The best fisher on the river

Ever try to open your pelican case and pull out your camera all in a tipsy canoe, with a student scared that he is about to take a swim in the Ausable River? Its all in a days work.

Not often do you get to see such a display. I didn't have my camera out right away for this one, but after some fumbling in the canoe I managed to get these two shots.

Our subject here is an Osprey, and with a wingspan up to 6 ft I wouldn't want to be a trout in his home range. This is the only raptor that plunges into the water feet first for fish.

I feel lucky, and have only witnessed this one other time when I was working at Shaver's Creek Environmental Center in Petersburgh PA.

This encounter came while canoeing at work (yes, I know my job is tough) on the Ausable River right here in Lake Placid.

Lake George Tri

Its been a long time since my last post. I have started bar tending, and my recreation time as seen a swift downhill, and when I do get the chance, I usually forget to lug along the camera. Last weekend Heather competed in the Lake George Triathlon in beautiful Lake George, NY. The race was Olympic distance, and she finished 5th in her age group. We went with a good size group all from Lake Placid, and everyone had a good time. My favorite part was staying in the comfort suites a brand new hotel with a sweet water slide into the pool, and very nice mattresses.

Race morning was cold and rainy, but by the time the bike finished the rain was gone for the day. I didn't get any pics of the swim because of the wetness. Here are pics of Heather and one of Travis on the bike.

So hopefully this is back to posting for this kid, I will try and stay diligent.

Enjoy the pics, and until next time.

Matthew

Hole Brothers

Josh recently returned back to the north country in favor of better weather and natural rivers. To celebrate his return we headed to the only thing running right now, Hole Brothers on the Black River. Located in Watertown, NY it is about 2.5 hours from the house. The day was beautiful and we surfed all day. These shots were taken around sunset, so we didn't have the best quality light. There are some pics of Josh blunting, and his classic one handed spin. The others are of me going big, looping and throwing some airwheels.

Enjoy.

Hulls Falls

Just upstream from Champange Falls is Hulls Falls. There is a lead in rapid followed by the big drop. When Champange is getting a bit on the low side, this is the place to be. Michelle nailed the line. I was a bit to far right on the drop on one of my lines and ended up upside down in the middle of it. Luckily I still have my face.

Gotta love park n' huck.

The Cottage

Heather and I just moved to Lake Placid from Saranac Lake. Here is our nice little cottage. Enjoy hiking, paddling, running, biking, or just relaxing in the mountains? Come pay us a visit!

Our local creek playground.

In Keene, NY just 10 minutes from my front door lies our little creek playgroud, the upper east branch of the Ausuable River. This little gem is the only thing running right now while all other runs are near summer flows. The creek offers good lines from boofs to slot moves at all levels. As they go up, the holes get stickier and the lines become a bit more technical. Class IV+ at lower levels up to class V+ when the rain dumps on us or early in the spring. Its just a great spot to get out in your boat and get some laps on.

The pics are of Michelle in the Champange Falls section. Consists of 5 drops in around .5 miles.

Enjoy

Turkey Season

Its been quite some time since my last post. I've finally got the internet set up in my new place, so I going to make an effort to catch up on some posts with things I've been up to in the past month. For this entry, I traveled back to Bluestone to do some spring turkey hunting. It was the second Saturday and I set up for the morning. Nothing was happening, I spooked a bird off the roost around 5:45 am, so my hopes for the day were diminishing. Around 8:00am I decided to move up the mountain and call some. Around 8:15 only 200 yds from my original location I let out a few yelps and this big tom gobbled back at me. After exchanging in some calls with him, about 10-15 minutes later he came running in to my decoy. The big tom was hot, and I wasted no time taking him with my Winchester 1300 (AKA the turkey slayer) somewhere between 25-30 yds. Examining the bird, I realized it had a double beard. The big one is about 9.5" and the small one is 8". I heard a rumor it might be the first double bearded takin by a hunter at Bluestone. It weighed to my guess about 20lbs and the spurs were over an inch long.

It was good to visit the cabin and hunt with my father, and taking the tom made it even better.

Enjoy the pics.

morning shot

Recent shot I took right before the sun was coming up the other morning. Taken from the lodge road.

Rents pay a visit to the SL

Recently my parents finally made it up to the Adirondacks for a visit. We were busy and the time just flew buy. It was great seeing them, and sharing some of the things I love to do with them. I find myself lucky in that aspect. All and all we they were here for 4 days. We went to Whiteface, where my mom got the best spill award for the day. We did some wine tasting, visited the ORDA museum, and did some cross country skiing at Dewey Mtn. I wish I was able to take more photos while they were here, but here are some of the fun ones I got. Until next time.

Yesterday there were 5500 people at Whiteface so I opted to check out Azure Mtn. for some
glade action on my snowboard. When I arrived at the base, it was warm and sunny outside, a
great day for photos I thought. By the time I reached the summit the wind was blowing around 30 mph and it was sleeting. I was able to get some shots of the road there, the fire tower, inside the tower, and what was left of the view from the top.

Azure Mtn. is located near the town of Santa Clara, NY and near is a stretch, about a ten mile drive down a snowmobile trail, which made me glad to have the Rav4. The elevation is about 2700 feet, and the hike to the top is short a bit over a mile. This gave me the opportunity to do 2 laps of the glades, which are the better then I have found at any resort.

I was there by myself, so I didn't get any action snowboarding shots, but I hope you enjoy the pics posted.
Until next time.

Giant Mountain

Today Lauren and I hiked to the summit of Giant Mountain, the 12th highest peak in NY state. The day was perfect, with great visibility, and a warm sun, we couldn't ask for much more. The slides on Giant don't have enough snow to board down due to our recent January Thaw which had me a bit depressed, but the view from the top put me in a much better mood. This only #4 on my list of 46ers completed, and I'm going to try and bag a new one every other week from here until I leave the Adirondacks.

The views here can't be matched in the east, and goes to show that a little land preservation goes along way.

Until next time, Enjoy the winter.

Matthew

Molly and Murph visit the Dacks

Molly and Murphy came up for a weekend visit, we went to whiteface, got drunk, then did it again. The sun was out, the temps were great, but we could use a bit more snow after the January thaw.