WEEKEND AT JOHN'S BROOK LODGE

The weekend of June 22nd, we left early Friday morning for some hiking in the Great Range of the Adirondacks, New York.  Here's a weekend of hiking in the Adirondacks which brought us a medley of sun, rain, thunder and lightning.  We hiked in 3.5 miles from the Garden Parking Lot in Keene, New York, to John's Brook Lodge.  We wanted to take the South Trail but as we made our way down the steep bank over to the brook, there was so much blow down that we had to turn back and take the popular John's Brook Trail to the lodge.  We settled in at the lodge for the evening with a good supper, conversation and sleep in a bunk room of two double bunks.  The next day, Saturday, we started fresh about 7:40 am on the trail to Lower Wolf Jaw, but as we made our way to Upper Wolf Jaw, we could see the storm clouds circling on either side of the range and would make a decision atop Upper Wolf Jaw whether to continue on or not.  Several systems were moving through the mountains bringing rain, thunder and lightning.  I didn't see the lightning until we reached the last mountain, that is Gothics, which had open slabs of rock with a cable running down it, which looks like a hose.  The very last place you want to be in a thunder storm.  As I grabbed the cable, I felt like a rock climber belaying down from a cliff in speed form, anxious to reach shelter in the short artic pine before the next clap of thunder and shot of lightning.  There was more rain than lightning but shelter was more important.  We covered about 11 miles in that loop for the day, making it back to the lodge by 3:50 pm, just in time for the sun to come out in full beauty to dry things off.  Mother Nature is never boring, challenging our senses and our skills.  The new slides created from last year's Hurricane Irene were amazing.  The last slide coming down Orebed Trail off Gothics was the most spectacular.  As we descended the slide with the rain running down the slab of rock, our boots amazingly stayed gripped as we inched our way down to reach the newly constructed wooden stairs to take us lower to the existing trail below.  The real challenge was getting from the bare rock to the steps as slick and slippery mud was between and one slip on this would send us on a sliding into pointy branches and debris at the bottom of the slide about a half to full mile below.  We carefully watched our footing and made our way, key was being alert and careful placement of your feet.  It was a great day with half and half of sun and  rain.  We finished our weekend on Sunday with the hike over Big Slide, down the Brothers to the parking lot.  It was a beautiful hot sunny day and as we  made our way home we made several shopping stops to top up our hiking gear and take advantage of sales in Lake Placid.  Of course, the WalMart stop provided us with savings in groceries and supper that night with burgers topped with Vermont sharp cheddar, hmmm, what a great way to end the day ... and of course, more pictures .... take a look!

A VIEW FOR THE SOUL!

Saturday morning at 5am the clock alarm went off and at that time, with a cool breeze coming in the window, nice soft bed sheets, comfy pillow, ahhhh another 10 minutes ... but no actually, the best time of the day is the morning, fresh, peaceful, brand new ...hop in that shower and wake up!  Lunches were already made the night before and water filled, just breakfast with a toasted egg-cheese-tomato sandwich with a hot cup of coffee, just the right fuel to get us in the car headed towards our destination, that is, Hurricane Mountain.  Sounds wilder than it is, but actually is a most pleasant hike on a soft bed of pine needles, with the occasional plank bridge as boardwalks through boggy flatlands mingled with steep pitches up rocky and rooty terrain ... to a rocky top with a 360 degree view and an old fire tower.  We could see into Vermont across the great Lake Champlain, the hazy view of Mt Mansfield and Camel's Hump, then to the south the Dix Range, Great Range, McIntyre Range, Santanonis, and others and as we turn west, McKenzie and Moose to Whiteface and Esther, the Sentinel Range with Pitchoff in the forefront and Cascade.  Looking north we saw the Jay Range with smaller mountains the Crows and the Soda Range.  Despite the billion black flies eagerly feasting on our flesh, I had to film but quickly pulled out the bug spray and to hose us down literally.  The bug spray worked and we were able to pull out our lunch and enjoy the view.  By the time we were back at the car, our tops were completely soaked with perspiration.  The scenery offered us such a variety and we were pleasantly surprised that our bites were few!

DOUBLE THE PLEASURE UP WHITEFACE MOUNTAIN

My friend Lorraine asked if I could get Friday off to do some hiking.  Gladly I accepted and was able to go with her.  It was a bit windy and we knew the potential of rain but only after 4pm which allowed us to hike up the south side of Whiteface Mountain which is at the north end of Lake Placid.  We parked at Connery Pond and headed in towards Whiteface Landing which brought us to the northend of Lake Placid.  There, we looked around and decided we would swim after the hike on the way back to the car.  It was a hot summery day and the path was easy.  Only nearing the summit was there lots of boulders and slides that  were tricky and needed careful footing and good hand holds.  The last 100 feet was straight up and over boudlers with views that were astounding.  Mother Nature cleared a view for us to see into Vermont and Canada, a slight haze but still excellent visibility.  We relaxed and ate our lunch at the summit and admired the natural beauty of the area, while listening to the nearby tourists who happened to come up the paved highway to the summit in a motorcycle convoy.  It started to spit rain a bit so we decided to head down but then it stopped and out came the sun in all its heat and by the time we were back at Whiteface Landing, we were ready for that swim in the cold water.  I jumped into the waves with delight and was refreshed.  The wind increased over time and the waves were quite choppy.  We knew a storm was coming but had no idea of the hail that was happening in Cornwall and along the way towards Lake Placid.  We headed home and about half way nearing Malone, we saw snow which in fact was large hail stones that melted together on people's property.  It was amazing and in Akwesasne, the road sides were covered with hail.  Yet the only storm we encountered was a short downpour as we drove through St.Regis Falls area.  Another bonus to our day was getting through customs without a lineup.  In Cornwall, we could tell from all the leaves on the ground and snow and dinted cars that powerful hail had made its way through Cornwall.  The next day, I went with other friends back to Whiterface to hike up the north end, near Wilmington, at the Reservoir with sun, heat and visibility, no storm in sight and a slight breeze at the summit.  It was a wonderful weekend of hiking, trying a new trail and the bonus of remembering an old gem.  The surprise to this day was deciding to help two others hike up Esther Mountain, adjoining Whiteface about 1.2 miles off the Whiteface trail, to help them bag another 46r peak in reaching for their goal to complete the 46rs!  They had only started yet fell in love with the mountains as I  had.  The weather was perfect and the timing even better than before.  It was a great weekend!

TILL WE MEET AGAIN, Grace Miller

REMEMBERING LIFE with GRANDMA

Grace Miller passed away Saturday evening 7:05 pm, May 26, 2012, at the age of 90.  A mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great grandmother … family was never too far away and in her last days, family was by her side.  Her long life enabled her to see many generations of family and for family to know her.  Through all the good times and difficult times, fond memories always have a way of surfacing, enabling hearts to open and allowing love to linger.  Let’s take the time to share these fond memories so that generations may have a fuller and more meaningful picture of this lady called Grace Miller.

Her beloved cat, Mr. Jeffrey, would agree that he had a purr-fect life with her ... yes, his gentle and sensitive approach would always win her over.  Well done, Mr. Jeff!

BON ECHO CAMPING on Victoria Weekend May 2012

The Victoria Weekend in May of 2012 saw us heading to Bon Echo for a few days of camping.  We gathered up our gear and headed west, picking up my sister in Kingston along the way.  It was a hot sunny weekend, perfect weather for evenings by the fire and comfortable sleeping.  The days were quite hot but it allowed us to relax at camp and venture out along scenic trails by Lake Mazinaw.  The evenings brought beautiful sunsets which allowed photographers to hang out by the "Narrows" a narrow waterway joining both Upper and Lower Mazinaw Lake.  One afternoon, we rented a canoe to paddle out along the cliffs of Mazinaw Rock to view the pictographs.  This area is a favourite destination for painters and photographers. This 1.5-kilometre sheer rock face rises 100 metres above Mazinaw Lake, one of the deepest lakes in Ontario, and features over 260 native pictographs, the largest visible collection in Canada.  Mind you, the red dye of the pictographs are fading and therefore, difficult to make out the figures.  Nevertheless, it was great to be on the water.  Lots of song birds around, especially waking us up in the morning.  One evening, we had two baby raccoons checking us out and as we approached the sound of them in the dark to figure out what was there, they  made their way up a nearby tree.  We flashed our headlamps at them and we could then make out their eyes, shape and size.  We kept our light on them which made them anxious to get  out of the area.  They started down the trees so we backed away so that they could make their escape, which they did.  We saw woodpeckers and experienced a special treat when a pileated woodpecker came flying into camp looking for food in the dead trunks of trees lying on the ground.  We also did the hike up Mazinaw Rock.  For this hike you take the little shuttle boat across the lake to the dock at the base of the cliff, the start of the hike.  From there we climbed a series of stairs leading about 1km away to the top of the cliff, Mazinaw Rock itself.  Take a look at the video of the view atop this rock.  With the weather the way it was, we didn't want it to end but at least packing the tent was a dry experience for a change.