Outdoor Adventures with Gary Lee - Vol. 327

We got some well needed rain, one inch in thunderstorms Thursday and then a half inch in light rain much of Saturday. Most of that was soaked up by the forest as there was very little run off as my pond stayed at about the same level as a foot low. No migrating shore birds around bare edge yet, but I have seen them here in the past when it was this low just once. My Grandson Jake and I were at Woodhull Lake fishing and stumps in the lake that are normally just sticking out of the water were three feet showing. There was a bass under almost each one which made it fun fishing, so it was a catching day not just a fishing day.

There has been a considerable leaf drop already from the dryness, and this leaf cover will dry out extremely fast with any sunshine making surface fires in the woods possible. Be sure if you are out and about having a campfire to clear burnable stuff away and put it dead out before you leave. One of the only fires I had in the Moose River Area was caused by people camping on the north side of Squaw Lake and they built a fire on ground that was just duff (dead leaves and moss) it burned up a log under that duff and popped up about five feet away. That fire burned about three acres pushed by winds of an approaching storm over the ridge toward Beaver Lake putting out three spot fires in front of the main fire. Buster Bird picked me up on Beaver Lake and flew me over the fire as it was first reported on Beaver Lake. When he picked me up in the super cub and says sonny that fire is on Squaw Lake but it maybe here soon as he saw the three spot fires as he was landing. Being here only a month, I still had no equipment. So, I had portable pumps flown in by Herb Helms to Squaw Lake from the Forest Rangers Percy Stanton and Elmer Morrisey who came with their pumps from Long Lake which we used to fight the fire for over a week which was mostly underground in the two feet deep duff. That storm that was fanning the flames was a thunderstorm that dropped nearly two inches of rain but didn’t stop the fire. Forest Ranger Jerry Husson came in the next day and drove the DEC bulldozer down the old Lynn Tractor Road to the lake shore and built a fire line all the way around the fire. My trail crew of two and I pumped water on that for a solid week as it burned in the deep duff until it was out.

On Tuesday I got a report of a Loon down in a construction parking area south of Boonville. I went over and sure enough there was a Loon between some construction vehicles and four workers waiting to see what this Loon rescuer was going to do. I didn’t even take a picture, just got out my catch box and big net. It was a Loon and a big male bird. It didn’t appear to be injured by his hard landing, but they didn’t know how long he had been there because it was a long weekend and just came back and found him. I think he came down in the morning fog thinking it was water but hard water. I netted him quickly and got him from the net to the catch bin with only a small hard bit on my left thumb. I took him to Long Lake where I met Griffin from the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation. He took the bird to Saranac Lake where Nina Schoch x-rayed him for possible lead sinkers, took blood, feathers and banded and released him up that way. Saved another Loon so he could father more Loons in the future.

The Old Forge Garden Club had their annual plant sale at the Old Forge Library Saturday in the rain. We have a tent to get under and over two hundred different flowering plants and some odd planters, arrangements, and garden tools to sell and sell we did. The rain didn’t stop them, nor did it stop one of our members, Tara Potempa, who was out on the busy corner dressed like the flower lady directing customers our way. It was our best sale ever and we answered many questions about our flowers and where to plant them. Many will be blooming in gardens all around the Old Forge area next summer as most were deer resistant.

The Ninety Mile Canoe classic got off without a hitch but met some bumps along the way but that’s another story. See ya.

Photo above: Jake and nice Bass