Catch Up & Review: 2010 Part 2 Forked Lake; Lewey Lake

Our next trip was at the end of May to Forked Lake in the Adirondacks.  It is a primitive campground, and all the sites are walk-in or canoe-in.

We canoed out to our site on the tip of a little peninsula, and it was gorgeous!  We did some canoeing around the lake, a little fishing (caught nothing), and just relaxed taking in the beauty of the area. 

We also got to see a Loon for the first time while we were out in the canoe.

He hung around for quite a while and was very busy bathing and preening.  At night you can hear them calling out, which to me is one of the iconic sounds of nature.  I took a video of him, which is a little choppy, but you can see it here, or watch it on YouTube by clicking the title bar at the top of the embedded video.

Click this link to see the rest of the pictures from this trip.  Forked Lake 5/29/10 - 5/31/10.

At the end of July we made our annual journey to Lewey Lake and took our usual site on the water.

We set up camp and went down the road for a walk, came back, and went about relaxing.  We made dinner, and had just finished eating when Ken went down to the water to look around.  I was starting to clean up the food when I noticed movement in the woods.  It only took a few seconds to realize it was a bear, so I grabbed the camera and called Ken.  At first the bear was busy digging up a bee hive – great, that’s all we need!  Then he slowly meandered in our direction, possibly hearing us talking, or just having smelled the food.  This is my first bear sighting!  Very exciting!   So while I was taking video of it, Ken went to get the bear spray just in case.  Our campsite was near the road, and a couple was walking past, so Ken called them over to look at the bear with us.  The bear came over near the tent, seeming hesitant the whole time, and finally decided to take off.  He probably figured he could scare off two people from their food, but not four people.  Wise choice, or else he would’ve gotten a nasty pepper spray main course!  Here is the video.

The next day we went hiking on the Sis & Bubb Lakes Trail, which connects to the loop trail around Moss Lake.  It’s a popular trail, so we encountered many other hikers all along the way.  We did the whole hike, and although it was longer, it was pretty easy going.  The scenery was beautiful, and so was the weather.

Back at the campsite we had a couple more visitors, of the smaller, less threatening variety this time.  Little Mr. Red Squirrel was very busy inspecting all our things on the picnic table.

Amusingly, this duck heard Ken opening a bag of chips from way far away, out on the water, and made a beeline right for him.  He felt that since she had traveled such a great distance, she had earned a snack.  Photographic evidence of Ken’s soft spot!  Shhh, don’t tell anyone!

This was one fantastic trip!  We had great weather, had a nice hike, and got to see a bear up close.  It doesn't get much better than that! 

Follow this link to see all the pictures from this trip!  Lewey Lake 7/30/10 - 8/1/10