Escape from the winter blahs

"Okay, folks," my e-mail began, "The winter blahs are getting to me. I gotta start thinking about summer." I sent this to a small group of close friends that go canoe/kayak camping with me every year. For a number of years we have gone to the same place in the Adirondacks. While we really like this area, several in the group mentioned last year that maybe we should look around for a new place for Summer 2011. As for me, I was neutral on this idea. So I could be swayed either way.

Can you believe I actually spent several hours Friday night leaning over huge canoe maps on the living room floor and loving every minute of it. . . never mind the temperature outside was in the single numbers.

There is the trip from Long Lake up through the Racquette River to Racquette Falls. I've done this trip dozens of times over the last 25 or more years. A flood of memories raced through my mind. There was the time I took my son, Michael, there. He was about 9 or 10. I remember how excited I was, just me and him, paddling for a weekend. . . until panic set in. Geez, what if something happens? This is a remote area and you may not see another human for long stretches of time. My panic was unfounded and we had a great time.

On another trip through this area, I was with a group of paddlers from the Adirondack Mountain Club. I brought along my camp dutch oven for dinner each night. On the second night, I began putting together a pot roast dinner with potatoes, carrots and onions. We sat around the fire with a glass of wine, enjoying the company and being in a wilderness area far removed from the rat race of the everyday world. . . UNTIL the sky broke loose and rain came down in buckets. I was horrified! How were we going to eat dinner? There was no way my pot roast was anywhere near being done. I totally underestimated the resourcefulness of three men in our group. They were not going to let anything deprive them of that meal! Before I could realize what was happening, they had rigged up a primitive shelter over the fire, threw on more charcoal and we ended up with a wonderful dinner that night regardless of the deluge of rain. We were in a lean to - a three sided structure with a floor, common along the trails of the Adirondacks. No, we didn't have to sleep on a wet ground!

I can't mention this canoe route without telling you about the spectacular, make that SPECTACULAR!, Racquette Falls. This is a cascading stretch of white water tumbling wildly over huge boulders that is about a mile long. NO! You don't paddle through this, although there are remnants of an old aluminum canoe from years ago to show you what happens when you do try to paddle this part of the river!!! Instead, there is a carry of just over a mile around the falls where you carry boat and gear to the other end. This is the one discouraging element that my paddling friends can't seem to get past!

Following my canoe map a little to the left, there is Rollins Pond Campsite, a huge area, run by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) that is a paddlers dream. There are more paddling opportunities here than you can cover in a weekend, everything from large ponds to tiny winding streams. This is another area where I have spent a lot of time in years past. The one trip that will always stand out in my mind from Rollins Pond is the time a bear walked right through our campsite one night as we were sitting around the fire! At first we thought it was a large dog. This was definitely not a dog, folks! It walked right past us, not even ten feet away, totally ignoring (Thank you, Lord) our presence.

That year this area had two second year bear cubs that were getting too close to humans for comfort. You see, the Mama Bear pushes the young cubs out of the den and they have to go out on their own. The DEC had been trying to catch these bears, tranquilize them and remove them to another area. . . away from humans! Don't know if they ever did, but I can tell you, being that close to a bear will make your heart stop for a moment!!!

Can you tell I'm excited about our upcoming paddling trip this summer?????