We had gotten caught up on all of our work one day last August and thought it would be a good chance to get a short paddle in on the Raquette River . We had family visiting who had had never been to the Adirondacks so this would be a chance to make a good first impression. We started out with no plan other then launch from the “Crusher” which is a mile down the road from the Northwood Cabins. Great launch site with easy access. We dropped the canoe in and headed up river to see where the day and the river would take us. Flat water, bright sunshine, light breeze, and no crowds, we were able to check all these off our wish list. If I had been faster with my camera I would have been able to get a picture of the otters sunning themselves on the shore. Unfortunately, as quick as they saw us, they were gone, leaving no more then a few ripples on the surface to show that they had been there.
We took our time and made it as far as the lean-to at Trombley Landing where we were greeted by a sign that read “Closed for repairs.” Odd but, as we weren’t staying the night there was no worry. We took the short trail from the river up to the lean-to to see what was going on. Well, it seems that the fine folks from Lean2Rescue were up to something. The “something’ was their ongoing volunteer efforts to rebuild and repair lean-to’s through out the Adirondacks. We were able to get a “before” picture as the work was scheduled to start in a couple of days. It was definitely time as the lean-to was leaning to one side and had a pretty noticeable sag in it’s roof.
After a brief conversation with a hiker who had spent the night it was time to head back. With the current at our back it took little effort to arrive back at the Crusher.