Skip, Kathryn and I met Matt at Hoss’ Corner Store in Long Lake at 9:30 and we proceeded to Lows Lake. We were paddling on Hitchins Pond by 10:30. We ended up at campsite #27 which had a nice view of Lows Lakes. We saw several loons including one that kept shaking its foot – we suspected monofilament line was wrapped around the foot.

We enjoyed a meal of tacos with dessert of peach shortcake. We played a little pitch and turned in for the evening. Wednesday morning we were paddling across a dead quiet lake by 7:30.

It was an hour paddle to the portage trail from Lows Lake to Oswegatchie. Skip and I single carried the canoes while Kathryn and Matt took their packs and tied on the extra canoe paddles and life jackets. It was .7 mile from Lows Lake to Deer Pond and 2.3mile from Deer Pond to campsite #4 at the Oswegatchie River. We would stop every 20-30 minutes for a rest and it took us about 3 hours to complete the portage. There was a hornet’s nest in the roots of the overturned tree at the top of the highest elevation point so we didn’t tarry long at that rest area.

I had estimated ~45 minutes to reach Camp Johnny/Site #11 – 2 and ½ hours later we stopped at Site #9 for lunch of wraps at 2:30 as we were pretty whipped. We counted over 40 beaver dams / dead falls that required getting out of the canoe, lifting and re-entry. By the time we reached High Falls we were hot and tired and only briefly paused for pictures and a quick splash below the falls.

There were lots of folks camping at the falls and sites below. We stopped at Site #22 to access the spring, tank up and refill all our water bottles. We camped across the stream and enjoyed Matt’s dinner of sweet and sour chicken with rice.

The next morning we launched for Wanakena arriving before noon. Matt and I portaged our canoes to Wanakena arriving around noon. Kathryn went to the General Store for a Gatorade and after dinner drinks. Kathryn took a sip and complained of a sinus headache. I took a drink and it triggered my atrial fibulation. I immediately took heart medication and paddled leisurely to the Pine Tree Restaurant where we had a late lunch. I laid out and relaxed, two hours later I was recovered, but the group had made the decision to plug on the trip. The owner of the Pine Tree Restaurant provided a ride back to our cars at Lows Lake and we returned home a day early. Since then I have researched triggers for Atrial Fibulation and found that in one study icy cold drinks triggered 12% of Atrial Fibulation events – a hard lesson to learn.

Additional pictures are at http://www.jimmuller.com/canoe-trips/lows-lake-to-cranberry/

This has been an active week. As you know there has been some preparation now that my new job is about to start. I will be working with a colocation service called venyu. They’ve been around for a while, and being well established they get a lot of business, so it should be a good company to work for. I’m pretty stoked. Handling information in remote secure servers is not something I’ve worked with before, but I do have the computer science studies to back me up, which is how I got the job. I can’t wait to learn the ins and outs. New stuff is always sort of refreshing right? I’ll let you guys know how it goes as time goes on. In the meantime, here’s the tried and true weekly roundup to hold us over!

• • • Saturday we did a day trip to Sand Lake (see below)
    • Sunday we attended a wedding reception for Joe Riolo, a long time co-worker and friend at the Marcy Town Park.  We enjoyed good food, a good band and Eric got to attend with us.
    • Wednesday I worked at the Airborne Network Technology Expo.  The conference highlights plans and approaches to deploy an Airborne Network.  I helped the 18 vendors set up for their demonstrations and trade show presentations.
    • Thursday I went to Syracuse for business meetings with Syracuse Research Corporation.
    • Friday we went to Mark and Danielle’s wedding.

On Saturday we did a day trip into Sand Lake. It requires a 1/2 portage to the lake including a short section that is normally quite boggy. The portage combined with the soggy and uneven trail means that few people visit the 300 acre lake. We packed in lunches and fishing gear for the day. We picnicked on big rock that permitted wading, fishing and sunning.

We shared the rock with at least 4 garter snakes, one of which had recently eaten something large that created quite a bulge.

  We caught a few small fish and notably Eric and I took our 1st canoe trip with him paddling – previously he has been a passenger or only playing at paddling.  In the picture below he was working on his back paddle as we approached shore.

Saturday night we went to see Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks ( http://www.danhicks.net/ ) at the Earlville Opera House ( http://www.earlvilleoperahouse.com/ ). The music is a blend Gypsy Jazz, Western Swing, Jazz, Jump, Be-Bop, Folk and Country music to create the a sound he sometimes calls “Folk Jazz”.

Sample Dan Hicks performances can be seen at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiERMbv4AMs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu1n0Rh6ylA

Twenty years ago we used to frequent Spy Lake for quick overnight canoe camping. Spy Lake is close, has 5 designated campsites and it has a remote feeling. Then the private landowners installed a gate and although Spy Lake is ¾ surrounded by NYS land there was no easy access.

When Ed was a little boy (-20 years) Ed, Kathryn, myself and our friend Rich put in on the Piseco Lake outlet off Route 10 and paddled into Spy Lake using the Spy Lake outlet. I remember it as small, twisty and having a half dozen beaver dams that required lift-overs, but largely navigable.

On Friday evening Skip and I revisited Spy Lake via the Spy Lake outlet. It was small, twisty and extremely shallow.The dry summer has left SpyLake water levels down and subsequently the outlet has very little water. Our short trip in took about 90 minutes.We counted 6 lift-overs , 8 ‘scoot-overs’ and one “involved maneuver”.An inch or two of additional water would make this a much more pleasant trip.The outlet is so narrow that it would cause issues for double bladed paddlers.

We arrived at Spy Lake around 7:30pm, set up camp on Campsite #5 and sans a fire we enjoyed an evening sitting on the beach watching the sun set and the stars pop out. At night we were serenaded by an active loon population. Saturday morning we toured the lake and inspected the other campsites.

After exiting Spy Lake outlet we proceeded up Mud Lake outlet where we saw a brood of ducks riding on their mother’s back and we believe we saw two otters. Although shallow we only had one lift over navigating the Mud Lake outlet. Pictures are at: http://www.jimmuller.com/canoe-trips/spy-lake/

On Wednesday Kathryn and Eric took Amtrak from Rome to WDC with friends Linda, Bonnie and Cindy. They visited the National Zoo on Thursday and the Mall on Friday. Our friends Kent & Kathy flew in on Friday with their two daughters Marisa and Julia. Everyone returned to Rome by train on Saturday.

On Sunday we packed up the camping gear, hooked up our pop-up camper and went to Soft Maple Reservoir for an overnight camping trip. It was the girls 1st opportunity to go canoeing (with mixed results) and Marisa caught her 1st fish in the same ‘below the dam’ fishing hole where Eric caught his 1st fish at age 2.

Upon our return home on Monday evening ate a fantastic meal out on the deck and enjoyed some bird watching before yielding to a night filled with fire flies. The kids caught several in a jar before releasing them. It was one of the nights that was so nice you dreaded going inside to sleep it away- but we did. The next morning I transported our guests back to the train station where they departed for WDC and the rest of their vacation.

Saturday morning I went to look at a horse. Lotza Hot is a 9 year old AQHA mare that is western pleasure bred – by of Hotroddin Zippo who is by Zips Chocolate Chip and out of a mare by Hotrodders Jet Set. On her bottom side she is out of a mare sired by Speedy Pine Glow. She is a nice size ~15.2H, cute, quiet and nice to be around. This coming week I am hauling her to a vet to be examined for lameness issues.

Saturday Kathryn and Eric were on their way to check out a garage sale and they discovered a male wood turtle crossing the road about ½ mile from our house. Kathryn recovered the turtle, we took some pictures, and we relocated the turtle to a woodland stream environment. This turtle may have come with a story, but first some background on Wood Turtles.

Wood Turtles live in a relatively small area of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States.Within this range, this turtle is generally uncommon to rare and spottily distributed. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation lists wood turtles as a Species of Special Concern.

Wood Turtles are usually found in association with moving water.Wood turtles are described as a woodland species, but in some places they thrive in a mosaic habitat of riparian woods, shrub or berry thickets, swamps, and open, grassy areas.Wood turtles are active from late April until late October when they burrows in mud or near some underwater structure during hibernation.Their diet includes wild berries, mushrooms, dandelions, and many other plants are eaten; while earthworms, insects, mollusks, and carrion comprises the carnivorous portion of their diet.

Wood turtles live to roughly the same age as humans, that is, 75 to 80 years old with sexual maturation around 10 to 15 years of age. The wood turtle is thought to be one of the most intelligent turtles, being able to complete simple mazes. Lots more information on Wood Turtles can be found at http://www.woodturtle.com/index.html

In an earlier phase of her life my sister Barbara had several turtles and tortoises including 3 wood turtles: two males (Moss and Oak) and a female (Trillium). Upon her divorce in 1981 Barbara dispersed her turtles and brought her Wood Turtles back to NYS. The winter of their return they the three wood turtles stayed with Kathryn and I as Barbara sorted out her living arrangements. Fortunately during the winter the turtles were in a semi-hibernation state and while they were active they did not poop – the perfect pet.

In the spring of 1982 I built an outside pen for the 3 turtles. Unfortunately, Moss was the dominant male and constantly chased Oak, when he wasn’t chasing Trillium. Finally, Oak had enough and climbed the 4’ fence to escape. We never saw him again. My sister thinks she first got her wood turtles around 1975 to 1977, which of course is 30 years ago. At this point Oak would now be in his fifties. If this turtle is Oak, he looks pretty good especially for a “more mature gentleman”. We relocated Oak (we think) to a woodland stream habitat more suitable than our paved road.

More pictures of Oak and the relocation are at:
http://www.jimmuller.com/Pictures/2007_06_09WoodTurtle/WoodTurtle.html