in the hammock...


When we finally took off again to head home, Ben surprised me by disappearing to circle the island while I launched myself...we marco polo'd for a bit, but eventually hooked up again...he is very confident on the water and in his kayak...


He loves the freedom and grownupness of being able to choose his own route and pace...


We've had a great time paddling this summer, and are planning another paddle-camping trip with Gail and Ben and I...


I also took a bunch of paddle-trips with my dad, while they were still here...this is a huge culvert under a set of traintracks leading from Rainbow Lake to Lake Kushaqua in Onchiota...


I also took a super trip with some friends from ZSNY through the Saranac Lakes...


We did hammock camping, which made for a great tent village each night...

More pics to come, as I continue trying to clean up and catch up with my pictures...

First Week of Summer

We've had a great time during our first week of summer...my parents got here last Saturday, and we've basically moved over to the camp that they stay at for the month of July...we sleep in a cabin by the water, listen to loons around the clock, paddle our boats a couple of times a day, shower less than would seem appropriate, swim when we're hot, read when the mood takes us, drink strong coffee starting before 6am every morning, and live with the constant smell of wet dogs...it's pretty perfect!


One of our favorite trips is down through some ponds and rivers from Floodwood Pond to Upper Saranac Lake, and ending at Follensby Clear Pond...Gail has missed a couple of paddle-seasons due to work and such, and is glad to get back on the water in full force...


Sarah and her girlfriend Wendy are up visiting, and Ben rode with them on the Floodwood trip the other day...he is paddling his own kayak every day, but is not quite ready for the trips that we do...yet...soon...

Fuz is happy that the weather has turned nicer...we had a couple of days with rain and 40 degrees...chilly for paddling...


The river sections of the Floodwood trip are beautiful, and surprisingly when we did it the other day we saw almost no other people, despite the fact that it's the 4th of July Weekend...


It's a fun little stretch of water, with rocks and logs and ducks and turtles, with the sound of wind through the trees and the sound of gurgling water below your keel...one of the best places on Earth...


There are a couple of bigger ponds along the way, which are nice to get clear of the feeling that the woods are hanging over you...it would seem that the Eurasian Milfoil is becoming less prevalent along this waterway, which suggests that nature is in the process of reaching a balance with this invasive species...this section of the trip used to be jammed with the weed, and now is mostly clear of it...

Ben got an awesome summer haircut the other day, it is tempting me to go and visit Patty (our patron saint of hairstyle)...my only hesitation lies in the fact that the sight of my shaved head might make children cry (it is, in the words of Stuart Mackenzie, "like Sputnik. Spherical, but quite pointy in parts.")...here you can see Ben enjoying a bite of Wendy's cheese and horseradish sandwich...



Anti-Sarah teaching Ben the essentials of "picnic with pringles" etiquette...


Gail and Ben and I have made a habit of heading out every morning before everyone is up to go for a paddle...he's getting stronger and more confident with each day, and it is a fun bit of family time...

We brought a breakfast out to a nice/vacant campsite yesterday morning, and enjoyed watching the morning come to Upper Saranac Lake...as you may be able to see from the pic, I borrowed my dad's carbon fiber Hornbeck boat for yesterday's paddle...it's really fun, but also a bit like a longhaul trucker driving a friend's Porsche...



I had to take this runaround picture of all of us enjoying the splendor of morning at Campsite #3...


We paddle back the long way, around the island, and came home into a variable headwind, which Ben did very well with...


I raced the last 100 hundred yards so that I could help everyone out of their boats (although Ben has almost got the knack of it by now)...it was a glorious paddle...it's just turned 7am as I'm typing this, we'll hit the water soon...


After the morning rituals, we headed out to do a longer paddle from Jones to Osgood to Church ponds, with some nice river paddles between them...it's one of my favorite paddles (I notice that I say that often when describing the trips that we do, but then, why bother with trips you don't like?)...it was a gorgeous day, with high water, and we saw 13 turtles sunning themselves on the first stretch of river...


We stopped for lunch, and Ben switched from Muz and D's boat into Gail's kayak, amazingly, he still fits in the cockpit with her...


We got to the takeout and left Gail and Ben to wait while we went to the put-in for our cars...they had a fun time paddling around Church Pond...

Wendy and Sarah and Gail and I have played cards and talked late every night, and sometimes after late-night beverages, we get a little goofy...I like this look on Sarah...I call it "El Tigre, with clips"...