Hey Don,

It wasn't the same without you but it was great to see Alan on the water again.  

It was a familiar gang:  Scott, Mark, Alan, Kaare, Mo, John VB, Agatha from last year and Joy (a middle school art teacher from Glens Falls) who was very pleasant and a very good paddler especially given her limited experience.

 

The weather looked ominous Friday morning, dark clouds over Peebles Island where we rendezvoused. We then got all the boats up to Schuylerville and it took until almost 11 a.m. to do the shuttle to get the cars back to Peebles.  A photographer from the TU came and Joy and I got our picture in  the paper.   Mark from the Greenway and Steve from the Canal Corp sent us on our way.

By the time we started it was partly sunny and we had a pleasant day of paddling.  As always Mark at lead and Alan on sweep.  Had to stop several times so people could shed layers as it got warmer.  Locking through #4 went smoothly and we camped again on the lock park.  

Alan brought turkey chili, Mark cooked as well and as always we had too much to eat.  It was definitely a cool but clear night.  I thought of you nice and warm in Florida.  (I shared your birthday card) We had a fire and Scott and Mark had lots of stories to share.  As we went to sleep we could hear the announcer from the Stillwater soccer game.

Saturday was sunny and mild and several of us ended up with sun burns.  Before we left the lockkeeper showed us all the mechanics of the lock and we watched while he locked a boat through.  #4 has about a 16' rise and there is a decent amount of turbulence in the lock when he filled it up.  He estimated about a million 5 gallons per lock through.

 Did locks 3, 2 and 1 on Saturday.  The wind was in our face but less than 5 mph.  And of course no tide to worry about.  Mark made crab cakes for lunch.  Damn, another tough day on the water.  Saw a bunch of herons, egrets and bald eagles.  We camped at Peebles Island.  Landed in mud, no way around it.

John VB brought venison sausages which he grilled and served with peppers and onions.  Mark provided beef with portobello mushrooms.   Joy provided home-made pickles and relish and great oatmeal brownies.  

It was certainly an urban camping experience with the sound of sirens in the background.  Right after we all turned in there was a lengthy fireworks display, probably from Cohoes.  Then a bunch of local kids wandered through the camp until Mark and Scott got them to find somewhere else in the park to hang out.  We get back to sleep and then the loudest of the kids returned a couple hours later looking  for his book-bag.

Sunday was a grey day.  We started out by shuttling our cars down to the take out at the Albany city launch.  Then the rest of the day was a piece of cake, the water like glass.  Got a chance to paddle along side with everyone at one time or another, enjoyed them all.   Joy, Kaare and Mo took lots of pictures.  Even after we went through the federal lock and had the tide against us we averaged 4 mph.  

Ended too soon, as always.

No accidents, no excitement, no terrible weather, all in all a very pleasant paddle.

We may do island camping on Lake George on Columbus Day weekend, it looks like it will be Alan, Kaare, maybe Robin, Ruth, maybe Mark.  If the winds aren't bad we may do Valcour on Champlain instead.

Everyone says hello and asks who is carrying all my stuff now that you are gone.  We all miss your pizza (and your cheery morning face).

TTFN (best to Lisa!)

bruce