Middle Saranac

We went on a nice paddle the other day, from Marcy's bridge into Middle Saranac, down the river, through the lock, to a cliffside lunch spot, and back up again to our cars.



We've been doing this trip since before I was born, and it never gets old...the rievr at the beginning is beautiful, Middle Saranac is gorgeous, the lock is cool (for those not in the know, a lock allows boats to move from the elevation of one lake to that of another lake without having to deal with rapids), and the lunchspot up on the cliff is both awesome and sorta secretive.



Marcy still loves going on trips with my parents, and it seems one of the few times that she is really with it these days...she's almost 15, and seems a bit vague a lot of the time, but she loves canoeing with Muz and "D".



Once you get through the river, you are on Middle Saranac, a large lake almost entirely owned by the state, and pretty wild. It is a mysterious lake in that often, as was the case today, we have a headwind both coming and going...this picture was taken during a calm moment.



After paddling across Middle Saranac, one enters another little river and paddles for a bit before reaching the lock and caretaker's house (must be a sweet summer-job!!!). On this outing we did not see much wildlife until we were almost down to the lock, when a river otter crossed the river just in front of us.



Once inside the lock, the guys manning the lock operate the gates and sluices that allow the water to leave the lock (or in the case of coming upstream...enter the lock)...this equalizes the level of water, so that my canoe can paddle right out of the lock, depsite the 5 foot difference between one side and the other. There is a set of rapids that goes around the lock, and one year I did run my solo-canoe down the rapids...I took on some water, but made it okay.



Not too far below the lock is a great lunch spot above the river on a cliff...it can be reached by a hidden trail known almost exclusively to the Sheffield Family...We love stopping here, enjoying our lunches, and looking down (both figuratively and literally)on the motor-boaters zooming by down below.



After our lunch, we repacked our boats, and paddled back up the river, through the lock, across Middle Sarnac, and back to our cars...another great trip!!!