Blog Archive » 2007 » July

Paddling around Lake Harris, part of the headwaters of the Hudson River (see the small stream that becomes the mighty Hudson above top, and a sign along the way pointing to Mt. Marcy just about 10 miles away and NY City about 200 miles away), I reflected on the restorative effects of spending a whole day on the water, and the ways in which it's much better continuing education for my day job than any conference or self-help book. Don't believe me? Well, here are just a few of the lessons I've learned when kayaking that seem pretty relevant to the rest of my life.

1. No matter how pretty the day and calm the lake when you launch, invariably you will hit strong headwinds and waves as you try to get back to shore. I can't recall a paddle that was smooth water start to finish. I have learned to go out anticipating winds and waves even when the water looks very flat. I've learned to stop being annoyed by the sudden changes in weather, instead greeting them as challenges that I've learned to use to my advantage. Paddling in a headwind is hard work but very exhilarating and great exercise! And just like real work! Who among us has a placid day from start to finish?

2. There's a thin line between a good risk and a stupid move! It's one thing to anticipate some wind and waves… quite another to launch with thunderclouds overhead. Knowing how to read the weather is essential, along with learning how to read the water — what's just under that apparently smooth surface, like rocks and logs, can ruin a beautiful day. Being able to recognize risks and paddle around them is a good life skill for a college president!

3. Speaking of risk management — wear a lifevest! It's not for sissies. See #1 and #2 …. weather and paddling conditions can change rapidly, and being prepared is the best defense against disaster. Anticipating risk, planning effective strategies to cope with risk while still enjoying the journey…. isn't that what effective administrators do all day long?

4. Pause frequently to enjoy the abundant wildlife. Appreciating the mysterious rhythms and calls and colors of the ducks and birds and furry things around the lake is an essential ethic of wilderness life. Learning to listen, observe and appreciate all of the life around us is an essential part of effective teaching and leadership, too.

5. To keep up your paddling skills and muscles, you have to do it regularly. Ouch. Getting out there for the first long trip this season is memorable if for no other reason that a few sore spots! Resolved: to keep up this most pleasurable pastime back home on the great waterways around Washington.

PS — got some great comments on my blog on the hatchlings, many more on every lake, see another photo above.

Tomorrow: Loons and more Loons!!

Chicks are in season in the Adirondacks…. no, not tall blond babes, though some of these are sorta yellowish and all are babies. The fashionable chicks of the forest are short and fuzzy and waddle around on webbed feet or baby claws.

And with each little gaggle of hatchlings comes a fierce warrior mother, ready to screech, flap her wings and possibly scratch your eyes out if you don't just move along and stop taking pictures of her darlings!

The Ruffed Grouse (seen here in the tall grass with little chicks near her feet) can be found all over the place right now, single moms with long lines of little waddlers in tow. Haven't seen a male grouse anywhere…. hmmm…. As soon as this mother hen spotted me she flapped her wings and started the loudest squawking imaginable. Now I know what it means when someone is "grousing"… it's loud and unpleasant!

The Wood Duck and her baby (see photo of them paddling around on Bear Pond this morning) were going along calmly until they spotted a photographer nearby, then they sped up… and right behind them, from under a bridge, a burst of ducklings paddling their little hearts out to keep up with mom. Off in the distance, too far for the lens, there was quite a gathering of loons, and when they sensed a dangerous presence (me) they set off a symphony of their loud and strangely beautiful calls.

Life in the wild can be very harsh for the young. Predators abound, and small wobbly chicks make tasty snacks. So the law of nature is the instinctively protective female fiercely guarding her young until they can make it on their own — which might be in just a few days or weeks, depending on when she decided they're old enough to kick them out of the nest. Til then, she does her best to keep strangers away.

Yes, they're back…. Adirondack Chronicles! All new tales from the north woods…. This one is Part V because I ended with Part IV last July…

Arriving late last Friday evening, the first thing I noticed about the Adirondacks this year is the cold… wonderful! Skimming close to 40 degrees at night, in the 60's during the day, real blanket and sweater weather! In July, no less…

But even more delicious than the cold… the silence at night. Complete quiet, save for the lapping of water against the dock, and the occasional wind through the trees. I immediately went out to the dock and sat for an hour enjoying the cool, quiet night. I know the path to the dock well by now, having rented this little cottage every summer for the last decade or so. The owners have become wonderful friends, and though we only see each other once a year, the intervening months quickly fade to memory as we reconnect over the more urgent concerns of the north woods: take a hike or go boating today? fishing or photo shoot? sleep-in or watch the sun rise over South Pond? So many choices…. and no stress in any of them!

Been here three days and so far here's my wildlife spotting count: one black bear cub, two red foxes with bushy tails, three wild turkeys, a bevy of grouses and grouselings, blue heron, yellow finches, various other colorful birds. By the end of the week I'll have a veritable menagerie!

Life is good in the North Country. But the stress points here are also obvious: not enough business opportunities for the permanent residents, "summer people" invading for a few weeks without a true understanding of the hardships in the long winter preceding. Talk of a new resort up in Tupper Lake is a clarion to take sides: development or conservation, progress or stasis.

Good news near Long Lake: the Nature Conservancy has purchased 161,000 acres from the logging company Finch Pruyn, ensuring that this truly beautiful stretch of forest in the central Adirondacks will someday join the "forever wild" forest when the logging operation ends 20 years hence. I'll be out hiking on some of that tract tomorrow… hunting for more wildlife sightings and enjoying the simple pleasures of life in the woods.

More to come…