As I mentioned in my last blog, my son wanted to go camping for his birthday. This thought absolutely delighted me. Unfortunately we would have to cut it short as other family members wanted to do a small party for him. We made the best of it that we could. Now one of the biggest challenges was in finding a spot to camp as almost all campgrounds were closed and many of the free sites we visit were gated. After some research I came up with a few ideas to try. We drove up into the Adirondacks Saturday morning and struck out at the first two ideas but then we found a great site near water. No I am not going to reveal the location other than between Eagle Bay and Raquette Lake. The boy was excited to be out in the woods again! Once we picked a site we set up our tent and discovered holes in the screen. The holes had been made by a miscreant chipmunk people had previously fed from last year. That is what we believe happened because I swear I heard it trying to climb on the tent that night. We set up anyway and hoped the cool weather would keep the bugs at bay.. (I did reach out to Eureka about mending the tent when we got home. After some miscommunication they fixed the tent for free!) Once everything was set up we explored the area on foot. After exploring it was cookout time with hot dogs, hamburgers and pasta salad. There is nothing quite like a burger cooked over an open fire. My husband tended the fire while I took sometime to shoot the setting sun over the big pond below our site. My son grabbed a lantern and followed me down. He happily floated boats (sticks and leaves) while I tried to compose the perfect scene. I even photographed the very soon to be birthday boy on his last evening of being a six year old. It was quiet and serene, the air was clean. Then when it started to get quite dark I photographed one of the lanterns next to the water. With sun gone we climbed the hill back up to camp where a warm fire greeted us. It was perfect for roasting smores and gazing at the stars! It was a very, very cold night. The boy seemed to sleep okay. I couldn't quite get warm enough and neither could my husband. I should have packed the big double zero degree bag but I was not sure if I would have to hike to our campsite, which thankfully we did not . Let's just say when we got up the fire was rekindled and the kettle was put on to boil. It was exciting to have hot cocoa for breakfast! Once the boy was awake and cleaned up I gave him his birthday present. Not overly exciting but he had been wanting his own adult size camp chair in bright red! Daddy of course had an even more exciting gift for him at home that he would open after his second round of cake and ice cream! Once we were sufficiently warmed up we grabbed the cameras and hit the mysterious hiking trail across the road from our tent site. It seemed to join another trail and a few spurs seemed to join to that trail. We had followed one spur the day before to a pretty pond with a floating dock. Sadly the few photos I took did not turn out as the dock had moved with every footfall. So we let the birthday boy pick the direction and whenever he got whiny and wanted to turn around one of us would point out something ahead and ask what is that. The whining would cease and he would race to see the next discovery. Turns out the woods were filled with broken down motor boats! They lined the path on both sides! Then we came across a small pond and when I looked down the trail i thought I could see a lake and a small town. This renewed the child and we wound up hiking all the way to Raquette Lake from our campsite. The Raquette Lake Navigation company had their big tour boat docked on the lake.. Our son naturally wanted to go on a cruise but the crew was busy painting and mending the boat for the busy summer season. Maybe someday we will get a tour of the lake. We walked on a little further, and took a short rest on the shore of the lake. Then the boys booked it back to camp as I hobbled after them. The tendonitis in my feet had flared quite badly. They did stop and wait for me at the turn off before beating me back to camp. Once there we packed up camp being very careful not to leave any trace of our visit. Then it was off to celebrate with family. He absolutely loved camping. I wonder what he will request this year and if we will be able to make it happen.
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Julie MetottNature Photographer, wife, mother, lover of outdoor adventure! Archives
November 2022
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