Outdoor Adventures with Gary Lee - Vol. 277
Autumn began yesterday and I spent it up on Stillwater Mountain as a steward greeting people who came up to see the view and the beautiful leaves. I had sixty visitors during the day, one church group of over thirty young people and six leaders. They had a prayer for Karen under the tower before going back down. One member of the group came all the way back up the tower to give me a hug. I got up there for sunrise and I had the first three hours to myself sitting in the sun on the upper landing. There was a pack of coyotes howling to the west and the red squirrels were upset with me as they were dropping red spruce cones down from the tops of the trees around the tower. It was so quiet you could hear the cones bouncing off the branches as they went to the ground. A flock of Black Capped Chickadees came through and with them were some Ruby Crowned Kinglets and Red Breasted Nuthatches. The Nuthatches stayed around most of the day and the squirrels were still scolding me when I left the tower at four thirty. I did meet a family of six going up and another two men going up near the bottom. I asked if they had lights, as it could be dark when they came back down. They said they did, but the family did not. Just after I got into the truck there was a light rain shower as a black cloud passed overhead so they may even have gotten a little wet on their hike.
Speaking of Karen, we put her to rest at the feet of her mother as per her wishes in the East Galway Cemetery on Saturday afternoon with most of the family present. Michael said a few words to lead her on her new journey and I thank him for that. My sister Wendy had a few seashells from the beach at Sanibel which went with her. It was a beautiful day under the big white cedar trees and the birds were singing all around the cemetery. Before that we had a get together at The Factory, Creekside Room in Ballston Spa for family and friends down that way where we grew up together, so they could say their goodbyes. Her only sister Dawn, who was two years older than Karen, was there with her daughter Raynee. It was nice to see them and other family and friends from down that way. On the way to the cemetery, we went by our homes where Karen and I grew up as neighbors and her father’s little farm on Galway Road where we lived in a trailer the first two years we were married before moving to Inlet in 1966. Traveling back north we went from the cemetery west on Route 29 to the Fish House Road which goes to the Great Sacandaga Lake. We crossed the Batchellerville Bridge going to Northville on the same route I took to work during the winter of 65-66 at the DEC Office there. I made several new fire tower maps that winter and folded USGS maps on Cartex paper backing for each Forest Ranger in the district. We hit Route 30 north through Wells, Speculator, and Indian Lake to home on 28 just before dark that day.
With so many people to thank during this time of passing and sharing in our lives I hope to get to all of you before too long. So many have donated to local causes in Karen’s name, and I hope to thank them personally as I get their names as she touched so many.
It was a beautiful week weather wise, and I took advantage of that by pulling some of my Loon platforms and viewing Loons with young along the way with my son-in-law David. On Twitchell Lake we saw all three young loons, two were feeding on their own and one other was still begging for food from mother as we passed by them. On Dart’s Lake we saw the pair of adults who didn’t nest that we know of. We lost the banded male there last fall and it takes a year or more sometimes for a new pair to nest for the first time, courtship I guess, you need to get to know your mate as you fish together. I pulled the two platforms on Gray Lake and only saw the banded female while I was there. Then I took out the platform from Fifth Lake. The Loons there nested within fifteen feet of the platform and lost their nest to high water for the second year. Maybe they will get on the platform next year and stay above water for their first successful nesting. Still one to get out by Alba Island in Fourth Lake which Loons used and had two chicks from there this year. They lost one to boat traffic but still had one chick last week.
We have been chasing the northern lights but not catching it locally. My grandson Nathan got some good shots out north of Rochester a couple of weeks ago.
Free fishing day in New York State this Saturday, the 28th, and the Great Moose Festival in Indian Lake this weekend but that’s another story. I have a Moose hike to Rock Dam at nine on Saturday, meet at Limekiln Gate. See ya.
Photo above: Northern Lights by Nathan Lee
