Placid Paddle

All I can say is, "WOW, what a day!" It was a sunny 84 degrees in Lake Placid, which was hotter than Florida. It rarely gets to 84 up there during the summer, let alone in October. Combine that gorgeous weather with the fall colors along the way, it was a 10+ trip. Oh, and add in paddling under Whiteface Mountain, classic boathouses and wooden boats, and the fun factor went off the charts.  

This boathouse had 6 wooden boats hiding in it (as it should be 😉). 

Birch bark adorns many of the homes and boathouses.

Oops. This wooden boat is a bit too large for its stall.

Nice moose!

Or how about a reindeer or elk in your yard?

I liked the Adirondack ski chair at this quaint house.

Wooden boats stashed everywhere...

The autumn colors were fantastic, but the leaves were starting to fall (our van was covered when we returned).

Great canine passenger in this classic aluminum Feathercraft...

We even found the remains of a couple of sunken boats while exploring a marshy bay.

On the way back to Ticonderoga we stopped at the park between the two fjord lakes in the Cascades. What a view from both directions, including along the road there.

We noticed that one of the lakes was higher than when we had kayaked there a few years ago. Then we saw why...beavers at work.

We really went out on a high note, since it was most likely our last kayaking adventure in the north country for this season. In a couple of days the temps will only be in the 50s which will really make us start thinking about migrating south with the geese!

Eagle Lake Reflections

Our beautiful fall weather continues! Eagle Lake was calling us to come back for one last paddle of the season and it was one of our finest kayaking adventures ever. The wind never kicked in, it was flat calm, and the reflections were phenomenal with the leaves starting to change. We do still have quite a bit of smoky haze in the air from the Canadian wild fires, but we are getting used to it, although it dulls my photo colors.

On the southern side of the causeway, we were stunned by the experience of two loons calling to each other (I presume trying to find out where the other one was), and then a warning cry went out when a bald eagle swooped down to either check them out or see if they had any fish to steal. Twice we saw the eagle do this and then fly into a tree. We tried to find the eagle for a photo, but it was too camouflaged in the pine trees. After that the loons stayed quite close together. I did get photos of the two loons on the main lake and noticed that the female was changing into her winter plumage, or perhaps it was a young one with only one parent getting its adult plumage. 

Snorkeling for lunch...

Turtle Island with Charles Island in the background:

Looking out from the beach, where we stopped to have a picnic:

We kayaked the whole lake and barely saw another person. What an amazing day and 82 degrees in October!