Memorable Birthday

I usually don't look forward to my birthday each year because it reminds me that another summer is coming to a close. However, the weather was predicted to be hot and sunny so we couldn't waste the day. It is rarely in the mid-80s at any of the Adirondack High Peaks lakes, so this was probably our last chance this season to go north. The classic boathouses and wooden boats of Lake Placid were calling Dave, but as we approached the town, he had the brilliant idea to continue on to Saranac Lake and launch in Lake Flower and go through the lock to Lower Saranac Lake. I was apprehensive at first, since we didn't have our charts with us. Luckily there were some first timers that had just bought a chart and we all looked at it together. Except for the fact that there are several small bays and ponds that flow off Lake Flower, so you have to know which way to go, thankfully the channels were well marked. Lots of it was idle speed, shallow, and narrow, before and after the lock. 

The lock was in great shape and so tiny compared to what we were used to on the Mohawk River. It filled up from water being pumped in or out from below (like the Erie Canal), depending on which way you are traveling (compared to the Okeechobee Waterway that they just crack open the doors to let water in and out). The lock tender lady was so nice, and we had a chat with her about a bit of the history of how Lake Flower and the locks came to be. Those are all ropes attached to the walls of the lock and all you have to do is hang on to them for the short distance in water level change. 

Lake Flower was made when a dam was put in the Saranac River for a lumbering operation back in 1827. The locks were built later and there is one between Lake Flower and the Lower Saranac Lake and one between the Lower and Middle Saranac Lake, but just a carry from the Middle to Upper Saranac Lake (or launch on the upper side instead). The channel was so skinny in places, and you certainly don't want to venture outside of it due to all the rocks and leftover tree stumps. 

The trip was so pretty with the rocky channels opening to marsh areas and of course all the High Peak Mountains surrounding the area.

We had to guess which side of this big rock to go around because there was no red marker. The lock tender said that periodically the DEC checks all the markers (and there were tons!) to make sure they are in place or need to be moved. Then they are removed for the winter and put back in, in the spring. What a huge job that must be with lots of local knowledge needed as to where they should be placed, especially on submerged rocks.

On the way back to Ticonderoga through all the mountains, the van started driving slower and slower towing the Sea Fox and trailer. We barely made it up to our house in Ticonderoga. In fact, as we backed into the driveway, the van stalled and wouldn't start again. Birthday luck was with us as we coasted backward just enough to get our entourage off the road. We looked at each other with wide eyes and laughed. Whew, we made it. Thank goodness Dave is a mechanic to keep most everything going 😉 and he has already determined that we need a new fuel pump (it IS a 1997 van after all). A big job, but at least all this didn't happen when we were way up north in the boondocks or on our way to Florida. We will remember this birthday for a long time for more ways than one!

😎