Day 199: July 17th – Back across the “Blue Line”

Will it ever end? Rain this morning, but sunny and 100 degrees in the PM!!!

       We departed Higley Flow and our friends John and Rosie this morning under rainy and cooler skies.  We figured we’d stop along the route home to get a few parting photos as we past through the Adirondack Park on the way home.  We had intermittent rain on the first leg of the journey giving the “dacks” a certain ethereal quality.

       The Raquette River, at 146 miles in length, is the third longest river entirely in the state of New York.  Traveling through the park, it seems you drive over or alongside this incredibly beautiful river every corner you turn.  The Raquette is a real mix of white water and impounded lakes and ponds and hence offers a great variety of habitat for a wide variety of wildlife.  The lakes and ponds are a perfect setting for the Common loons which nest in the Adirondack preserve, so it was a little disappointing to be heading home without a photo of one of these majestic birds to share on the blog. 

       But as Sharon says, “Never say ‘Never’”.  As we pulled off onto one of the overlooks, we both spotted what we first thought to be a stump.  Well, it was in fact a stump, except that within a minute or so, a loon popped up from beneath the surface right next to said log!  Shooting whenever  the loon would surface for minute before diving down once again, I managed to get a distant and yet suitable shot as I wished for….one that is now part of this blog. 

       Later at the Visitor’s Information Center along Route 28N in Newcomb, we heard the eerie wail of one of the loons from a nearby Rich Lake.  We also had one of our favorite wildflowers, the Indian Blanket flower, along the roadside.  By now, the sun had reappeared and the temperature was beginning to rise…..signs of things to come.

        We arrived back home in the Hudson Valley by mid-afternoon with temperatures topping the century mark.  This has to be one of the hottest July’s on record and we are only half way through the month.  What will the remainder of the summer bring?  Stay tuned!