My good friend Tony is a craftsman of many talents. When I first met him when I had hair and his was brown, he was building drift boats for steelhead fishing on the Salmon River, the River of No Return Salmon, not the one here in New York. Then he started building an airplane. I trusted him enough to go fly in it. Several years ago he built a cedar strip canoe, from plans! Not a kit. Now he is building old style Tear Drop campers, like the ones his grandpa and father had back in the day. It is those two last projects I thought of today as we rode through the central Adirondacks following lake after lake. I envisioned what is was like to have camped here in the late 40’s and 50’s, pulling a tear drop camper with a woody station wagon carrying a cedar strip canoe.
Last night we sat in our Adirondack chairs staring off across the highway into the lake. It was calm. Henri wasn’t playing with us yet. The song of Loons could be heard across the water. Oh to have Tony’s canoe. Tony, take that new grand daughter of yours on a road trip of nostalgia to Inlet, NY. Y’all will have a blast.
It rained last night and into the morning. By the time we woke up and park it had stopped. Rhonda needed some supplements at the drug store so we rode our bikes two miles into town on wet tarmac and found the market open. We also grabbed some yogurt and bananas for breakfast. We were not in a rush to hit the road and ate on the porch sitting in our Adirondack chairs. So comfortable. But we did have 50 miles to go. We loaded up and started out the gravel driveway and hit the lip of highway and quickly turned to stay in the roads shoulder. And as I did, my rear tire rolled on itself and popped the bead and all that sealant spewed out. Long story short, the local bike shop opened in an hour giving us more time to rest and the weather to clear.
We were off by 10:30, thanks to the Pedals and Petals bike shop and Cherie at Deer Meadows for the shuttle. Our second breakfast stop in Raquette turned out to be first lunch. The roads were smooth and getting dry. The traffic fair. Raquette Lake was pretty. Tony’s canoe would have to compete with motor boats and such.
We then rode on to Blue Mountain Lake. The whole ride was beautiful. We experienced some light drizzle but Henri stayed clear. The climb out of Blue Mountain was the steepest, longest and hardest climb since western Montana. Of course the sun came out and the temps rose with the elevation. But we made it and earned the downhill into Long Lake, our last chance to resupply and get some food. Our camp is 15 miles out on Harris Lake near Newcomb who someone at Deer Meadows says is the town that isn’t.
Dinner was a can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew. Still as tasty as it was 45 years ago when I first started my outdoor adventures. We are staying on Harris Lake at a NY State Forest campground. Very quiet. The camp sites are spread out. There is no electrical connections and therefore no RVs. The lake is still, the sky is blue. Henri had left. A perfect setting for a cedar strip canoe.
No comments:
Post a Comment