Saturday, May 31, 2008

Day 8


28May2008

Spent the morning getting our gear together and loading up in Saranac Lake. Said farewell to Fogarty's (it will be missed) and hauled the boat on the portage cart right through downtown to the put in on the water. Had to stop at traffice lights and everything - funny.

Paddled out of town along the Saranac - the river actually goes right through the downtown - under bridges and along buildings. It felt like traveling in a canal. We were well rested and made excellent time to the portage at Permanent Rapids (10.6 miles away.)

A sketchy portage along River Rd. (cars and trucks did not slow down - plus lots of blind corners and hills...yikes!) Put in at a nice campsite on the other end and paddled out to Franklin Falls Pond. Good breeze kept the blackflies down and there were so many peepers their chorus was deafening!

Excellent view of the sunset - 12.6 miles total for today. Not too bad considering we started after noon and had a long portage right in the middle!

Weather: Sunny and clear - cooling down temp-wise

Wildlife: 2 deer, beaver, a HUGE snapping turtle right out of pre-history!, black duck on the nest, heron, hummingbirds, and a river otter.

"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters." ~Norman Maclean

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