Hunting Away The Gathering Days: Autumn 2025

Posted on December 18, 2025December 18, 2025 by Greg Washburn

Winter solstice is but a few days away but we’ve been having winter weather for some time now. Our first snow in Macomb was around November 16th. There’s been lots of snow up in Santa Clara and the Adirondacks in general this autumn. Now that it’s mid December, the snow doesn’t seem like anything but fairly normal. A cold snap brought some recent single digit weather and even some negative temperatures. -8 degrees in Santa Clara one night! Brrr!

Hunting season went by quicker than expected and we never saw any bucks during rifle season. I sat in the different tree stands we had built but not even any does ever came close. The deer seemed to move about a lot. Some nights there would be a couple in the meadow by the barn after dark. Zane hunted some during rifle season but didn’t see anything either. I still hunted some as well. Wandering around helped me try to figure out where the deer were staying.

We got a pop up hunting blind to use in areas where we had no tree stands. We used it some but I think it’s a little better suited to early season hunting. We never saw any deer while sitting in it. I sat in it one evening as we got hit by some heavy freezing rain. It was nice to be out of that! I later moved it to a new spot right before the season ended but never saw anything there either. We will experiment with it more next year. It’s got potential.

As we got closer to the end of rifle season, Zane and I did some deer drives. We pushed out a few deer but neither of us got a shot. Some fresh snow the final weekend of rifle made for some decent tracking conditions. That was fun! It was easy to identify where the deer were moving.

The weather turned pretty crappy the final weekend of rifle season and the snow was starting to add up. I wandered around some in the wind and snow hoping to get lucky. It was not to be. But we still had late muzzleloader season for one week to try and fill unused tags. It had turned rather cold and there were many flocks of geese suddenly moving south. You could easily spot several flocks at any given time for a couple days. It was obvious that things were moving closer to winter.

During all this time I was busy getting some wood cut and cleaning up some fallen die off maples that kept dropping limbs into the meadow below the Gap Ridge. They were a bit of an eyesore from the cabin windows and I was tired of looking at them. Not to mention that there was some nice dead red elm to cut in the same area. I decided to make a small landing on the edge of the meadow after cutting down the brush that had overtaken the old fence row. I built a large brush pile and added sections of rotten maple logs to it using the tractor. I had a great fire one night and kept it going for a couple days. Fire is the best way to ditch old logs and brush.

I had done something similar once near that location and had called my work “Operation Burn Clear”. It’s a good title for some goals Zane and I have for reclaiming the meadow edges. It’s going to take some time that’s for sure.

Gathering firewood is never a wasted effort and we always end up needing it. I have gone through quite a bit of firewood in the cabin this fall actually. I have brought a few loads of wood to Amy’s this fall. There’s a wood stove and a wood boiler in the basement so it has been a nice complement to the 25 cord that came with the house back in September. I usually top off my supply in the cabin when I’m getting a truck load of wood cut up. I like the smaller pieces of super dry red elm for the small wood stove that heats it.

There’s no shortage of dead trees on the farm to attempt to get cleaned up. I don’t think we could get caught up unless we started using much more. So it’s pick and choose for the best ascetics. After the burn bans of the spring,summer, and early fall, it was nice to be able to burn.

I was lucky to get a load of wood cut and hauled before last week’s big snow storm that started Tuesday and went into Wednesday. By Thursday I needed to plow the driveway out at the farm for the first time this fall. There was so much snow that the Honda utv could barely plow through. Luckily I had some previous trails to follow in the prior snow that I managed to reopen. Good thing it has four wheel drive! I tooled around looking for deer sign but it was absent near the barn and up beyond the Gap Ridge. NP. I’d go try somewhere else.

I got my muzzleloader out and fired a couple primers to temper the barrel before loading it. I didn’t fire it as I didn’t want to dirty the barrel. Something I would live to regret! I sat last that night up in the hunting blind after spinning the way up into the woods with the Honda to reach a place to park nearby. It was bitter cold and there were no fresh deer tracks anywhere near. It was time for a new strategy I decided. On Friday I would press hard for “The Mountain”. It would be difficult with almost knee deep snow but the deer had been hanging around in the meadows near the base of it. The plan was simple: wade the deep snow slowly and hit the high ledges for the view if nothing else. It’s something I like to do usually,minus the deep snow. It was the best idea that I could come up and what I had been trying hadn’t worked to date.Time was running out! Deer season closed at sunset on Sunday night!

Friday dawned cold and clear with mostly clear, cerulean skies. As the sun climbed higher so did the temperature. It was a fine day for hunting! Much better than other recent ones of falling rain,snow, and blowing winds. The plan was simple. Carry a survival pack with food,water, fire starting kit, knife, etc. plus extra speed loaders for the gun. They are super handy as they contain everything you need to unload for one shot. I also would wear micro spikes for better traction after a test proved that they were fairly silent in the deep snow. I chose a mid morning start to give myself plenty of time before dark to complete my trek.

I walked the road until I reached the state land that would lead me to the Mountain. If you follow my writing then you know about the high rocky ridge that sits above Beaver Creek is what the Washburn family calls “The Mountain”. It is the highest place around and a great place to catch a view of the surrounding countryside. And sometimes there are deer to be found! Although I have never bagged one while hunting there.

It was difficult walking in the deep snow but I took my time. Falling with the gun would be bad anytime but worse in the snow. Luckily my muzzleloader has a nice sling so I put it over my neck so my hands were free. This helped me wade up to the first rocky outcropping that I had named “ The Low Point” many years ago. There’s a great view of the farm meadows there and even our big red barn is visible. I hung out for a bit to catch my breath and enjoyed the somewhat panoramic vista. Well worth the effort to get there!

I left the Low Point and made my way towards my next destination the “Mid Point”. It’s another great viewing area also with mostly panoramic sights in all directions. It was the destination Zane and I chose last Xmas Eve for our celebration fire. We hope to return this Xmas Eve to continue our newest adventure tradition for year three. The first year we had our fire at the Low Point. These experiences may be in an old blog post. If not then I had better write one!

While walking towards the Mid Point I came across a single set of partially snowed in deer tracks. Not terribly exciting really. But encouraging to a degree. Up on the Mid Point I once again caught my breath and enjoyed the views. Off to the east of where I stood, I saw what looked like deer tracks so I went to investigate slowly and quietly in the deep powder snow. I moved almost ghostlike I felt. I held my muzzleloader in my hands when I reached the tracks and realized that they were very fresh! But where were the deer?

I moved towards the edge of a ledge to get a better look. I could see deer tracks below me. A flash of movement caught my eye and a deer came into sight from the left of me. Unbelievably close! A mere 30’ away! And I suddenly realized it was a buck! It stopped and turned towards me but it was like I was invisible. Time seemed to stand still as I stood unmoving from my high tactical advantage point.The buck turned and continued walked parallel a long a flat section of another ledge below me. I popped my scope lenses cover and pulled back my hammer just in time as the buck stopped for a second. He was in my crosshairs just 40’ from me when I pulled the trigger. What happened next played out in slow motion but not for long!

When I pulled the trigger my muzzleloader made a fizzling sound like a dud Roman candle instead of the loud bang I expected. There was a tiny puff of smoke and no recoil. The sound alerted the buck and he ran down the face of the ledge with mighty leaps and gave a couple warning snorts to his companions. Doe’s from his harem I believe but I never saw them.

I stood in shock and total disbelief! Disappointment washed over me like a wave. A misfire had happened apparently. But was my weapon clear? I quickly pulled my breach plug to find that my projectile had left the barrel. But with what velocity was the question. Had I wounded the buck after all? I made my way down to where I had last seen him but there was no blood anywhere. Not a drop. Now I was super disappointed. I had waited for this moment the entire season. Now it was gone because of equipment failure. Damp powder pellets were my best guess. Perhaps the result of condensation. I regretted not firing my gun that morning for a test shot. It would have dried the barrel and had it not fired properly I would have known. Damn the bad luck I thought as I trudged back to the cabin feeling rather defeated.

Back at the cabin I played the events over and over again in my mind. I discharged my muzzleloader and it worked perfectly. I decided to take the Honda up to retrieve the hunting blind while I decided my next strategy. I would take my gun of course. Just in case.

I got the hunting blind folded up and loaded into the Honda and started back down the trail. I had noticed some deer tracks on the way in so I slowed down to study them. There is a long valley that I could see down at one point on my way out. And suddenly I spotted a deer! It was lying down actually. Totally brown and visible on the bright,white snow. I didn’t stop the Honda but kept going down the trail to where a ridge hid the valley from view. I left the wheeler running, grabbed my gun, and creep up over the ridge. I spotted a second deer lying down but my angle was wrong. I stalked my way up the ridge a second time further down and suddenly spotted a third deer. I inched a little closer and decided that I could make the shot at the newest deer that I had spotted. A big doe but my tag was good for that. I might never get a better chance than this. I fired.

My gun performed flawlessly. The deer didn’t run and I knew right off that I had made a kill shot. For that I was grateful. And just like that my luck had changed. I still felt bad about missing the buck. ( did I really miss him in a sense?) I walked up on my fallen prey and thanked her for her sacrifice. I felt blessed for good eyesight and steady hands. And there was that moment of sadness that comes when killing a deer. But there was work to do and it was turning colder even though it was only 3 pm!

I had trouble loading the big doe even after field dressing her. With the help of a rope I got her into the back of the Honda finally. Back at the farm I hoisted her up in the warehouse and made ready to cut her up. It was getting late so I needed to set up the generator for lights. Zane came over to help and eventually the deer was skinned,trimmed, and quartered into our large cooler. The end to a day of ups and downs. But my deer hunting season was over just like that. And I took catch my breath again. My deer wouldn’t get the chance to freeze solid during the super cold night. I had made that mistake years ago once. Never again if I can help it!

So this week I have been cutting up the deer and packaging it. I made over 30 lbs of venison burger from my big doe. We are in good shape for the winter months to come. Venison, walleye, and some morel mushrooms in the freezer. Hunting deer was something that I had given up for quite a few years actually. But I am glad that Zane got me interested in taking it back up again. It’s been quite the fall! Lots of great memories and lessons to be learned. And we sure are enjoying all the wonderful lean meat that’s super healthy!

Hunting and gathering are a big part of my rural heritage lifestyle. I’m excited to be sharing this with Zane. We have big plans for next season already! Until then we wait for what comes next. Winter will bring new adventures and new opportunities. Challenges and fun times. And maple syrup season is never too far from my thoughts. I will sit by the wood stove and enjoy maple syrup infused coffee while pondering it all. I will listen and see where my spirit energy leads me. And we’ll enjoy meals from our successful harvests from the bounties of nature. We truly are connected. And for that we are forever grateful with most humble thanks! MOONTABS! ✍️

Rifles And Knives

Posted on October 22, 2025October 22, 2025 by Greg Washburn

Lots of new activities since my last post. Autumn has advanced quickly and most of the leaves are gone or soon will be at this rate. The popple trees are holding theirs at the moment as well as the oaks. Some lower brush type shrubs are retaining leaves as well. Especially the invasive wild honeysuckles. They really show up now. A grim reminder of the areas they are overtaking. But I have ripped up quite a few recently as I cleared out trails ahead of hunting season. Yes! We are hunting deer this year!

Zane and I had been talking about hunting deer this fall but were seriously handicapped by a lack of firearms. We both needed muzzle loaders and deer rifles. My Remington model 700 deer rifle has a potentially defective trigger that I never got replaced under the recall years ago. I decided we should not use it for safety reasons. So it’s just a showpiece at the moment. I never cared for it anyway. Chambered in 30-06 with a bolt action it always seemed heavy to me. I have carried it around some since getting it as a gift after the house fire of 2012, but I never truly felt comfortable with it. It’s practically brand new still. Honestly I had never really recovered from the loss of my Remington model 760 Gamemaster 300 Savage that had once belonged to my Grandfather Alvin Washburn. Purchased sometime in the 1950’s near as I could tell. It had sold for $100.00 plus dollars . ( its original box was in our attic with the price written on it). Our dad inherited it and it was in our house for many years although my dad never deer hunted till later years after he retired. He had given it to me by then and I had a gun dealer put a scope on it. I loved that gun! Lightweight with a pump action and ammo clip, it was a great shooting gun! I killed quite a few deer with it once I began deer hunting in the late 1990’s. Losing it in the fire was rather tragic for me. We lost all our guns that day. A truly horrible experience.

Sighting in a muzzle loader using the 13 yard method.

Once I knew that Zane truly was ready to hunt, I decided to buy a muzzle loader from a gun dealer we have purchased others through. He had a nice new CVA Wolf 50 caliber in stock at a fair price. The spending began! We needed everything. Primers, powder,sabots, and more. Several hundred dollars later we were ready to sight in the gun. We used the 13 yard rule and advanced out from there. It took quite a few shots to get the scope dialed in. Then came the cleaning. These newer guns are much easier to clean with their break breeches. A fair cry from the CVA Apollo that I killed deer with prior to the fire. Years ago we weren’t allowed to use scopes on muzzle loaders but the state changed that law some time ago. Zane was quite comfortable after firing the gun and receiving safety training from me. Now I needed a muzzle loader!

The gun dealer had a nice used CVA V2 Optima 50 caliber with a nice scope and sling. It has a stainless barrel and was in great condition. I decided to buy it. Also more accessories for Zane and I. This hunting hobby involves some cash flow! Good thing Zane is working and has his own money!

Things were ramping up with muzzle loader season just days away. I took the time to build a couple crude tree stands in strategic locations at the farm for Zane and I to use. I outfitted them with old 16’ wooden ladder sections and used old repurposed pressure treated lumber from a salvage job. Our metal ladder stand behind the barn was on the ground as the tree it was attached to had blown over at some point. I managed to salvage it but spooked a couple deer in the process. A good sign! I also cleared out some invasive wild honeysuckle near the one tree stand using the tractor and loader. Not to mention the old trail up beyond the gap that had become impassable from berry bushes and fallen trees. What a mess! Way different than the pastures I had hunted in the late ‘90’s. I now have the trail system in much better condition so at least we can walk it. The fallow meadows on the hill are weedy and overgrown. Difficult to spot deer in that’s for sure.

One of the tree stands. Simple and effective.

While all this was going on I was busy locating some deer rifles. Zane found a nice 1954 Remington model 760 Gamemaster in 300 Savage at a gun shop in North Dakota on GunBroker. GunBroker is a great place to find guns but there’s a commission involved with any transaction. But we were able to find the gun I truly wanted. It was as close to my Grandfather’s rifle as I was likely to ever find. Not cheap but it’s a collectible piece. I took a chance and I bought it. I made arrangements for it to be shipped to my gun dealer. FFL regulations must be followed for gun purchases. There’s a background check for guns and ammo. At a cost of course.It has to be paid. The price of doing business in this modern society.

Shortly after we found a beautiful 1979 Remington model 760 Gamemaster that was located in Minnesota. Through GunBroker again at a good price. I bought it also. We picked it up at our gun dealer last Friday and went to the farm to sight in my muzzle loader and the two 760’s. Lots of shooting! My muzzle loader was pretty easy to zero in fortunately. And the day ended with us preparing to start the muzzle loading season the next morning. Talk about a photo finish!

Zane tries out one of the Gamemaster model 760 rifles.

And that’s about it for rifles. No knives to mention really. We still need to buy a couple nice ones. I borrowed the title from a song I like by the band “ The Asteroid No. 4”. Zane and I are heavily invested in hunting season but things paid off last weekend for both of us. Both of us got deer! And I have spent a bunch of time getting them cut up and frozen. But all that is another story perhaps.

It took me many years to get interested in deer hunting again but I am glad to be back at it! And my new used rifle feels comfortable in my grasp. Familiar and known to me. Perhaps it has been waiting for me all these years. Who can really say? One things for certain, my model 760 brings back many memories! And I am back on the trails and in the trees.Observing as I hunt for deer and engage with nature. Connected in a hunter/gatherer mindset of rural heritage self reliance. I have gone full circle in some ways but did I ever truly leave? I believe this moment in time that I am sharing with Zane was waiting for the fullness of time to arrive. It is time for new MOONTABS as old ones circulate in my memory as I tell my son stories of who I once was as a hunter. But I have not forgotten I realize. Saturday would reinforce that for me. It is enough.✍️

Fast Forward:Stateside

Posted on October 1, 2025October 22, 2025 by Greg Washburn

It seems like months instead of weeks since I was in Quebec. There’s been lots of catching up since getting back home. I returned with the Airstream on September 15th after a 6 hour trouble free trip. The trailer sure does tow nice behind the truck! What a nice pair up! I reached the Homestead late in the afternoon and decided to camp out next to the cabin. I was pretty beat from the fast trip home so it seemed like a logical choice.

I soon learned after arriving at the Homestead that there had been a small forest fire on the mountain near the farm. It was contained to about an acre thanks to fire fighters getting there and getting it under control. It’s unclear what exactly caused the fire as there was no storm activity or lightning that night I was told. Fortunately the fire didn’t travel too fast or do much damage. It’s ironic that a fire occurred on the mountain as many years ago fire had destroyed the pine forest that once grew there. Charred stumps of large pine trees have survived over many decades lying on the bare rocks. The pine resin acts as a preservative of sorts and prevents rot.

I walked around the forest fire site but could not find any clues as to the origins of the fire. A very strange situation and there may never be any answers to the mystery. The small burned area provides an interesting study and it’s easy to imagine what the landscape might have resembled after the last fire event over hundred plus years ago.

Things had remained very dry during my absence but some rain finally came recently. The trees are shedding leaves a little ahead of time this fall it appears. No doubt due to the dry conditions of the past several months. The garden ended up producing some decent cucumbers and tomatoes. The squash did produce some but frost arrived before some were fully developed. I will see what I can salvage soon.

The big activity since getting home has been helping Amy prepare to move from Saranac Lake to the Santa Clara area. We began moving truck and car loads shortly after the closing. There were things that needed to be in the house ahead of the movers arriving last Friday for the main and final move. We camped out at the new house for a couple nights and tried out the wood stove prior to that. The wood stove is a beautiful unit with sandstone heat sink inserts. There’s an abundant supply of dry,split firewood that came with the house so that was a nice bonus!

Nothing like a nice fire on a cool morning!

I have managed to do a few things around the Homestead as well. I got the wood splitter going and split up some wood for the tiny cabin. There were only a few pieces left in the back wood storage lean-to that’s attached to the cabin. It holds about a cord or so. The tiny wood stove in the cabin takes really short firewood. 8”-10” works best in it. I got the wood from the rather messy warehouse log landing. It really needs cleaning up. There’s all sorts of loose blocks of various lengths stacked up in random criss cross fashion. There are full length logs lying on top as well and in the bottom are partially rotten pieces that have been there for years. I am hoping to focus my attention on getting it cleaned up before heading afield for new logs. I would like to start out fresh there eventually.

Camp Edith is home still for the moment when I am not up in Santa Clara. It will need to be closed up and winterized sometime soon as today is October 1st. We won’t be trying to break last year’s record of staying there until well into November. That was fun though! And I was working at the time as well.It was a handy base camp!

There has been some unusual bird activity on the lake in front of the camp recently. Ducks and geese weren’t anything out of the ordinary but the big group of gulls and cormorants one day were. They were all over the place and highly energized in their activities. I caught them on video actually. Last week a large group of vultures were circling around over Bigge Island. I counted 60 at one point before they began to disperse. Very strange! Is all this attached to autumn and the annual migration season? I believe that must be the case.

The vultures over Black Lake.

Autumn seems to be ramping up quite quickly now. Nighttime frosts are becoming more common. Last year the frosts didn’t come until almost mid October. Many leaves have already dropped and we will soon pass peak leaf viewing in the Adirondacks. The St. Lawrence Valley is a little behind but the color is well underway here as well. Soon the lawn at camp will be covered with thousands of leaves but the two big maples beside the camp are still retaining them at the moment.

We have begun to explore some of the Santa Clara area in the past few weeks. We hiked a small mountain known as “ The Pinnacle” early in September and hope to return there soon. It offers nice views of the surrounding lower lands. We also paddled up the St. Regis River exploring the lake like sections near Route 458. It’s the remains of a former reservoir I was told but much shallower with the dam mostly gone now.There’s much more water to explore upriver. Downriver is a different story as there are a series of waterfalls and rapids. Those can be reached on foot.

Near the house we have found a neat place for a short hike on a very nice trail that leads to the river. Apparently it was an old road once. We found some beaver activity nearby around an old beaver lodge that was once housing for a much larger group I believe. The beaver has done a little winterizing on the lodge with fresh mud and sticks but only halfheartedly in my opinion. Out front of the lodge there is a small pile of fresh sticks that the beaver has begun to assemble for its winter feed pile that will eventually freeze into the river. There is no need for a dam here as the river is wide and deep. I am speculating that a solo beaver is living here. A hermit beaver they are sometimes called. Maybe a retired one as well. One that no longer has to maintain dams and cut enormous brush piles to support a big family group. But I am only guessing.

I have been leaving some small brush for the beaver on the edge of the river and it has been cleaning it up for food. Yesterday I placed some in the afternoon and returned just before dark to try for a glimpse of the beaver. And to test my theory about the actual number of them living in the old lodge.

It was a beautiful evening as the sun set through the woods behind me. Fish made ripples on the surface of the river but remained out of sight. The afternoon’s offering of some fresh popple ( aspen) had not yet been touched. My timing was perfect I believed! I saw nothing for a few minutes from my high vantage point on the old bridge foundation and I remained perfectly still. My patience was soon rewarded as I saw ripples form in front of the beaver lodge as a beaver suddenly surfaced. I waited for it to swim my way but it was on an upstream mission. I watched it fade off into the distance intent on some sort of beaver business beyond my comprehension perhaps. I could surmise that it might be touring its territory in a show of force. Not uncommon behavior for these big rodents. I had seen a territorial mud scent mound upriver just the other day. But I was only guessing.Who knows what drives a beaver’s motivations?

It soon became obvious that the beaver was not going to return before dark but I waited in case a second one was around. And I suddenly saw some more ripples near the lodge! But it was only a muskrat. The muskrat disappeared under the water and I presumed it went inside the beaver lodge after. Maybe it lives there with the beaver! A natural odd couple possibly! But who knows for sure?

Off to my left,the water flowing down the rapids echoed up the valley surrounding the river as the evening traffic quieted down. I could hear birds and a larger animal in the forest directly across the river but no living creature showed itself. And the light of the setting sun cast a golden glow in the forest behind me as a beautiful reflection revealed itself in the river before me. One that a photo can capture but never truly gift the viewer what the photographer experienced. It was one of those rare moments when everything was perfect. The light, the sounds, and the smells that only autumn can bring. Soft mossy ground below my feet and slowly flowing water carrying fallen leaves downstream. And the passage of time became so vividly apparent to me in that moment. For the time that was the now past summer had sped by in a flash , was being slowed for a moment it seemed. But I knew that time was not slowing down. I was, for just a moment. Perhaps a person needed to be there to capture some of that spirit energy.One of invisible flow attached to the air and water. Earth and sky. And all living things there engaged in harmonious synchronicity. It truly was a special moment.

This short post will bring you , the reader, up to date on current events. But I have not forgotten the story that is to be part 2 of the Quebec camping trip post titled “The Damnation Of The Beaver”. I need to tell that one properly, for a great discovery was made on that trip. There are a great many stories that I have not told it seems. And might a post titled “ The Salvation Of The Beaver” someday become a reality? Who can say for sure? Beaver sticks yet hold their charm for me as I hold them as my trusty hiking poles. And I continue to seek to add them to my collection. Are there not stories attached to each beaver stick I collect? Remembering them all may prove to be a mental exercise of mega proportions but time yet remains to get those stories down. And revel in the afterglow that radiates from the MOONTABS.✍️

Life At Camp Sparrow Song

Posted on July 1, 2025July 17, 2025 by Greg Washburn

Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦 July 1st sure arrived fast! I have spent this entire day playing catch up here at the outpost. I’m calling my base camp at the outpost Camp Sparrow Song. It’s connected to the random arrival of white throated sparrows at the Homestead back in the spring and the one who remained behind singing each morning for a it longer before heading north. I decided to join my bird friends here ultimately. One white throated sparrow greets the daylight here most mornings and the message wasn’t lost on me. Hence the name. I hear them every day here and they always boost my spirit energy.

Things get busy when I am chasing adventures and the campsite can get rather untidy. Not with garbage or anything like that but rather disorganized in a gear sense. Some things had never gotten unpacked since I arrived even. Wow! I sure did bring a lot of gear! But my adventures are rather multi faceted I suppose. And being prepared makes for the best possible experience! Things are flowing rather well as a result I’d have to say. And the details are numerous to say the least. Where to begin?

Getting the Airstream here was just step one of a bigger plan. I still needed my boat and motor here. I rented a boat from the outpost owners on my first two full days here so that I could begin to learn the lake. That was quite the experience unto itself! Kipawa Lake is huge! And while I didn’t get lost out on it, I did have trouble finding the narrows that I wanted to explore for a bit. It was a little intimidating out on the big water in a small boat that I later named “The Cork”. When the wind blows here the waves get big in a hurry! I tried a little fishing for lake trout after rigging up my portable down riggers and auction bargain fish finder. No luck catching trout but I got back into running my old lake trout fishing gear that has sat idle for 20 years give or take. I spotted fish on my sonar at a depth of 70’ mostly but they didn’t bite. I had to take a break from the waves in the afternoon but got out for the evening walleye fish. That proved unproductive as well unfortunately. But I had found the narrows and learned the lake some. It was enough.

Sunday would find me out again exploring further up the lake with my rented boat fishing for trout again. Boats were constantly running up the lake to the north past me. Apparently the walleye were biting in a place other campers called Sunnyside. Everyone said that the walleye wouldn’t bite down by the outpost until July and August. Strange to me really. Weren’t there walleye everywhere in the lake? But the boats ran north with a predictability that soon was commonplace. I got no trout that day either and I was the only boat fishing below the narrows for walleye that evening. This was proving interesting! The once elusive narrows was now mapped out in my memory and I had explored quite a big section of lake before heading down closer to the outpost. This place was huge was the revelation!

Monday was a rain day and I used it to my advantage to research the ZEC territories. The ZEC’s are controlled harvest, public access areas where permits are required to camp, fish, or hunt. I was curious about one in particular. ZEC Restigo. The closest to my location. I picked up a map from the nearby ZEC office in town and began my research. The ZEC Restigo isn’t entirely unknown to me actually as we have passed through it the past three summers to reach our bush fishing outfitter each August.

Tuesday would bring more rain and I would venture up the wide logging road known as the 819.It starts out paved for a few kilometers then becomes dirt for the duration. It’s a wild ride! Sometimes smooth and other times rippled from traffic. It takes focus not to spin out sometimes as you careen downhill at about 80 kilometers per hour. 48 miles for you non metric folks. I do the math automatically these days in my head as I am too lazy to switch my truck’s dashboard over to metric. It’s easy really! Multiply .6 to the metric speed limit and you have your answer.So 80 kilometers per hour equals 48 miles per hour. Easy right? No one follows the speed limit on the 819 anyway. Crazy drivers will pass you like you are standing still,flinging rocks and dust. Full glass coverage on your vehicle is optional but highly recommended. I love speeding down the 819 to a degree. It’s rather infectious in a dangerous way. And really gives you a true bush driving experience if you are into that sort of thing. Which I am, btw.

The 819.

So I spent the day exploring all sorts of back roads off the 819. Some were decent while others needed occasional grooming. I carry a bow saw and trimmers for just that sort of thing. I learned that 3 years ago. Trees and bushes are often lying across the these little traveled roads. Experience is a great teacher!

The week would continue to be rainy and not great paddling weather. I had brought my canoe and was wanting to use it back country. A nice lady at the ZEC office had mentioned free map downloads of the ZEC territories using the Avenza app. Totally free so I downloaded everything. I also got turned onto the GAIA app. GPS mapping that works even when you don’t have cellular service. Avenza works in a similar fashion. I suddenly became armed with a modern, double edged sword of modern technology in a remote part of Quebec. Always under the satellites that marked my location, I felt secure yet left with a pensive feeling. Not to mention that I was carrying. No, not a gun but something equally powerful. My Iridium 3 satellite phone that’s in my survival gear pack. It could be a game changer in an emergency. I came here to have an adventure not be a statistic. And while I know that I could die out here in a remote place, that wasn’t part of my plan. So the questions begin then. When I wear my blanket of technology am I a true adventurer? I suppose if I am not totally dependent on it. Let me tell you something! If you got lost in this bush, you would be really hard pressed to be having a great time! I love the bush. And I respect its power. It could break the strongest person with ease. And that’s the draw for someone like me. The power of nature outside my norm. Humbled and submissive to the environment. My technology is only as good as my battery supply after all. Chew on that for a moment. I stand humbled before the bush. It could break me like nothing.

The Rivière De Jardins. A future venture.

Armed with my apps, I set off one morning with my canoe intending on paddling somewhere. The places I reached just didn’t feel right for some reason. There were camper villages set up next to the boat launches. Absent of people yet not exactly what I had expected. I kept moving and eventually settled on a quiet river landing near a bridge. We had been there in 2022 when we were hopelessly lost trying to find the way through to reach our outfitter for a fishing trip.What a day and what a story! I told that story in an older blog post.

My river destination was known as the river Pin Blanc. It connects two lakes as it meanders through bush country.On the map it looks tiny. It’s actually much larger. But that’s what I am learning here. Everything is huge! Lakes. Rivers. The bush. Gracie and I set out to explore the Pin Blanc and did some fishing a long the way. I got bites immediately that I soon learned were tiny, voracious northern pike! Slinks or hammer handles we call them back home. I ended up catching five of them eventually. Fun as they are scrappy rascals! And it grew late and the skies were gray and ominous. The bush seemed oppressive then and the water was almost scary suddenly. And I felt small and insignificant in the midst of it all. It was humbling yet empowering in the moment. Thrilling in the intensity of my fragile nature. Nighttime was approaching and I would be miserable if trapped here. The truck was a welcome sight but ironically I was still many kilometers from civilization.

It was Thursday night and I needed to return to New York on Friday to grab my boat and take care of business back home. Step one had happened. The Airstream parked and my base camp was established. The realities of the size of this country were just beginning to sink in. Had I made a good decision to come here? It was far too early to say. And there was work to do here still. A big lake to learn. Rules and regulations as well. Was the romantic dream still the same? It’s the kind of thing that can’t be answered overnight. It will take time and living the life to know for sure. Deeds not words some say. My days are measured differently here far from my comfortable surroundings in the St. Lawrence Valley. This country will measure my true resolve of that I have no doubt. Will I hit the “slot” or become a throwback? Time will tell. It is on. ✍️

Operation Overland

Posted on June 16, 2025June 16, 2025 by Greg Washburn

It’s been a rather hectic time since my last post! I have been recovering from my knee scope procedure that I had done on May 15th. My knee has signs of major wear and tear. My doctor repaired some damage and cleaned up things as best he could. The bottom line is that my knee has a finite amount of time left in its present condition. I will life with that and move forward. Recovery has been quite fast though and I only had about one week of major downtime. I continue to begin to resume normal activities but my decisions on how to spend summer 2025 are anything but normal. It’s a rather complex story that continues to unfold with each passing week.

My friend and I were wanting to return to Quebec this summer for our annual fishing trip but had been unable to connect with our outfitter. I began searching for other alternatives when I stumbled upon an outpost close to the same area that rented Rv sites. But before that happened , I was looking out at the Airstream one morning with the truck parked close by, when I realized that I have not been using them to their full potential. In fact the Airstream never even left the Homestead property last year. We did use it there in a certain capacity for a time but not for traveling. So an idea began to percolate. What if? And one thing quickly led to another after that.

Research of the outpost prompted me to call the owners there. It’s called Kipawa Outpost. Located on the shores of Kipawa Lake near Temiscaming, it is about 70 miles from our summer fishing destination on Lake Dumoine. I considered the possibility of establishing a comfortable base camp setting using the Airstream and then branching out for other activities. It offered a possible win,win opportunity. Kipawa Lake is a place I know to a degree. Over 20 years we fished out of an outfitter in the nearby town of Laniel on the very same lake. The lake is mammoth in size and that’s part of its charm. I have fond memories of fishing there on three different occasions. So what if? What if I could combine a blended experience of exploring the surrounding bush country for a custom adventure? I was hooked on the idea quickly!

A phone call to the outpost owners sealed the deal. They had a site that they would rent me for the entire season at a discounted rate. The rental would run from May through September. It seemed like a solid idea. Take the flexibility of a long rental season and build a series of adventures around the dates. I booked the site! At the site I would enjoy full hookups and a place to rent to dock my small boat right on their lake frontage. There was a bath house and laundry available. In the town of nearby Temiscaming, I could buy groceries,bait, and gas. The base camp plan made total sense. The big question was when would I arrive?

Post surgery recovery was the big variable but one that was quickly resolved after my follow-up visit to my doctor. I hoped to leave for Quebec no later than June 13th. But could I get everything ready in time? I created an extensive list of tasks that I needed to complete. Itemized into separate categories they helped me make an organized list of things that I needed to accomplish. The Airstream generated a decent sized list by itself. Insurance upgrades, spare tire concerns, inspection, and registration to name a few. And there was a similar list for the boat. I decided that my 22 year old 9.9hp Johnson outboard was not going to be big enough to tackle Kipawa Lake. I ordered a 15 hp Honda 4 stroke outboard motor. The Johnson would be held in trust for the time being. I felt no need to sell it for what I could expect to receive for it. So the boat, trailer, and motor were made ready to travel to Quebec. My friend offered to tow it up if his schedule permitted. I had numerous other details to wipe out that I will not bore you with here. Things like fishing gear, food, clothing, and many others. Gracie the dog would accompany me as well. That meant updated rabies vaccination and dog license. One by one I began to cross off the items on my list. A costly venture unto itself as I soon found out.

It soon became apparent that my friend couldn’t tow my boat up to Quebec until sometime late in June. So I revamped my departure date to June 6th. It really tightened my schedule up though and I had a lot to get done! June 6th became an important date for me as it coincided with the date of the 1944 D-Day invasion of World War 2. With the present state of political instability in the world and in our own country at the moment, I found a certain irony in my decision to launch a friendly invasion of Canada on June 6th. I named my adventure “Operation Overland” in honor of the 1944 D-Day invasion that was called “Operation Overlord”. Not to mention that I could quickly rename my adventure “Operation Overload” if things went horribly wrong. So the planning continued to ratchet up as I readied for my departure. Knowing that I would be returning for the boat helped a lot. If I needed something more for the trip I could grab it later.

Thursday June 5th. A packed truck and Airstream were ready to rollout Friday morning. I felt flustered but quite well prepared. How would the border crossing go? Had I forgotten important things? Was this adventure still a good idea? All these things kept me awake that night. But I knew certain things were fine. Zane was settled in and doing well at lineman school. The camp would be watched by my sister. The Homestead was secure and should be fine. People keep an eye on it for me anyway. Oh wait! Where was my boating license? I had taken the required course to satisfy NY state law while recovering from my knee surgery. The province of Quebec would honor my credentials I had learned. I remembered then that I had already stashed it in the truck so I found something else to worry about!

Friday morning started early for me and I was anxious to get moving. I have been living at Camp Edith since Memorial Day weekend so I made the quick drive to the farm to hitch onto the Airstream. I got Gracie settled in the back seat of the truck and did a quick light check on the trailer once I was connected. All was well! We were ready to roll! Taking off on this adventure with just Gracie for company was something that I had been a little apprehensive about but my choice of destinations had made all the difference! In the familiar turf of the Temiscaming region on Lake Kipawa, I felt certain that I would manage just fine. And establishing a base camp would be an easier approach to finally beginning to think about hitting the road with the Airstream. A small step with big possibilities. A chain of events had been set in motion and there was no turning back now!

We reached the border and crossed the bridge after paying the higher toll required for having extra aisles. $8.50 Canadian that costs. We rolled up on Canadian customs and only had a short wait to approach the booth. Things went very smoothly and we had a very amicable customs officer. He asked me the usual questions and inquired about Gracie’s credentials. I had deliberately not brought any milk, eggs, or cheese like I usually would do. The regulations were a little confusing actually. I exchanged some banter with the customs officer and he handed me back my passport before wishing me a good trip. I recently read that American tourism to Canada is down this year and vice versa. The provinces are working to present a more welcoming tone for people desiring to travel into Canada. Having a smooth and seamless entry into the country certainly helps with that! So just like that we were in Canada!

Traffic was light at first headed north on highway 416 towards Ottawa but became brisk as we got closer. All was well and the trailer was towing like a dream! Airstream’s have a reputation of being great rigs to tow. With the camera system mounted to the rear of the trailer I can easily keep track of what’s behind me. As we got near Ottawa the highway split and we headed west onto highway 417. It was jacked busy with 4 lanes of fast moving traffic. I picked the safety of the second lane and maintained a steady speed while traffic zipped in and around me. After a while the highway drops to 3 lanes then to 2 and eventually becomes a single lane highway where you meet oncoming traffic. The transition is gradual and little by little the volume of traffic disappears as the city scape and buildings that make up suburbia fall behind to the east. The highway winds through mostly farm country with streams and rivers showing up periodically. Traffic was light and there are sections where an additional lane allows traffic to pass you and surge ahead. I maintain the speed limit mostly although 90 kph seems rather slow. Translated it’s 54mph. So I towed at about 100kph. 60 mph is a good towing speed. Nothing over 65 mph is recommended. Having power brakes on the trailer with a decent quality weight distributing hitch system helps immensely. I use a “Blue Ox” hitch system. Mid grade quality and price range. It performs well. Things were going well. It was warm and mostly clear as we moved west mile after mile. We had left the Homestead around 8:15 am.Our eta was calculated for around 2:00 pm. A trip of some 327 miles total.

Rear camera test at the Homestead Friday morning.

We eventually reached the small town of Mattawa and had to get gas. In Mattawa we pick up highway 533 and headed north again. It’s a shortcut route to Quebec albeit a windy, bumpy one. Our progress slowly dramatically once we reached the mid section of the shortcut as it gets narrower and has many curves. Eventually the highway opens up and gets wider before connecting with the road towards Quebec albeit. I stopped and let Gracie have a roadside break before we ventured onto the final leg of our journey. The route we were driving is very familiar to me as I have driven it several times over the years. I was feeling a sense of relief as we neared the Ontario/Quebec border. Things had gone well! No traffic jams or accidents. No blown tires or mechanical problems. All was going well. I finally got tired of listening to music after the hours of traveling so I turned it off. We began to catch glimpses of sections of the Ottawa River as we neared the border of Quebec. As we dropped down towards the river crossing ,the large paper mill complex that employs quite a few workers there became visible. Its large presence sits near the river and crossing the bridge over the river brings you close to it. We picked our way through a small section of town and headed uphill towards Kipawa Lake. We were close now! It was all a little surreal in a certain way. Back in Quebec again!

We soon reached the lake and followed the gps to the outpost. This area was new to me and more settled than I remembered. Numerous houses and cottages dot the lakeside. The outpost soon appeared and my camp site was the closest to the road. I recognized it from photos that the owners had sent. We had arrived with no incident. Getting the trailer backed in was easy but getting it level took some effort. I was finally ok with it and detached the truck. Then the process of electric and water hookups. I didn’t bother with the sewer line at that moment. I put down the outside camping rug and set up my outdoor cooking table. It’s a repurposed gem from the Lake Clear garbage transfer station. I found a place for Gracie’s runner and got her settled. My site is semi shaded and the black flies began to attack us.

I located the owner and paid her for my site in cash. A funny story of many small bills that were all the bank had that day. $20’s and $5’s making up a total of $1200. That made for some counting! After setting up camp we headed to town for groceries, bait, and my fishing license. Back at the camp site I made a simple dinner and got settled for the night after meeting with the owners briefly. I made plans to rent a boat for Saturday and Sunday. Things had come together. I wandered down to the dock and ended up talking with a fellow who had been there all week fishing with friends while staying in one of the two cabins the outpost rents. They had had some luck fishing but the walleye were hitting far up the lake at the northern branch. The vastness of the lake became very apparent as I gazed out over it. This was some big water I thought to myself. I settled into the Airstream well before dark and considered the day. As was well! Operation Overland was a successful venture! I had many unanswered questions that perhaps could be answered on Saturday. It had truly begun! The adventure was real now! The planning had paid off and I settled! It was enough to consider as I drifted off to sleep in my cozy home away from home. I had everything I needed and more. The adventure was just beginning! Time to charge my batteries! ✍️

Stepping Through The Sugarbush

Posted on April 9, 2025April 9, 2025 by Greg Washburn

April is upon us and this morning it was a chilly 17 degrees! We had a snow squall yesterday and it’s rather strange weather lately. We’ve run a gamut lately that’s for sure. As for the sugaring season? It would not be immune to the wild weather swings. Despite the deep snow that hindered us in early March, the season would change rapidly and with consequences far beyond our control. But that is the nature of the beast as it is called. Nature being the key word. And we have persevered doing the best that we could as we now reach the conclusion of sugaring season 2025. It has been challenging and memorable in so many ways. I suppose a continuation of my previous post from March 7th might best describe the highs and lows of it. Ironic it seems. For it would be the highs and lows of temperature that would shape our progress. One must follow them after all, as a sapsucker here on the rocky ridges of the farm Homestead. And in the end it has to be enough. But to truly understand perhaps the season just past must unwind here.

The weather stayed fairly stable following our first gather and we continued to set taps out. We also continued to bring in a little sap and by March 11th I was able to flood the evaporator. There was a minor leak near one of the draw off valves that I was able to seal fortunately as I fired the evaporator for the first time. The boiling sap gums up small leaks at times and allows you to keep going. Luck was on our side! I didn’t have enough sap to batch out that morning as it takes time to set up the evaporator on a first boil day. Eventually the sap in the various sections of pans has less water in it and batches will come on a regular timeline. Fresh sap is always trickling into the back pan as a float allows it depending on the depth I set up and the boil rate. I went out that afternoon after cooling the evaporator and brought in more sap so I could boil the next morning. On the second boil I made syrup finally. We were off and running!

Zane and I continued to set buckets and our tap grew to 551 by March 13th. The weather cooperated and we brought in more sap and boiled again on the 14th. That day the temperatures jumped significantly and we had a prodigious sap run! We gathered sap until 8:30 pm as the moon rose in the east. We were exhausted! Saturday would find us in the sugar house for a long day of boiling. More sap was brought in and we had a pancake breakfast in the sugar house on Sunday morning after I made a batch of fresh syrup. There were 7 of us total enjoying eggs and pancakes while rain fell outside. Such moments are a big part of a sugar season. The temperatures had risen into the 60’s for two days and that’s never a good thing. The snow was melting fast and mud became the new thing for us. Things were changing fast.But we had secured close to 30 gallons of nice quality syrup. Things were going well!

We got a tornado warning later that Sunday after I had finished boiling and had settled into the cabin for a rest. We didn’t get a tornado but got hit with a wild storm with high winds and soaking downpours.It was almost scary at one point with thunder and lightning! Not typical March weather. We chugged a long getting what sap came and by March 19th the temperatures hit 71 degrees. Zane and I decided to do a night boil to get as much sap boiled away as quickly as possible given the temperatures that would spoil it quickly. But the syrup turned dark and fell into commercial grade. We began filling one of our stainless steel syrup barrels. They hold 30 gallons when full. The syrup was sweet but had a slightly distinct after bite. We call this “buddy” as in tree buds. The warm weather we had been having was causing the tree buds to grow. There was nothing we could do about it except continue or quit. Barrel syrup has a market but we knew that it had come much earlier than we had expected. Several days of above normal temperatures was all it had taken. Unfortunate but very real. The weather shifted back to more normal temperatures and I decided to set more taps on the 22nd in a section of the sugarbush we call “ The Lane”. We do a mix of buckets and mini tune runs here. It’s a surviving stand of maples that was part of our former sugarbush. These big maples always produce well. The signs were obvious as some smaller maples began to stop producing sap. We hoped to see the syrup turned dark and lighter with the fresh infusion of clear sap.

So we continued to chug a long making dark syrup and working to fill our barrel. The weather swings determined when we needed to gather and sap continued to flow but not everyday. On March 25 I pulled buckets off the Great Northern Loop as they stopped producing. Zane and I bounced around in the upper fallow Meadows and added about 35 taps on some miscellaneous maples there.Later that day I hit a section near the cabin at the base of the Gap Ridge and added the final 38 new taps of the season. We were chasing sap and trying to keep our sap intake coming in. It was working out for us. It turned cold over the weekend and there was a break in the action. An ice storm hit that Sunday though and we couldn’t get out for a cleanup sap gather until Monday.

Monday would find us having a decent amount sap to gather and it was going well, until the tractor quit late in the afternoon. We tried to figure out the problem quickly but nothing worked so we used the side by side to gather the remaining sap. The next day I boiled and Zane gathered everything he could with side by side. Wednesday morning I tried to fix the tractor but still no luck . So it’s been side by side gathering ever since. A friend helped me tow the tractor out of the woods on Thursday after I finished boiling sap. But the weather turned super warm by Friday and I decided to have Zane make a final gather of the newest taps. Most of the trees had stopped running anyway. And so it ends just like that. And I will follow up on the conclusion of the season in my next post as I reflect on the season as we enter the next phase. It’s worthy of words I feel. Things have happened fast and it’s been a blur. But that’s how this hobby works!✍️

Wading Into The Sugarbush

Posted on March 7, 2025March 7, 2025 by Greg Washburn

Yes it’s that time again! Sugaring season has begun! I have been preparing for a while now actually. It started with getting the sugar house plowed out after the blizzard a few weeks back. I haven’t seen snow this deep in years! It took some time and serious tractor work but I got plowed out. Trying to break out the old road that is our main sap haul road was a different matter. I got part of it passable but it was rather futile. I decided to wait and let nature melt some of the snow which happened last week fortunately. We kicked off our sugaring season by building some strings of sap tubing down on the steep ridge near Beaver Creek. I wore snowshoes the first day but it was a total pain so I just waded through the deep snow the following day. We got about 40 taps in that first location. Our next stop was on the Gap Ridge across the meadow from the cabin. It was super tough going there as well! I managed to get the tractor across the meadow after the snow started to melt. Unfortunately I got the side by side stuck! But it was easily pulled out with the tractor. We gained an additional 20 taps in the second location. Progress was slow but still progress!

The warm spell had settled the snow so I made another run at the old road hoping to break through which I did. I made it up onto our neighbor’s property and went down one of the sap haul roads for a short distance before deciding to turn back. Getting stuck would be no fun! The weather was turning cold so I took the weekend off spent it in Saranac Lake. I picked up some syrup supplies in Hermon to get further prepared. Every little bit of preparation helps. Zane and I had started to set up the evaporator and piping systems. That’s a necessary preparation also.The weather was promising Monday so I began putting out some mini tubing runs up on the neighbor’s property. We take them down each season and flush them out before storing them. They are numbered and named as to their locations. Mini tubes pick up several trees and flow into 15 gallon containers. What a time saver! Not to mention we build them where the trees are difficult to reach. Our father started building them quite a few years ago. We had quite a few at one time before the big sugarbush die off in 2016/2017. Most of those mini tube strings are worthless now. I have started repurposing them for parts.

It was so difficult getting around the woods on Monday that I decided to hang buckets beside the main sap haul road on Tuesday. Wading through the crusty, knee deep snow was exhausting and frustrating. Working beside the road was much less challenging. Zane showed up to help me and we got quite a few buckets hung before the rain drove us in for the day. We got back out on Wednesday and managed to do mini tubes and buckets in a section of woods on our neighbor’s called The Great Northern Loop. We got rained out again by lunchtime but went back out before dark and got more buckets done. The sunset was absolutely beautiful! We were pretty tired from wading through the snow but were happy with our progress.The tap count was growing!

Thursday would see a lot of snow melted and mud was beginning to appear in spots. We had gotten a lot of rain and the trails were tough going for the tractor. We tapped the remainder of what’s known as The Southern Loop. It’s a fraction of the size of the GNL. After lunch we decided that we needed to get the trailer set up to gather some sap before the cold snap hit. The weather was changing fast and the temperatures started dropping. We worked fast and the wind was blowing pretty hard. Then a light snow started. We ended up with about 120 gallons of sap that we got unloaded at the sugar house. It had been an eventful day fighting through the snow with the tractor. And also wading through it! But we were once again happy with our progress. We finished setting up the evaporator. Our tap count was now 386. We plan to have over 500 eventually. I like to hold some of the sugarbush in reserve in case the weather turns cold for a while like it is doing this weekend. The wind really howled last night and we got a little more snow.

Today was a little more laidback. With the colder weather there’s no sap to gather. I put out 23 more buckets near the sugar house in what’s known as Zane’s Bush. It really suffered during the big die off. Many tree were lost and that’s unfortunate because it had held such great potential given the number of young maples. We harvested so much wood out of there after the event. There are more trees needing to be cut as some continue to die.Some are barely living but we have so much wood around the farm that I will leave them for now.

We may tap more trees tomorrow but haven’t decided just yet. The weather warms next week again and we expect to see some sap runs. Late in the week the temperatures approach 60 degrees. Not ideal sugaring weather but the snow will certainly disappear. Sugaring seasons can be fickle these days. They have become more compressed and unpredictable. But we have to accept that which we have no control over. What we can do is blitz the forest with taps for a big play for sap. Wading through the snow has been challenging. I am happy to once again be outside every day making a play for maple syrup. We are down to our last half gallon almost. Putting it into my coffee each morning goes through it! But I need that battery charging to keep my spirit energy surging! It’s great living here on the farm and engaging in my rural heritage hobbies! It is enough I often write. And it truly is a blessing to be living in this moment. The transition is underway now. Soon all will look different here. And we will have gone through another syrup season. We still don’t know how bad the evaporator is going to leak this year. It’s a tense moment for me that is coming soon. For now we will continue setting taps and waiting for the big sap runs. Then we can begin the next step. It’s going to be a push! But when wasn’t it? It’s in my blood this sugaring obsession. And I am a most fortunate man to have experienced this annual event. I may not get time for another post soon. But I will eventually get you caught up!✍️

The Icewalkers Return

Posted on February 11, 2025February 23, 2025 by Greg Washburn

February has rolled in and we are experiencing a real winter for a change. Snow continues to pile up and getting the sugaring roads broke out shortly may be challenging. But the weather can change quickly if we happen to get a thaw. Zane headed up to our maple syrup buyer to pick up our returned syrup barrel from 2024. It never comes back right away after making its way to the east coast to be processed.It was a good time to pick up a few syrup containers etc. as well.Getting prepared never hurts that’s for sure! I was hungry for an adventure though last Monday and suggested to Zane that we ice walk down to the ice falls in the Beaver Creek gorge. We would need snowshoes but that wasn’t an issue. I decided that we would use the side by side to shortcut the section of the creek where I fallen through recently. I made us a hearty lunch of pan fried walleye! Yum!We packed up our beaver stick trekking poles, a survival pack, and the dog before taking off through the deep unbroken snow of the main meadow. It was tough going and the side by side was at its limit in the snow. Fortunately we would have our trail to follow on the way back after our trek.We were excited and ready! It had warmed up and started to rain though. We decided to go anyway.

We dropped down over the steep ridge just off one of the meadows in a gap that breaks up the grade. I have used this gap for years to get to the creek. We took to the snow covered ice soon after and cautiously probed our way along. The weight of the snow had flooded sections of the swamp recently and it had frozen in a cold snap after. I felt pretty confident that the ice was much safer overall then it had been on my first ice walking attempt. But there were still tricky sections to negotiate. Old beaver dams and grassy bogs that don’t freeze well we’re encountered. But the main channel of the creek was good traveling for the most part. We found some otter sign here and there where they had broken through thin ice to reach the surface. Always good places to avoid! Lucky for us they were rather obvious despite the layer of snow covering the ice.

Our trip was a route we had taken many times to reach the ice falls over the years. It passed landmarks that had been named for reference points. The Island, The Small Tumbled Down Rocks, The Peninsula, and others. We left the more wooded section of the marsh and picked our way down through a more open spot known as The Wide Channel. The Wide Channel is some of the deepest water you will encounter in this section of the marsh if you are in a canoe. I trapped here as a teenager and was amazed at how deep it actually was here! Fortunately The Wide Channel will usually have some of the safest ice you will travel during the winter! But I warned Zane about the section of creek below The Wide Channel where it narrows down. It has a tendency to not freeze well some years and is best avoided. The creek consists of numerous areas of questionable ice most years if you follow its entire length. Spring holes that never freeze dump into the creek in several locations as well as smaller creeks that join in. Learning these spots is important if a person plans a more lengthy trip on the ice. These days I rarely make it past the Ice Falls themselves.

Once we reached The Wide Channel we got our first look at the northern Ice Falls on the left side of the gorge as we headed downstream. They were quite well formed and we got quite close but weren’t interesting in scrambling through the thick brush and bony rocks to reach them. We instead headed to the far side of the gorge to the first set of Ice Falls there. However they were far smaller than usual for some reason. Zane and I decided that maybe we hadn’t received enough warm days yet for them to grow to their usual proportions. Zane crawled up to them though and played around them for a few minutes. We headed down to the next set of Ice Falls. Set 2 I call them. They were quite well formed but also were a bit smaller then normal. But they are still pretty impressive!

We were in for a treat when we got to the third group of Ice Falls known as Set 3. They sit up near the cliff top and it’s rather difficult to reach them. We donned micro spikes for the climb as our snowshoes were not going to help at all. Once up the the Ice Falls we were able to crawl in behind the icicles in one spot. Very fun! We found some beautiful tiny ice formations under the rocky ledge. I took a rather rough ride down north ledge on the way back down and got a big bruise on my leg from hitting a tree. This was no place to be getting hurt that’s for sure! It had continued to rain and we were getting rather damp at this point. It was time to head out and we had quite a trek out still. I reminded Zane of “The Icewalker’s Motto: The distance in must be traveled out.” Always a good thing to consider especially if you take a good soaking from falling through! But we were lucky and no one broke through. Our beaver sticks probing as we walked helped us avoid the thin spots. It had been a successful outing and I was glad that we had been able to do the adventure together.

It’s difficult to say whether we will return to the Ice Falls this winter. We are planning another exploratory trip to search for what we believe might be an old lakebed over in Jefferson County near the town of Oxbow. I made an attempt two years but never made it to the right location before I ran out of time and energy. One thing is for certain when it comes to the Ice Falls! They never disappoint! Nor does the trek through the marsh where we encounter active beaver colonies and their dams. It’s always a treat to see the otter sign also. They enjoy a rather safe life in this frozen sanctuary. I find the ice walk down through the gorge to be a great battery charging event for my spirit energy. There’s always something to see and always something to observe. I have ventured here many times over the years and I never tire of it. The remote location of the Ice Falls makes them special and we never see other people when we trek there. Snowmobilers used to visit them back in the 1970’s but they have gone from the creek now. The gorge belongs mostly to the birds and other wildlife who call it home. I too call it home after decades of adventures here. A true set of MOONTABS exists for me in the gorge. And a connection to nature that is never broken. It is enough!✍️

IPW 2025: Ice Palace MOONTABS

Posted on February 10, 2025February 10, 2025 by Greg Washburn

February is moving forward and winter is holding fast to the north country. It’s a welcome change after last winter’s up and down weather. We did hit 37 degrees last week for one day but the warm spell was brief and temperatures dropped down again shortly after. I am presently here in Saranac Lake for another day or so. There’s an appreciation dinner tomorrow night at a local restaurant for the volunteers who worked on the Ice Palace. This was year five for me volunteering and I put in my biggest group of work days ever since starting in 2021. Being as my GF (Amy) lives in Saranac Lake, I didn’t need to rent places to stay this year and that was a huge part of spending more time here in the first place. Saranac Lake has gotten to be like a home away from home here in the Adirondacks and I have spent a considerable amount of time here in the past several years. As December of 2024 drew to a close, I watched my emails closely for word of the date that the Ice Palace work would begin. The first start day was targeted for January 22nd as crews stayed busy clearing the ice cutting field clear of snow to help it grow. This was accomplished with shovels at first until the ice was able to support a 4 wheeler with a plow. We needed about 10” of ice typically to begin the build. The time was rapidly approaching!

The ice field in Pontiac Bay, Lake Flower.

Things got a little spun up for me when I received an email that the start date to begin the Ice Palace had Ben moved to January 17th. I was still finishing up the second ice saw that I would be bringing with me. It had been given to me in 2021 by a lady who volunteered at the ice palace build. It needed sharpening and a new handle. My chainsaw shop friend took care of the sharpening and my Amish friend Levi built a handle from a sturdy piece of ironwood. It was then up to me to wire brush the rusty saw clean and spray paint it black. I also stencil painted “JGO” onto it. Short for the Facebook group “Just Go Outside”, it was a surprise for my friend Patrick Bourcy who created and manages the group. I also spray painted my ice saw with MOONTABS so we would have a tandem pair of tricked out ice saws! I got the ice saws ready just in time and got my car packed to travel up that Friday morning for day one. It was on!

I met Patrick at the project site where other volunteers were already busy getting things ready for day 1. It takes some time the first day to open up the ice field and the float channel that leads to the cherry picker that lifts the blocks from the lake. We waited patiently for our chance to saw once the grid was scored by the gas powered ice saw. We cut the remaining several inches of ice by hand to create blocks that make 3 separate pieces once they are spud free by the 4 person spud crew. Each block weighs close to 600 lbs average. The blocks the first day were about 10” thick. Later in the build they were over 13” thick. Some say they even made it to 16”! We cut about 400 blocks that first day give or take. 10 rows of 40 pieces. We got plenty of sawing in on day 1 as we had to saw the length of the ice field to free the first row of blocks properly. It get easier after day 1 once the channel has been opened. A certain amount of overnight freeze will leave a thin section to open each morning next to what becomes the new first row. It’s rarely more than 1” of fresh ice.

Once the ice was cut for the day, Patrick and I needed new jobs to keep us busy. We helped fetch and pile fresh snow for the slush makers. The slush makers mix water and snow which is placed into buckets and sledded up to where the blocks are being placed for the walls. Day 1 gets a basic footprint established based on a blueprint design created months ago. Slushing is important as it helps hold the blocks together. As it freezes the palace walls get super strong. It takes a lot of snow to make all the slush that is required during the build. I ended up helping with slushing ice blocks before the day was done. Day 1 went smoothly and the Ice Palace had begun to rise! And I was just beginning! My volunteering run was to last for 6 days!

Day 2 was pretty much a repeat of Day 1. Cut ice in the morning. Take coffee break thanks to the ladies who bring it each morning! Then haul snow and slush up to the wall builders until lunchtime when a local caterer brings us “Roll and Bowl”. Hot soup and a nice big roll with butter.Yum! It’s always so yummy! Afternoon was spent with more slushing of blocks. Patrick had returned and worked with the slush makers. It was another busy day for everyone. I left early to spend time snowshoeing with Amy up Baker Mountain in the village. Things had continued to take shape and the walls were growing!

And that’s pretty much how things went for the next several days. I cut ice each morning then found new tasks to stay busy. I got to do some chainsaw work installing a conduit for the hidden electrical wires for the ice palace lighting. I also helped cut two large arches through the front walls next to the street. That was really fun and made for a bunch of scrap ice to clean up after. A local photographer caught me on film in action!

Zane came up to help on for a couple days this year and stayed with us for two nights. Out on the ice field he rejoined the spud crew like he had in years past. He never cared much for cutting ice so usually sticks with that. We split early for snowboarding on nearby Mt. Pisgah. It was a lot of fun but the conditions were a little bumpy overall. I didn’t fall all that much despite that but did take one rather tough tumble onto my side. Dinner was at the Rivertrail Beer Works right near the Rail Trail in the village. Walking distance for the three of us. We walk most of the time actually when we do things around town. It’s great exercise! Things were great and it was nice volunteering with Zane again! Just like old times! He returned to the ice with me the next morning and it was very cold! And another morning was spent engaged in various tasks. Zane left early to return home and I ended up staying all day until 3:30pm. I got drafted to work with another individual setting ice blocks up on a 10’ section of walls. It was tricky work and required micro spikes to maintain traction on the walls. Tractors were lifting the blocks up to us and we maneuvered them into position with ice tongs and shavers. Shavers are like ice spuds with thin pointed bottoms. They are great for prying stubborn blocks into place or shaving off rough edges. Guess we know how they got their name! I found working the wall fun but very tiring. I left the project sore and tired that afternoon.

Spud-man Zane in the muskrat hat.2nd from the left.

And that’s pretty much the story really. Daily ice cutting then working at other tasks. I had to leave after my 6th day of volunteering and return to the valley for two full days. But I returned on a Saturday morning to cut ice and stayed until I had put in 9 days of volunteering. That Sunday I got to cut 8’ blocks and work with others as the crane lifted them from the lake. Very fun! They were placed to span some structural places were tunnels were being created. Very neat! I worked with the ice carvers a little that weekend as well. Helped them move blocks around and cleaning up their work areas. They make a lot of noise carving with their chainsaws but I don’t mind that. Patrick returned on Monday which was to be my final day of volunteering. I nearly took a swim that morning in the float channel right on a corner of it! I caught myself on the far side of the channel and crawled to safety without even losing my shaver! One leg got a little soaked! A true Icewalker type of thing! The day passed quickly and I worked with the ice carvers again. But it was time to get back to necessary tasks in the valley. I left the project sore and tired but with a great feeling of accomplishment. It had been yet another great experience! A time to volunteer with people I knew and with people that I just met. Everyone works well together and the Ice Palace always gets built! I was sad that I couldn’t stay and help to the very end but it just wasn’t possible. The final Ice Palace is incredible! And just like that it was time to move onto something new. It’s truly MOONTABS In Motion!✍️

Why Have I Stayed?

Posted on January 28, 2025February 2, 2025 by Greg Washburn

January has moved right along but that’s understandable as I have maintained a rather full schedule. I just worked my final day on the Ice Palace project in the Village Of Saranac Lake, New York yesterday. I was able to spend more days volunteering there this year but I will follow up with a featured story of my time there in the future. It’s worthy of one. Another post worthy topic is the work I did logging with my former neighbor on January 15th and 16th. It’s a story best suited to compliment my Run Of The Mill series at some point. Today I am rather entranced by some muses on winter so I think this post will be justified highlighting some of those thoughts! It all started on the way home late yesterday afternoon. Two hours of driving home from Saranac Lake gives a person plenty of time to think!

I left the village around 3pm yesterday and headed down Route 3 like usual on bare,salted roads. Somehow a car had plowed into some guard rails several miles before the Village Of Tupper Lake. Strange as the road was completely bare! Much later on during my drive I left Route 3 in the Town of Fine to head west on Route 58. This takes me to Gouverneur where I take a series of roads that lead me to the Homestead. Route 58 has many open sections where farm meadows come down to meet the road. The wind had picked up and snow was blowing into the road in places. I remained vigilant as the bare road was deceiving at times. Snowy patches would suddenly appear and I would inherently slow down to navigate across them. My 4 studded tires give me excellent traction but there is a limit to any set of tires with the right conditions. Near the Village Of Edwards a car had slid off a snowy corner in an open spot. Good fortune for the driver as he hit nothing expect the ditch full of snow. He was about to be towed out as I went past. The wind was intense as I neared Gouverneur. After a quick stop for groceries, I continued on to the Homestead on increasingly snowy patches of road. Zane was there and had the wood stove going which was a welcome sight to me! The wind was howling across the main meadow and hitting the cabin full force. It was great to be off the roads! We had plenty of food and firewood! We were set for whatever happened you hoped! But before I could settle in I had to disassemble the Chop Shop tent that covers the outside tools. It had blown loose from its corner posts and was in the process of destroying itself. Luckily my tie down anchors were frozen into the ground and my ropes were strong nylon material. After some cursing and wrestling the tent was safely flat and secured. The tools themselves were now exposed but I didn’t bother trying to cover them in the gale force winds. I grabbed some extra firewood from the cabin’s front lean to woodshed and headed into the warm, inviting interior. Life was good!

Sometime after dark it began to snow while the wind continued to whip against the cabin walls. We enjoyed a simple dinner of hot turkey sandwiches with gravy that I was able to quickly prepare in our temporary makeshift kitchen. This is the second winter of having a makeshift kitchen and this one is slightly different then last year’s. The new addition is now open to the original cabin and heated. It’s full of stored construction things at the moment. Tools and screws mostly. All work has been sidelined lately given all the other volunteering. I have a cot set up for sleeping downstairs when Zane is home. He occupies the loft for hanging out and sleeping. It’s very warm up there! I passed the evening watching a movie on my tablet. I don’t have a tv in the downstairs of the cabin. It’s not necessary really and I often read. A quick look out the window as the wind continued its onslaught showed a decent snowstorm in progress. It was a good night to be hunkered down! We could stay warm even if the power failed. That’s something I had wanted in my cabin plan.

I went to bed fairly early but got up around 12:30 am to put more firewood in the stove. Outside it was still blowing and snowing hard. The snow looked like it was accumulating but it was difficult to tell as it was really swirling around out there! By morning I had put wood into the stove two more times. It was 9 degrees with a rather brisk breeze giving a minus 2 degree windchill according to my phone’s weather app. The sky was dawning clear and bright though. Outside the expanses of untouched snow resembled a giant art canvas. Nothing stirred except for a few birds visiting the feeder behind the new addition. Zane needed to leave and but needed me to plow the driveway first. We had gotten around 10” of new powder snow and there were scattered drifts around the vehicles and in front of the cabin. Zane plugged in the tractor’s block heater for me. Without it , the chances of it starting were questionable. The tractor is kept in the bottom of the Big Red barn out of the weather. During the colder months I keep anti fuel gel additive in its diesel tank at all times. All important steps that help us deter the winter problems that might arise. Keeping the tractor functioning is key to surviving winter.

The Main Meadow. Post snow storm this morning.

I plowed snow for a long time before I finally got everything cleared. I did a thorough job on the driveway and parking areas. This was only the second time that I had needed to plow this winter! I can’t complain about that! I also plowed up to the warehouse and made a large parking area there as well. I also plowed behind the cabin by the woodshed as we will be in need of firewood soon. The supply of hardwood slabs stored in the upper woodshed continue to disappear. given the rate that we burn them.It’s time to get to the forest for some winter wood firewood cutting. I plan to skid trees log length right to the woodshed to save time. We did it last winter and it worked well. I broke out the tractor road to the upper meadows beyond the gap ridge and skidded down a log that I had left behind last winter. It’s red elm and should dry quickly once cut and split. We have plenty of snow for skidding logs but not so much to cripple moving around with the tractor. I need to install it’s front tire chains though. That really helps its traction.During sugaring having the tire chains on is usually a necessity.

It was truly a beautiful January day with blue skies and a warm sun when I was out of the wind. Icicles were melting off the cabin as I worked to bank it with snow to help keep the floors warmer. There’s more of that to do depending on the weather forecast. I decided I had enough firewood for another night and mentally dedicated Wednesday for a firewood day. It looks like we might get more snow tonight. Did I make a good decision? Time will tell. I love being outdoors but had spent enough time out I decided by 1:30 pm. Tomorrow was another day and I was happy with my accomplishments. While I was out and about on the tractor I noticed very few signs of life on the surface of the new snow. I spotted a few squirrel tracks in the sugarbush and those of a weasel. The weasel had come from the sugarbush over to the big slab wood pile next to the sugar house. It had gone into the sugar house and then out the far side.No doubt hunting mice for dinner. I could visualize it’s tiny white form hopping through the fresh snow. The winter white ermine that is brown in the other seasons is a lethal hunter! I wondered if it had caught its dinner? It moved on at any rate heading through the woods to somewhere. It’s tiny form edible to an owl or hawk if caught in the open. Not even hunters are invincible when larger predators occupy the same territory. These are hungry time I suspect. A time of great energy expenditure in the snowy,frigid conditions of deep winter. But rodents are plentiful it seemed last fall at least. And good hunters probably manage just fine. All this as darkest comes again and suddenly cloudy skies where the wind has picked up again. Inside the tiny cabin the hungry wood stove demands constant fuel. But we have it ready and inside for the night. My own body will demand fuel later. A hot dinner from the makeshift kitchen will take some time to prepare but will be satisfying next to the wood stove. And an interesting pattern of thoughts had presented themselves to me today as I took what winter had brought us into stride. And a most intriguing question. Why do we stay here in this cold,frozen place?

The hunter left it’s sign. A weasel ( ermine) leaves a most obvious set of tracks.

I first asked the question this morning as I put on layers of heavy winter clothing before plowing snow. Wool socks over regular socks into gripping rubber boots well suited for snow. High and flexible they are a winter stable. I wear my rabbit fur Bomber hat for working typically reserving my muskrat hat for more leisurely type activities although I usually wore it working on the Ice Palace. Heavy gloves are a must for my hands. All this gear takes up space in a house and takes time to don! This morning inside the super frigid, unheated barn I had stepped onto a very cold tractor that started with a whiny protest. Why do we stay when it’s so much more difficult to do even simple things? Why do we stay needing to move mountains of snow each winter? Why do we stay when it takes extra energy for everything? Fuel for snow removal equipment for our homes and highways. Fuel for our bodies for shoveling snow and wading through it. Winter exacts a higher cost in all types of energy. Fuel to heat our homes and businesses most certainly . It’s all rather perplexing when you really consider it. Wouldn’t it be easier to leave with the summer birds and head south? So I asked myself again: why do we stay? I think I know why I have stayed.

Thinking back it’s rather obvious really. I stayed as a child because home was where my parents chose to live. Home was here in this four season part of the world.It’s what I knew and I never thought or needed to question it. I was taken care of and taught how to dress for winter. Fortunately I had a family who could afford me all the attire I needed for winter. Winters came and went as I grew up. I never thought about leaving. My family never traveled to faraway tropical settings. We stayed here and tackled each winter like icy warriors going into battle with the elements. Things weren’t always easy and things sometimes went wrong. Frozen pipes and frozen equipment that refused to work would impend winter tasks severely. We endured some very cold weather. Minus 20 below and sometimes colder. Why did we stay? We stayed because our jobs and schools were here. Our families were here often as not. Grandparents and siblings. Our homes were here. Our farms and property. Perhaps our livestock as well. That’s why we stayed.But this story must return to a more personal journey for me to tell it properly. For I assume many things about other people. This is my story and maybe some of yours.

Why did I stay? The childhood part is pretty self explanatory don’t you think?But when offered a chance to head off to distant colleges in warmer states after high school? What was the answer to that. And after college? Why did I want to find employment here and make a home here? Why did I seek out like minded women and desire to share time with them here? That’s a complicated story line for me and one that will need to remain somewhat hazy for the moment. For it is a lengthy tale with many turns and twists. Difficult to fathom at times even for myself. Perhaps I avoid some truths there that I might rather not face. They aren’t dark or filled with shame deeds. They simply deal with large passages of time that has gone by now. Time. That subject that I promised by written intention to visit differently on this page in 2025. Many of my stories are from the past but when told properly won’t revolve around time as a central topic. And I have strayed from my subject as I am prone to do at times. Let’s cut to the chase.

I suppose that I could write a very lengthy manuscript on this subject as I examine it further. But a summary might be best for the moment. A glimpse through a window that might be a door. I can easily tell you more reasons why I chose to stay in this frozen winter landscape hen ones why I shouldn’t. It’s really quite simple actually. This area has always been my home. I never lived anywhere else. Sure I have traveled south in the winter and spent Easter breaks there. Many times over the years. And I suddenly realize that there’s a much larger story within this story. To truly answer my own questions I must ask more of them to deliver the answers. So consider this part one of a two part story. I have presented a case against winter here at times. Given it an almost criminal element. But winter is innocent until proven guilty. And with Mother Nature defending her seasons there will be no winning this case. After all ,we humans have chosen to live here and face winter each season. I think I am spinning in circles here. Time to rest and deliberate. It is enough. ✍️