The Ok Slip Falls

Posted on November 1, 2024November 2, 2024 by Greg Washburn

It’s Friday evening November 1st and I just got settled into my room at the Faust Motel in Tupper Lake, New York well over the Blue Line of the Adirondack Park. Why I am here for the second time in a week is a question that is easily answered. I like it here! Zane and I stayed in the room next door for two nights when we came up to the Adks to celebrate his birthday early. And that story is what I will tell shortly. But as to why I am here tonight is a story of a different sort. The universe steers me at times and where we had intended to stay last weekend didn’t pan out. I was driving home from work last Friday tried to decide where we might stay when the word Faust popped into my head! Faust is considered part of the village of Tupper Lake these days but once was known separately as a village that was the location of a railroad depot. The Faust Motel is about the only remaining place keeping the name going today. I just learned this a couple years ago from a local person.Anyway I Goggled the Faust Motel phone number and left a message about securing a room. The owner contacted us while we were driving up and just like that we had accommodations! Good rates too! We found our room warm and inviting when we arrived. Plenty of room and there are no televisions! No problem for us. We were set! Step one was complete! We would be waking up already close to our destination. I feel asleep super early after my long day.

We slept well and for a long time into Saturday morning. I headed over to get coffee at the little place at the motel where the owner makes it. I met the owner and chatted with her for quite awhile as other guests came and went. Fun! I got Zane up and moving so we could get our day moving. We stopped at Chef Darrel’s Mountain Cafe in Blue Mountain Lake for a hearty breakfast of eggs Benedict and pie. We were ready to hike! Our driving destination was a trailhead just a few miles past Indian Lake. The trail to Ok Slip Falls is about 3 miles counting the short distance you must hike a long the highway first. It’s a really well maintained trail with board sections spanning muddy areas. Much of it covers high well drained ridges where it’s very dry actually. A pleasant surprise as quite often trails can be muddy herd paths. The trail winds through a couple nice stands of evergreens. The first stand predominantly large white pine and the second one mostly large hemlock. The forest is quite open in spots given the age of its trees and the highness of most of the canopy. Zane and I made good time on the trail where almost all the leaves had fallen recently. The distance we could see through the forest was impressive and much different then a summer hike would have been. The trail went up and down to a degree but nothing major. We eventually reached a dirt road with power lines a long it that we traveled a short distance before turning off. It appeared that we were on some sort of old logging road at times. Pretty decent hiking really. There were a couple small rivulets of water to cross but nothing of any size. The trail was about to change we suddenly realized as we topped out onto a ridge.

Off in the distance we could see some high bluffs with open rocky ledges. The land beyond where we had topped off fell away from us into what appeared to be a large valley of some size. I mentioned to Zane that somewhere down there would be a stream or river. We knew from the trail description that the Hudson River was back in that direction somewhere. It was all making sense that the falls would be showing themselves before too long. The temperature was pleasant and the sun would occasionally come out for awhile. Zane was down to his tee shirt but I still wore my hoodie. My blood thinner make me run a little cooler these days that’s all. But I am fortunate to be in good enough condition to hike. Even with my injured knee that I brace up each day. It’s going to need to be addressed sometime this winter as I can’t continue on this way. They suspect my meniscus is damaged but not totally torn loose. It’s rather bothersome and causes me a fair amount of discomfort each day. But staying off the trail when I wanted nothing more then to hike with Zane wasn’t an option for me. I was feeling pretty good actually and not really suffering. I was enjoying my hike with Zane! Just like old times!

The trail began to descend in a winding fashion into the valley. Before too long I heard the water fall. We got our first view soon after and it was very impressive! The next overlook was even better and there was a great view of the falls. There were a couple other people there and we had passed two groups of hikers headed back out as we made our way in. We took a few photos and went to investigate more of the trail to see if there was a way down into the gorge. But a sign stating end of trail appeared. We decided to go past anyway to see if there was a way down. Others had done the same and there was a very steep but crude descending trail. It soon got super steep and I had to stash my beaver stick trekking poles. Soon we had to use ropes that people had tied here and there to get down even steeper sections. I was getting very nervous and kept asking Zane if we should turn back but he kept insisting that we could make it. We reached a place where the trail became only a foot or so wide next to a steep ledge. To the left there were almost no trees and a rocky slide looking section that dropped over a ledge. Not a safe place to go and I was very s scared. Zane crossed it easily and coaxed me across it. Not my idea of fun! After that it wasn’t as bad with trees and roots to hang onto while descending. We eventually reached the bottom and stood next to a large pool of water. I spotted a small trout swimming in it shallow sunny section near shore. Zane raced ahead to the base of the falls and I caught up after awhile. I was a little shaky from the descent and it took me a minute to relax again. But the view was worth all the effort and risk it had taken to get down there. We got up close to the falls but had to watch for super slick rocks. The base of the falls was a jumbled pile of rocks of all sizes. Some were huge! We took more photos and I gazed up at the overlook where we had stood before descending. We were in a circular basin with high rock walls on three sides. Eerily beautiful and peaceful despite the hazards getting down. We made our way up with relative ease but it was rather strenuous. I found it less stressful climbing up and was glad when we crossed the narrow section of ledge with the potentially fatal drop off. But what an adventure! So much more then just sitting up at the overlook. We rested at the overlook and enjoyed a snack with plenty of water. It was time to make our way out.

The trip out was uneventful and I was beginning to tire some as my knee began to burn with overexertion. It seemed like a long trip but we made it out fairly quickly. We had done it! Made it to Ok Slip Falls! One of the highest waterfalls in the Adirondacks! Zane and I had bonded greatly from the experience. Something we both needed! Adirondack time never disappoints. The adventure was a true battery charging event even if it had worn me down physically. We still had daylight remaining as we made our way back to Tupper Lake so we stopped at Buttermilk Falls near Long Lake. Very easy to find and close to the road. Always a treat! Back at the room it was shower time and then dinner. I feel asleep early again and Sunday morning would find me having coffee again in the coffee room. Zane wanted to explore Lake Placid so we visited the Olympic Center where I had worked in 2021 and 2022. We hit some shops and a bookstore before grabbing lunch at the Pickled Pig. A fav LP restaurant of mine! On the drive home we hiked up to Mount Arab and climbed up the fire tower. Our weekend was ending but we had had a wonderful adventure! A little bit of everything! Hiking and waterfalls. Dining out and hitting shops. A true Adirondack experience! MOONTABS were made and for that I am most grateful!✍️

The Push

Posted on October 13, 2024November 1, 2024 by Greg Washburn

It’s been awhile since I took the time to write here. Things have changed dramatically in the past few weeks in several ways. Work has continued to dominate my schedule as the September 15th cutoff for my employment was extended until October 31st.This has brought both pros and cons into play most certainly.Too say that the past several weeks have been a blur is true and accurate. There’s been a lot of progress made though. Both on the methane project where I have been working and at home.One of the biggest accomplishments has been helping get all the haying done! I stepped up and began mowing for my Uncles on September 10th shortly after my last post.This continued until Friday September 20th pretty much every day except Sunday. I mowed the last of their big hay fields that hadn’t gotten done this summer then moved down to my own farm. We enjoyed a nice stretch of hot,dry weather that was perfect for September haying. I would mow until dark after work which would take me to about 7:30 pm then return to Camp Edith for dinner and a shower. Those were some long days!

It was great seeing the haying finally getting done at my farm.Not so different then last year but this time it was all round bales. With my work schedule there was no time for loads of square bales. Once my fields were done I mowed second cut at my Uncles place most of the final week.We did a lot in 10 days considering it was just Uncle Art and me. My other Uncle was recovering from surgery. I found myself enjoying the mowing. I saw deer,ravens,and hawks most nights as I mowed. Some of the sunsets were spectacular and I even got to see a wonderful moonrise a couple evenings. The scent of freshly mown hay was rather intoxicating at times. There was a feeling of accomplishment that carried me through my fatigue when I needed that final burst of energy most days.

My farm is down! All mowed!Raking underway.

Meanwhile on the methane project the farmer was busy harvesting and piling corn for silage. An operation of mammoth proportions. The corn silage trucks rolled with dusty succession all day every day. I named the corn silage pile “Corn Mountain”. The hundreds of acres of standing corn began to disappear and all that remained were rows of stubble. We were busy as well there. Placing conduit into the ground for our power and control systems. It was a hot period of September weather that was much different then what October would bring.

The Monday after my final night of mowing, the project went onto 10 hour work days. I wasn’t thrilled with this and worked as much as I could but never any Saturdays.We took off to the Adirondacks recently for a weekend away to the Indian Lake area for hiking and paddling.Luckily the weather cooperated and we had a nice time. I had hoped to see some beaver to video one evening but they remained elusive and the coming darkness would force us to leave the flow we were paddling. We had spent some of that day on a hike and saved our paddling for the afternoon. We discovered a creek that dumped into the flow and followed it until a beaver dam forced us to stop. It was fragrant and tranquil! The scent of balsam permeated the creek bed and it was rather awesome up in there! Except for the biting flies! They look like house flies and they bite hard! I used my handkerchief as a fly swatter and soon the bottom of the canoe was littered with their broken bodies. It felt good to take the hunt to them at that point seeing as they had cut our beach picnic time short!The sun began to cast shadows over the mountains and although the leaves weren’t at peak color it was stunningly beautiful! The sun was warm and it was very pleasant paddling. A true battery charging moment to enjoy after a busy work week. But change was waiting for me and I didn’t realize it then. Perhaps it’s best not to know some things in advance lest the moment be tarnished and become bittersweet. It was Saturday and there was still one day to enjoy before the new work week began. Retirement is a gift and returning to work continues to remind me of that. But this year’s work was serving a higher purpose. The endless need for cash flow never ceases that’s for sure. So sometimes small sacrifices pay big dividends. It’s not that bad after all. I do enjoy my work most days.

So here it is October 13th. We are still living at Camp Edith after installing a new pump to deliver lake water to us. Our other water source had to be disconnected a few weeks back and we were not ready to move back to the Homestead just yet. After a few minor glitches which were rather maddening given the schedule the water system is performing well. We always have the option of using the shower and bathroom at the farm fortunately. We have been making cider over there after work at night. It’s a good time to get laundry caught up! Zane brought in 15 bags of apples and I can’t say for sure how much cider we pressed but it’s quite a bit! Some went into the freezer but he’s fermenting some also for hard cider. It’s nice to see him in touch with his rural heritage. Not to mention all the pumpkins he grew to give away. What a kid! 19 and still very much a boy at times. Reminds me of someone!

It’s Sunday night again and Monday morning looms some 10 hours away. We are cozy and warm here with a nice supply of firewood on hand finally. Yesterday’s power outage that lasted almost 24 hours is behind us. Nothing some generator hook up couldn’t solve although my schedule got thrown aside. Being able to adapt quickly has its advantages at times. Life is changing fast it seems. This has been a most turbulent year at times. But it has also been filled with moments of discovery and happiness. Passion and adventure. And crushing moments of painful indecision and sadness. How best to proceed becomes a most perplexing question for me as autumn grabs hold of the north country. Where am I going and what waits for me next? November 1st will be a new chapter where my work on the methane project will be behind me. Time will be short as Homestead projects move to the top of the priority list. Daylight is waning now as we move to the next solstice. And frost will grip the land once again slowing us down at times. I hope to begin to write here more frequently and with more meaningful content. I am tired quite honestly. My spirit energy has also waned somewhat. But my schedule was self imposed and my decision. And I must see my commitment to the project through as I promised. But did I break other promises in the midst of the blur? It weighs heavy at times but days of autumn remain and there is still time. And we are fortune here in the upstate region to be spared the ravages of the hurricanes and flooding that have battered the south recently. My challenges and concerns seem petty by comparison. So I remain grateful and humble I hope. MOONTABS are being made. It is enough.✍️

Into The ADK West

Posted on September 7, 2024September 7, 2024 by Greg Washburn

I sometimes have trouble choosing what story to write when I sit down to draft a blog post. Some stories are destined to wait ultimately as I try to keep things current. You may have noticed that I rarely edit my work here. I prefer to leave everything rather raw and in the moment. Kind of like how I try to live my life. There’s no AI here! Things have really centered around work lately as my last post mentioned. That’s about to change after next week unless something drastic happens. But seeing as the farm is looking rather neglected it’s probably a good thing to get busy back at the Homestead soon. There’s been one huge problem trying to do anything there recently. Did I already write about it? Well it deserves continued recognition if I did! Those darn mosquitoes! They are unbelievable right now and attack in full sunshine! This has gone on for weeks now. The last time I picked blackberries they bit my forehead to shreds! So even a trip to the garden at the farm has been less then fun lately. Luckily they aren’t as bad at Camp Edith. Zane and I recently celebrated my 62nd birthday there after work. We expect to continue to live here until sometime in October. It seems far off but is it really?

Last weekend was an extended celebration of my birthday so to speak. I had rented an Airbnb on a whim recently for the long weekend. It was hard to find a pet friendly one available on short notice and I had nearly given up. But around midnight one night I found a place that seemed perfect! Remote and private. Off the beaten path in a part of the Adirondacks unknown to me mostly. I booked it with little hesitation after a quick review of the amenities. It would do just fine! I wasn’t going alone but will keep details of my companion secret to respect her/our privacy. Something I haven’t always done I know. Perhaps I once made my life too public. It still is very public really. It’s hard to tell a story when you try to leave out a main character! But let’s focus on the adventures and the location for the moment! Our destination was just inside the Blue Line not that far from Lowville,New York in Lewis County. I was familiar with Stillwater Reservoir near there having camped and paddled on it in the late 1980s but this was a different area. We would be close to Brantingham Lake. It’s private and there is no state launch. Despite my lack of knowledge of the area I figured we could explore somewhere new and expand our knowledge of the Adirondacks. It proved to be a good decision! We were booked and headed to Fish Camp Village! Village meaning three cabins!

It took us over 2 hours to reach our destination but we had a couple shopping breaks to split up the trip. We stopped in Croghan for some world famous Croghan bologna! Some fresh cheese curd was also purchased. Adventures call for snacks. Sometimes even those not recommended!We also stopped for groceries of a more healthy nature. Fruits and vegetables. Chicken and even some fresh sweet corn! It started raining hard soon after we left the grocery store and continued for the duration of our trip. Phone service became sketchy but our navigation was sound and we found the road that would lead us to our cabin with little difficulty. There was a small settlement that had several restaurants and a general store. Atvs and off road Utvs were abundant in town. Lewis County has a trail system in place that allows them in this area. It all seemed a little lawless in some strange manner. We soon left all this behind. The pavement ended a few miles later and we were on a well maintained dirt road. There were all sorts of camps and houses along the route as well as sections of undeveloped forest. We were definitely out of farm country at this point. We reached the closed gate that signaled our destination and I used a code that I had been given by text to open the gate. High technology in the backwoods! The road into the cabin was fairly new and dropped down over a steep ridge. Once we spotted it we realized our cabin was obviously new also. We had arrived!

Our cabin was cozy and well constructed we discovered as we carried all our belongings in. The loft was reached by a spiral staircase. Everything was in order and just like it had been promised on the website. We took a stroll after unpacking but nothing serious as it was still a little rainy.We were close to a stream called Otter Creek and we could hear it running through a shallow rocky section. Further up it was calmer and wider just past another unoccupied cabin. What a nice location for some spirit battery charging I thought! But it was too wet for paddling or hiking so we headed back into town to grab some dinner. Cooking was not something either of us planned on doing until Sunday! We settled on a restaurant called The Coachlight Inn. Rebuilt in 2020 after being destroyed by fire, it was busy but not overwhelmingly noisy. We enjoyed a nice meal with large portions and left with leftovers. Back at the cabin our outdoor plans for a campfire had to be postponed due to further rain showers so I made a fire in the glass fronted wood stove instead. It got rather hot though and windows needed to be opened. Bedtime came early as we planned for the next day’s adventures. We were happy,well fed, and totally comfortable!

Sunday dawned dry and cloudy but the sun did shine some from time to time. We enjoyed coffee in Lori’s Lookout (my name for it).It’s a screened in structure with walls and a floor sitting high above the creek on a ridge side.The owner of the property had built it for his wife Lori but illness had ended their dream short before Fish Camp could be finished. Lori had made her husband David promise to finish what they had begun there and he did after her passing. True love holds great power and although this story had a rather sad ending it speaks of dedication,commitment,and romance. It’s a lovely place to sit and share life stories. This was how we spent our time there making breakfast and packing snacks for the day. We were rather conflicted about where to paddle but decided to hike to a nearby waterfall first. We explored a possible lead to nearby Big Otter Lake but the road leading into it has been closed off. We weren’t into a 3 mile portage to reach it! The Shingle Mill waterfalls were an easy walk down an old road and we thoroughly impressed by the beauty of the location! There are three sections of the falls to view. The water levels were somewhat modest so the falls were briskly busy but not excessive.It’s easy to see what they would be like during periods of high water though. We spent quite a bit of time there before leaving to seek out a paddle destination.

We soon learned something about maps and navigation in the area we were trying to reach. Navigation showed roads leading to places that ended up being just horse trails! One such example was the Blueberry Trail that leads to Cats Paw Lake. We had to turn back after the road got impassable. Things were proving difficult for paddling! I later learned of a possible alternative route but given the lack of cell phone service who can say for sure what we would have found had we pursued it. We finally settled for a lake named Payne and arrived there after yet another road turned into a horse trail! A friendly hiker told us how we could reach it by another set of roads. Payne Lake turned out to be tiny and not u h more then a big pond! We unloaded the canoe and paddled around it regardless. I was feeling rather upset as I felt that I had done a bad job of picking paddle destinations. We headed back towards our cabin and the rain returned once again! This storm blew itself out rather quickly and after having a snack in the cabin we decided to paddle up Otter Creek. We didn’t get to far however before it got rocky and super shallow. This was not to be our ideal paddle day it seemed! But our explorations had been fun and rewarding nonetheless. We prepared a yummy dinner in the cabin and later had a great campfire before calling it a day. We had to leave in the morning and it seemed like time had sped by like it always seems to do. But we had been having a good time together reminiscent of other times. Reconnecting out in nature comes easy and it’s the perfect place to do just that. Although having a cozy, comfortable cabin sure helps also! We are well suited for making the best of any place we chose to go.

Our final time at Fish Camp the next morning was spent packing up and cleaning up the cabin. I enjoyed my maple syrup infused coffee first however! I need that buzz! We enjoyed our breakfast up in Lori’s Lookout right before leaving.It was rather cool and the soft maples along the creek were beginning to turn red. We talked for quite some time about all types of things. The Lookout seemed to open up channels of energy that turned conversations down different avenues. I found our time there meaningful and was glad that we had spent time at Fish Camp. We left to start our day with no clear destination in mind exactly. But that often leads to awesome adventures.Ones where unforgettable MOONTABS are made. It turned out to be one of those days in the end. And that will be the next story I share here. Watch for the Cedar River Flow story.✍️

One Would Be Missing

Posted on August 17, 2024August 17, 2024 by Greg Washburn

Wow what a summer! So much for recent blogs! I don’t even know where to begin really. Life changes fast sometimes and it’s difficult to keep up at times. But we all live within the same 24 hours don’t we when you really stop to think about it? And isn’t everyone rather busy with something? My situation has changed dramatically since my last post. I spent some of July in the Adirondacks but was asked if I would return to work in mid July. I accepted and stepped on the job on July 17th. I liked the project immediately as it turned out. I was assigned to a methane digester project on a large farm outside of Madrid, New York. It’s much different then most projects I have worked. Why work when I am already retired? Money of course! As in extra for travel and things like that. Yes it ties up my time and occupies my days but the perks are worth it considering the short time I will be there ultimately.So I have made my decision and will stand behind it now. I remain loyal to my employer of 3 years now although I had almost no work in 2023. Loyalty is important to a guy like me. I take it very seriously. No matter whether it’s work,family,or in a relationship. So work has been interfering with my life to use an old joke of mine!😂

Another big reason for returning to the valley has been Zane. He’s been working himself this summer. He got a job with NYS Parks and Recreation at a campground near here. It’s his first real job and it’s been good for him. But his schedule doesn’t align with mine so we don’t get much time together. That’s difficult for both of us. There are other reasons for my return to living full time in the valley but they are of a more complicated and personal nature. Connected to the universal flow of energy in some sort of natural progression it appears. Not easily described even if I were so inclined. Suffice it to say that the winds of change have been blowing and I have been surfing some heavy waves. All this is rather confusing and sudden but necessary as I struggle with some growing pains in my journey for ascension. Internal turmoil be challenging at times. What does all this have to do with connections to nature? More then you might consider actually. For my personal challenges loosen my connection to nature and I can become off balance. Out of synch and out of focus. Thus a lack of words to share. Life isn’t perfect right? I never give up trying to make the best possible decisions for myself. After all, my own survival is paramount in my desire to protect those I care about. There’s a connection to nature perhaps but it’s a bit slippery to grasp. So I must leave it alone for now. I am positive that things will continue to show themselves. I must trust in the now and my 5+1 senses to serve as a guide.

Out on the project the storm approaches. How appropriate.

I was fortunate to get to spend time with my cousin Gerry ahead of the Washburn family reunion on the 28th. We spent some time helping our Uncles with hay and picking black berries. Picking berries is great meditation if I truly consider the experience. Gerry and I would chat while picking and share lots of personal information. We did well as the berries were plentiful and ripe. We could pick a lot in a fairly short outing. I froze most of mine although one pie made it to the table briefly. It didn’t last very long!Eating seemed to be a big thing around the family reunion time. Not so good for my body but I tried to be moderate. Mosquitoes and deer flies harassed us severely while we were picking but we persevered through most of them.

As July progressed it became obvious that Zane could not get time off to accompany us on our upcoming Quebec fishing trip. I don’t know who was more disappointed. Zane or I. I began assembling my gear in a pile in the kitchen at Camp Edith. Realizing that Zane wasn’t going was a bitter pill to swallow. He had gone on the fishing trips of 2015,2016, 2022,and 2023. He had changed immensely since being a boy of 10 that first trip to a young man of 18 last year. Such things are not lost on me and I pondered it often in the days before we were to leave. August 9th was our departure date and it was arriving quickly. Zane was obviously disappointed but there was nothing to be done about the situation. Adulthood was truly finding him with all its responsibilities and commitments. I was about to break a promise I had made myself while on a fly in fishing trip in 2013 when I was missing Zane greatly while I was gone to the bush country of eastern Quebec. I had vowed to never leave him home again if I went to the bush fishing. And I hadn’t. Zane had made his debut there in 2015 and despite his mother’s reservations he had thrived there. He took to walleye fishing like it was his calling and boated the two biggest walleye of the trip on the big waters of Lac Echouani while fishing with my friend and I. Those are precious MOONTABS of a time now past and other trips would follow. Each uniquely special and full of wonderful moments. Zane would continue to advance as a fisherman and I would spend much of my time netting fish for him. Always helping him get his gear in shape and his baits into the water. On a second trip to Lac Echouani in 2016 he would master the art of jigging walleye with these frozen minnows we had purchased at the outfitter. We called them “Fred Minnows” since a guy named Fred who worked at the outfitter recommended them. Zane would manage to catch the most walleye that trip. He beat out all three of us overall in numbers. Sure some of them were small! But walleye are walleye at the end of the day!

2017 would find me buried in projects and dealing with a failed marriage so there was no fishing trip. But I retired that November and the things underwent a huge change. Zane and I would tackle our quest for the Adirondack 46 high peaks in earnest in the summers of 2018 and 2019. Covid kept us from fishing in Canada in 2020 but we finished the high peaks in September that year. 2021 was busy camping with the newly purchased Airstream and our fishing was limited to the Adirondacks and home. But in 2022 we would return to Canada on a sudden whim after being asked by our friend if we would go back to Canada if he could secure a booking which he did. Zane would join us once again on the new waters of Lac Dumoine in western Quebec that August. It is the lake that inspired the five part blog series that included “The Solace Of The Bush”. Some of the most enjoyable blog writing that I have ever created in my opinion! And we would return there in 2023 but I only wrote one blog post about that trip. Too bad as it was an epic trip with impressive numbers of walleye caught and released. It’s never too late to resume the stories though. The stories are safely secured in numerous photographs and locked within my memories. As I traveled around Lac Dumoine last week those memories came flooding back. At night in the upstairs of our cabin that I had shared with Zane in 2023 it was eerily different without him. And my heart would grow heavy despite all the fun times I was having. I decided that he must return there with me in 2025 regardless of circumstances. Time will not wait for us forever. We will need to take charge of it and make it happen. For 2024 has been a year of tremendous change for me and I realize the importance of not waiting to go on adventures. So we shouldn’t and I hope we won’t.

So this summer’s trip just ended yesterday and I am preparing to write about it’s highlights. But I felt the need to regress some and reflect on the past. What better way to move forward in the now? What better way to plan for the future? Because this summer one would be missing on the trip. One would be missed greatly during the trip. One would be absent from the photos. I can’t change that now but I can attempt to change what happens next if possible. That’s the message here. Dream and hope for tomorrow. A lot can happen in one year. A lot will happen. Of that I have no doubt. And how might we live our best lives? With wise decisions and carefully laid plans? We won’t always make the best decisions. But can we live with those things we decided? We have to regardless. It is a growing process after all is said and done. And we are all in different stages of our own personal growing seasons. One thing is most certain: my son loves the wild places and yearns to go there with me still. It is enough. I have returned with my internal batteries charged from a different energy source this time in some strange fashion. They charge differently away from the Adirondacks or at the farm property. The wilds of Canada are far different then here. Different roads and trails to follow. Different trees and mountains. That is the draw of adventure. There must be one final trip to Lac Dumoine before we branch out in new directions. The Canadian bush country is vast and mostly unknown to me. I will run out of time before I can explore it all. But that is the way of exploration. And who’s to say what’s possible beyond this moment? I am considering different options presently. Ones that will break away from my past methods and timelines. The big question is will I follow that path? It’s hard to say really. I must listen closely and choose wisely. Things may yet reveal themselves to me. For now I must regroup for awhile and reflect. ✍️

Milling Around

Posted on June 27, 2024July 7, 2024 by Greg Washburn

This post was started awhile back and there were a few technical glitches that have since been resolved fortunately! It doesn’t take long for the central theme of a post to suddenly change direction some! I originally was staying in Saranac Lake when I began writing it but am currently here at Camp Edith getting it finished. I just got fully moved in this afternoon. Amy and I have been working at getting it cleaned and ready the past couple weeks.Thursday night was our first night here and we stayed here all weekend. It’s really shaped up with some TLC! Amy has done a wonderful job transforming the functionality of the space. It’s very cozy now! I had a lot of decluttering to do!Things have wrapped up mostly on the project in Saranac Lake and I will be spending more time back here now. It’s been a rewarding experience living and working in the village. There’s plenty of work to do at the farm and some catching up to do with miscellaneous things. I recently got a gel shot in my left knee to try to relieve some of my pain and discomfort. My meniscus injury may very well require surgery but I am postponing that for as long as possible. At this point it’s still unclear how the injury even happened but it may go all the way back to last November when Zane and I tipped over the side by side one night by accident while burning off the meadows across the road at the farm. It’s the only thing that I can think of really. That was a rather wild evening of burning! But we had everything under control! Mostly… but that’s another story all together. The focus now will be shifting to resetting the sawmill and getting some logs run through it. It’s been stored in the warehouse since it got back from Winthrop in late May. I got it back out and set it back up recently one Friday night after returning from Saranac Lake.

Back in February I had cut logs with my friend Gregger in his big woods up behind his home in Winthrop. I stayed in his cabin for a night and we cut logs for a couple days. We targeted hemlock for me for my Homestead cabin siding. Four trees made a rather large pile of logs. For him we cut cherry and yellow birch. With the snow covered ground we made good progress and we’re soon finished with the project. The plan was to leave the logs till spring when we could bring the sawmill up to run them through.

It was mid May before I finally got the mill up to Gregger’s. I packed some food and extra gear so I could spend a night in his cabin then work a second day without doing all the extra driving. We got the mill set up and Zane came up to help out. We got a few hardwood logs run through that first day before making a nice dinner of venison and fish. Zane spent the night at the cabin with me but had things to do the next morning. Gregger and I ran a bunch more logs through the mill and stickered all the lumber up on his trailer under a tarp. Rain was a little bit of an issue but we worked around it as best we could. By the end of day 2 we had made a decent start on the hardwood log pile.

There was a gap in our sawmill activity when Amy and I traveled for a long weekend to the Brimfield Flea Market in Massachusetts. It was quite the event! We ended up purchasing a number of things that easily fit into her car. We tried to buy sensibly but impulse purchases of collectibles can be difficult to control! While we were in Massachusetts we traveled to nearby Connecticut to tour her former hometown. Saturday would find us on the beach at Watchhill, Rhode Island. It’s a lovely sanctuary that has preserved and will remain undeveloped. There’s nothing like the ocean to stir the inner spirit. It was our first traveling experience together and we had a really great time!

May was moving right along and there was only one week left before the Saranac Lake deck project was slated to begin. It was obvious that Gregger and I could never finish sawing his hardwood logs and all of my hemlock. I decided to truck all my logs to the Homestead instead. So we sawed during the day and I hauled a load home every night. We cut up some of the hardwood slabs to weigh down the truck also. Cut into 10” chunks they were stored in the Homestead woodshed each night to dry for the tiny cabin wood stove to be used during the next heating season. We completed all of Gregger’s hardwood logs and some hemlock he needed before finally beginning to concentrate on cleaning up his landing. I hauled a couple big loads of slab wood to the Homestead for sugarwood as part of this process.It was time consuming and tedious work but one with a larger purpose. I was beginning to get a little road weary but stayed with the pace. The final morning would find me following Gregger as he trucked the sawmill back to the Homestead.

I had received an offer to pick up some hemlock logs from a friend of a friend over by Sixberry Lake awhile back. I had picked up one load the day we returned the sawmill to the Homestead and dumped them off in the meadow near the warehouse.The fellow who gave them to me wanted two 14’ 6×6’s in exchange for the logs. A very fair proposition to which I readily agreed! I hadn’t gotten them done however and his July deadline was fast approaching. I picked out three decent logs but ended up needing four as one turned out to be “shaky”. Wind shake causes the growth rings in hemlock to break out when sawn into lumber. It’s not super common but sometimes happens in hemlock. The boards and timbers fall apart when shake shows up. It’s a frustrating thing when it happens and often those pieces of lumber end up in the sugar house for firewood! I ended up making the fellow three decent 6×6 timbers and one decent 4×4 timber. It seemed fair. I loaded them onto the trailer and delivered them to him where he then loaded the second load of logs for me. Prior to that I had moved all the piles of logs in the meadow up onto the landing log loading platform above the actual sawmill.

Prior to delivery of the timbers,Zane and I spent the better part of Monday last week getting some pine logs that were on the log loading landing run through the mill. The pine sawyer beetles had begun to bore into them just under the bark so it was time! A couple months later it would be a different story as the beetles would have gotten inside the logs boring destructive holes through them. Nature at its finest! Sawyer beetles serve as a frontline decomposer type process that helps dead pine return to the soil. It was hot and dusty work but we managed to produce some very nice lumber. All the slab wood was dumped off the tractor loader into the big outdoor pile right outside the sugar house woodshed. Another job for another day or days most likely! We may be a little behind schedule!😂

I finally got tired out from sawing and hand peeled the last three pine logs. They won’t be bothered by the beetles with their bark gone. The lumber was stickered and stashed away in the old woodshed and in the warehouse. We had to stack and haul all the dry sap buckets that had been sitting in the woodshed for weeks first though. That’s done finally at least. Lots of task oriented work to get done. I finally called it quits but felt very happy with our accomplishments. We had done a lot! It felt good getting caught up a little and working with the sawmill! Nothing like accomplishment to stir the inner spirit and charge the batteries! All that slab wood will be used for making maple syrup. Talk about repurposing! It all seemed a little time consuming. Last winters log cutting in Winthrop. Sawing logs there as payment for the hemlock logs I got from Gregger. Hauling those hemlock logs to the Homestead from Winthrop. Then turning around and going after more hemlock logs at Sixberry Lake. And all those hemlock logs still needed to be sawn! Was it really worth all the time and effort? Why not just side the buildings with vinyl siding or rough cut pine? It represents something much larger to me however. It’s all connected in some way that many people might struggle to understand. Hemlock is gone from the farm property where it once thrived. Locked in the buildings themselves in the form of timbers, rafters, and siding. To use hemlock to transform the farm buildings and the tiny cabin seemed justified in that moment to me. Who would buy siding or lumber when the means to create it lay within my grasp? What price do I place on my goals and dreams? I have insisted on hemlock siding for my building projects and hemlock we shall have in large plentiful quantities. I will create each piece with a driven mindset of determination. The time I will have invested in creating the lumber will be significant. But so will be the MOONTABS that led to its creation. That is the very level of resolve and stubborn perseverance. There is prideful rural heritage in the tasks at hand and in the deeds themselves. It will be remembered and visible long beyond this moment. That is where the message lies if indeed there is a message at all. Perhaps I simply underestimated the very magnitude of the job itself. What does it truly matter in the end? When all is finished and slab wood burns in the evaporator from those same logs what will I think then? I will know that answer I hope if I am to be so fortunate. I will be residing within those hemlock shrouded walls of the tiny cabin and standing in front of my boiling evaporator yet another March day. Why ask so many questions anyway? What is time anyway? I will never get it all done anyway say the teachings of Abraham-Hicks. It’s an inner calling these things I desire to do. It is enough.✍️

And The Wheels Turn

Posted on June 21, 2024June 21, 2024 by Greg Washburn

Day two of summer has arrived! Summer solstice burned in hot and humid yesterday. It’s been a very hot week and very typical for this time of June. I have spent most of June (to date) up in Saranac Lake working on a capital project on Amy’s house. After deliberating the scope and timeline an agreement was made with Amy’s carpenter friend Peter to do the project ourselves with me being an assistant. We started at the tail end of May demoing the old deck. Then the rebuild.It’s been fun and challenging! Amy’s choice of natural white cedar for the deck sealed the deal for me way before we even started. Way back in February when I arrived at her place to rent for the night for the first time she had shown me the project. She had mentioned the white cedar then. I was sold and time would lead my hands to the project. But not before the subtle dances of courtship followed a certain soundtrack. Enter the many hours traveling back and forth to see each other. The distance has been no hardship for either of us. The mix of time spent in the Adirondacks and the valley has a certain flair to it! And the wheels turned.

Where’s the time go besides covering those miles? Health concerns,procedures, and doctor visits eat through the hours like ravenous dogs. My knee situation is one ongoing problem. There’s more but the point is not to showcase my health struggles but rather acknowledge the investment of time it takes to overcome them. This has been a year of huge change for me. I stand pounds lighter and healthier these days. I have lost weight and overhauled my diet thanks in part to my wellness coach! Fate would bring Amy into my life at a time when I was needing change. And change has come in waves for me. And I ride an imaginary surf board at times. High on top,sitting at a dead calm, and sometimes tossed under kissing the coral. It’s all a little surreal at times and I feel like a bystander in some strange manner when I wake sometimes at 3am suddenly. But I am lucky! Blessed with the simplest of things when I need them most. The connections to nature can be loosened a little at times but fortunately never broken. I try to keep myself surrounded by nature as much as possible! And those little things found in nature become huge and meaningful in the passing of days. Perhaps I have learned to look for them better. My inner spirit batteries need a good charging to keep the balance! It’s working well and I continue to work on becoming a healthier me. It’s taking some time. And the wheels turn.

Eastern pond hawk visitor. A small wonder.

I have truly enjoyed my time in the village of Saranac Lake! Staying at Amy’s while working has been great. It keeps me off the road and helps me focus on the project. We sometimes get out onto the Rail Trail to ride our bikes for some relaxation time. The sight of the mountains always pumps me up! We have done some paddling as well on some of the nearby ponds and lakes. One morning while driving back from nearby Bloomingdale after picking up some lumber I was struck by the magnitude of the moment! Here I was! Right where I had sometimes envisioned myself as a future me. Living and working right in the village.Of course I could never have envisioned all of it! Too many things had to change first. And if it seems like I am in a different place these days on my journey it’s because I am! I am doing my best to move forward on this new path. Out beyond that crossroad I headed down in February. And the clock enters my schedule in new ways. It turns with the new season. All the extra daylight sure changes things but it’s easy to take it for granted since it comes on so gradual.That’s part of what I always attempt to capture here. There’s so much to see and do when summer hits. And if you are wondering. The wheels turn.

We will soon be done with phase one projects at Amy’s and take a little break there. We are about to open Camp Edith and get it ready for some summer times! Summer will also see me returning to some of my invasive species volunteering work. It’s all being placed on the calendar in neatly arranged time slots. Here at the Homestead there are things to keep up with every week. The small lawn grows quickly! We also have a tiny garden out by the silo. A fun little “throw and grow” project that we are experimenting with here. So time is balanced between two places these days. It’s working though. Things continue to get checked off the lists each week. We are due for a new series of adventures soon! It’s taking some planning to assimilate into each other’s lives we have learned. It’s no surprise or no big epiphany. It’s simply a new reality to share together. So the wheels turn! Between the valley and the Adirondacks. In the Adirondacks and in the valley. And all sorts of destinations in between! It’s all cresting a unique set of MOONTABS! ✍️

Spring Has Sprung!

Posted on May 8, 2024May 8, 2024 by Greg Washburn

Spring continues to ramp up in the valley and things have gotten very green! The grass is really growing now and lawn work is way overdue!But priorities come in many different forms when a person interacts with nature! Lately it’s been a mix of work and play! Awhile back Amy came down for the weekend and we foraged for a variety of annual forage items. We started with burdock behind the barn. We have an abundance of it and the roots are edible if they are small. We got some decent ones! No worries ever running out of them! We have many!

We next targeted chives and leeks. Chives grow all over the open fields here in great numbers. Scissors work well to collect them into a container. For leeks we headed into the forest in parts of the sugarbush. They were still rather small but very potent so they would make a nice addition to the soup we were planning to create. There’s no shortage of leeks on the farm so we harvest the entire plant unlike what others do elsewhere. Some people only harvest one leaf from each plant! That’s ultra conservative but not something we need to ever do we hope. Our patches remain sustainable for now although two former harvest areas have all but disappeared since the forest die off of 2016/2017. We will continue to harvest responsibly and believe that we can manage to maintain a balance.

Our final forage item was the water loving species we call Cowslips. There’s a nice patch near the farm where it’s easy to quickly fill a grocery bag! Scissors also work well for harvesting these greens. We target the smaller leaves as the bigger leaves and blossoms are bitter. We were a little late to the harvest but still managed to find plenty of small leaves. Our foraging items were beginning to add up!

Now the work of cleaning our items began! Burdock is especially dirty and takes some time to prepare. Cleaned roots were chopped into small pieces that would cook down in the soup. Chives are super easy to clean and chop up. Also into the soup. The Cowslips were washed and then boiled to reduce their size. The water was discarded and our boiled Cowslips were added to the soup. We were going for an all veggie type soup so no meat was added. Potatoes were cut up as well as a few carrots. We had a nice concoction going! In the crock pot it shimmered away for several hours. The result was a hearty and healthy dinner! For Sunday breakfast I made eggs with added chives and 10 year old aged cave cheese. Interesting story there to share sometime! I also made French toast that we smothered with maple syrup! Life was good! We live in the land of plenty! Knowing how to forage enhances the connections to nature!

Cave cheese and chive eggs with French toast!Yum!

Amy had to return to the Adirondacks Sunday afternoon and I was missing her already so I decided to do some work up on the hill. There was a log that needed to be brought down for firewood that had blocked a sap haul road earlier in the season. While I was up in the Mother Tree area I targeted a bunch of invasive wild honeysuckles that were taking over the clearing. The Mother Tree was tapped this spring for the first time in years along with several others in the area. It’s a large three tree cluster that’s actually one set of roots. It easily carries 8 sap buckets! It sustained some damage during the die off but survived mostly intact fortunately. Most of the former Mother Tree Loop that we used to tap suffered grievous losses so it’s been abandoned. I got pretty wild ripping up the invasives once I got started. I may have won a small battle but we are still losing the war. See the old post “The Battle Of Evermore” for further details. Before I quit for the evening I also drew out a 16 foot butternut log that the tree trimmers had cut near the power lines by the road. It may make some nice lumber and needed to be salvaged regardless.

The week started productively and I put down the remaining 2” planks in the former woodshed so we could stack sap buckets in there to dry. My friend Gary came to help me wash buckets after I had done 100 the prior day. We finished all of them and some other sugaring gear. I hauled water from the spring like usual as I can pump it much faster that way. There’s still the main evaporator pans to pressure wash and the big storage vat. I am running behind! I have enjoyed two days of brown trout fishing down on Henderson Harbor and out on Lake Ontario with Gary and his son. He has a nice setup for trolling! I learned something new and even drove the boat a little! I caught my first two brown trout ever and ended up eating them. They are ok but not my favorite fish! It was a great experience though and we had the water mostly to ourselves!

I headed up to Amy’s on Thursday of that week to participate in a spring cleanse with her. It involves special food and drinks. Teas and no sugar to speak. We dined on a rice and mung bean dish called Kitceri although with vegetable juice we made ourselves. We were supposed to stay somewhat idle but we ended up doing a lot! I bought a bike from a local bike shop in Saranac Lake. What a great store and the owner John is awesome! Check out “Human Power Planet Earth Bike Shop”! I decided to buy local in the Adirondacks and support local small business. It was a great choice! I love my bike! We rode twice that weekend and visited the “Slow Turn” for some reflection time. Always a good idea! We also hiked into a somewhat remote pond for some water viewing nature time. Rain would slow us down at one point but we enjoyed a healthy spring cleanse that my body no doubt needed! Amy knows the ways of healthy living and she’s a tremendous help getting me to a healthier lifestyle!

Last week would find me traveling many miles! Returning from the Adirondacks Monday. Fishing Lake Ontario Tuesday. Picking up a friend at the Dexter airport Tuesday night and a trip to Cooperstown with him on Thursday. I found time to volunteer at the IRLC Ferrone Woods Preserve in the Town of Macomb on Wednesday where a new trail system is going to be developed. We had to remove some deer hunting stands and blinds as part of the transition here. It a lovely and unique parcel that I will feature at some point. Friday was spent getting caught up on some miscellaneous details. We all have plenty of those! Saturday would find me way up in Chateaugay at a memorial service. Later shopping in a favorite store in Malone. I drove up in the “Blue Bomb”. My former Ford Focus that I gave Zane that he has given back. My neighbor Mike The Mechanic has assured me that it’s road worthy again after a new timing chain and other repairs. It’s my grocery getter and farm vehicle for running errands. A new old addition to the fleet! So last week I totally romanced the road!

There’s lots of other things being planned and discussed right now. Time will reveal what happens next. Getting caught up some at the farm is a big part of that. But taking time to charge my batteries out in nature remains a priority and a place of focus. Writing and blogging often get tabled unfortunately. But my spirit energy is recharged through motion. Always staying on the move. My knee problem continues to be a serious condition. I manage with it. My life is shifting as part of my forward momentum. My beloved Adirondacks are once again a big part of the shift. Meeting Amy, a woman of the Adirondacks also part of my shift. Things have aligned in so many ways and life is busy but enjoyable in the push for adventure.

Discoveries abound in this new and exciting blend of sceneries. Life is changing fast just like the season. There’s something big happening right now! Worthy of its own blog post! They have shown themselves! The brown ghosts of May. I speak of the morel mushrooms! I found my first one of the season Friday. They now occupy my time and my refrigerator! So watch for my next post! It will showcase this special fungi and all it means to me! It’s hard to get it all written sometimes. I will try! Mornings are best for blogging! Fueled up with maple syrup infused coffee. Playing music. Enjoying the numerous birds who inundate my feeding area behind the tiny cabin. There’s always the trails amidst the trees here to explore. Sunrises and sunsets. Meals and mundane tasks to complete. There’s always time if we allow ourselves to catch our breath for a minute. That’s difficult sometimes. We are driven by a fast moving society. I am driven by other things as well. To seek and to learn. To expand my knowledge of the natural world. And to try and preserve my health and strength. I must learn to accept new ideas and new approaches. I must evolve in a sense. The old ways of my life that were harmful must go. It’s all so overwhelming if I let all those thoughts in at once.It’s all so very simple these connections to nature when I embrace that mindset and enjoy the simple things of life. Time and an older body may slow me down eventually but for now I won’t let it. I still have way too much energy to burn. 🏄🏻‍♂️🚀

Maple Syrup 2024: Pre-Launch

Posted on March 11, 2024March 11, 2024 by Greg Washburn

It’s funny how things that might have been the focus of my recent anxiety can quickly disappear.When I last posted I was preparing to hike St.Regis Mountain with a couple friends but was a little hung up on the upcoming syrup season. The hike and the good company of my friends would shake off the ghosts that day! We had an excellent time and the rain would hold off until we had finished our trek! It was super windy at the top and scary up in the fire tower! It’s a hike worthy of its own post really!

As for the remainder of my time in Saranac Lake it too is worthy of its own post sometime! Certain things were happening in a strange twist of fate and my response to the moment and the energy would place me in a flow that was totally unexpected. I spent a cold Thursday at an event at the Wild Center in Tupper Lake. I truly enjoyed my company and walking around touring the facility. At the trout tank I had an interesting photo moment! There is a story coming that I will title: What The Fish Told Me.”I left for the valley on Friday March 1st with fully recharged mental batteries.Ready to tackle my problems and my hesitation about sugaring . March 1st is a tapping day typically but conditions were less then favorable. I wiped out miscellaneous details and got settled back into the cabin. Saturday was spent troubleshooting the tractor coolant issue. I found the problem quickly! A burst bypass hose on the new water pump. We had suspected it was pretty worn but the blowout confirmed it. I got online and ordered one. To date it still hasn’t arrived! Regardless I decided to set taps on Sunday and began hanging out buckets alone. I was using the Honda side by side in place of the down tractor and it worked out well. It was pretty warm which made for comfortable tapping but didn’t thrill me with the fact that there were several super warm days coming. By days end I was way up to my neighbor’s property and had hung 150 buckets by myself! A start and a commitment.

Monday would find me tapping more with my friend Gary helping out. Tapping trees and sugaring in general was all new to him but he was totally enjoying himself! He’s very in tune with nature and finds the landscapes of Macomb fascinating. The two of us did well setting in buckets and mini tube runs up across the neighbor’s property on a string we call the “Great Northern Loop”. It’s a productive string typically and we had invested some time into building the tubing runs last year. Less buckets means easier gathers. The mini tube runs are removed after the season ends,labeled,washed, and stored away.We did a few buckets also close to the trail. We stopped for a hearty lunch of venison stew that I made with meat Gary had given me. Yum!.Afternoon would find us setting buckets and mini tube runs on the “Southern Loop” on my neighbor’s property. We had a decent day and got out 94 taps bringing the count to 244.Zane helped me get the storage tank in place in the sugar house that evening. We also had to get the evaporator pans in place plus the various pipes for the flow systems. Progress was being made and quickly!

Tuesday would Gary and I tapping on a section of my farm called the land. Buckets and mini tube runs on some big maples that survived the 2016/2017 tent worm/drought events. We also hung more buckets in miscellaneous locations along the string. The buckets that I had set Sunday had begun to fill with sap even though I considered the weather against it flowing. We used the side by side and plastic totes to do a sap gather that brought in over 100 gallons of clear sap! Not a bad start really as it was very warm! On Wednesday I went for groceries and fuel plus miscellaneous items needed for the week. I had contacted my tractor dealer Monday and had the hose I needed for the tractor expedited to their location where I picked it up. I tapped two big maples behind the barn that run mega amounts of sap most years. So with those 8 taps the count was at 358. A good number but the sap was not moving much still. I went under the lights and replaced the bad water pump bypass hose. I then proceeded to flush the coolant system with vinegar per Mike The Mechanics recommendation. It appeared that my tractor repair was successful! I went to bed rather beat but feeling like things were coming together.

Thursday would see my good friend Patrick Bourcy helping me set more taps! Remember him? He’s the creator of the Facebook group Just Go Outside and shows up in many of my blog posts. We did a variety of buckets on the growing string and mini tube taps on the ridge called Green Mountain. Our count for the day was 146 bringing our grand total to 504 taps. We were in a good place and as I stood on the top of Green Mountain a stiff cool breeze from the north would boost my spirits even further. A frost was coming that night and with all the good fresh taps we had a shot at a decent sap run! The work might just pay off!

And just like things began to change for me! Gone was the decision whether we should tap at all! We had! Gone was the anxiety about the tractor issues. It was fixed! Sure it had other issues but it was useable! I felt a rising energy within myself. Sure there was still plenty that could go wrong but we were trying to have a sugaring season and that meant everything! It didn’t matter now how things turned out. The weather was out of our control but the long range forecast was somewhat encouraging.Things were beginning to ramp up and what I was feeling was nothing new. Pre-launch is a “sit on the edge of your seat moment” like no other. A time when you question why you weren’t better prepared and ready. But such thoughts don’t help out at all. It’s best to just keep moving forward! So we will!And we do! Each and every year as our annual hobby arrives on the tail end of winter. Albeit a strange winter this year but there’s no changing that. We will make the best of everything and do our best. It’s a simple place of stubborn perseverance and resolve. The MOONTABS will tally up and we no doubt experience a most unique sugaring season. But it will not have been missed or canceled. That would be somehow wrong to me. After all someone once said: there are but a finite number of syrup seasons in a person’s lifetime. Who would write such a serious but truthful quote? Someone who values life and rural heritage perhaps. Someone who loves their hobby with a passion that borders on madness. Someone who loves to create things. Someone who knows that sugaring drives the hands and engages all 5 senses and the 6th as well. I think you know who wrote the quote. The inner voices whisper at times and fuel the inner spirit. The farm property is a place of grounding and connection. The world begs explorations and adventures but I will always be drawn back to the dripping sap drops that follow frosty nights. There is a place of blissful happiness there. But first we must launch! Things are headed in that direction. More so each day now. It is enough.✍️

Clowning Around At The Ice Palace

Posted on February 16, 2024February 16, 2024 by Greg Washburn

Mid February arrived yesterday and we have returned to winter weather. It’s actually snowing right now and we got about 5” over the night. Over the past few weeks we’ve had some unbelievably warm weather! It hit 52 degrees February 3rd. At the time of writing this the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival has come and gone. The Ice Palace lies in a giant pile of some 3000 plus blocks.Torn down and forgotten to most people. But a success story in its brief moments of glory. The warm weather had threatened it severely and it was blocked off at one point for safety reasons. It becomes a liability unfortunately and gets torn down soon after carnival. I never got to see the final palace in person as I had to get busy back here in the valley with other projects. But from the pictures it was quite the final build! This story centers on my final days of of volunteering.

Tarps were placed to protect the palace.

Patrick Bourcy and I had decided to head up to volunteer once more on Monday January the 29th. The ice palace was moving along nicely despite work being canceled on the previous Friday due to warm temperatures and heavy rain. I had stayed up to volunteer that Thursday but received the word that the build was canceled for Friday. Since my room was already booked I stayed in town and wandered downtown for some dinner. I talked to some people I knew who were out and made some new acquaintances before the evening was over. Getting most people to tell their stories is easy once you get them started! It’s an interesting part of any adventure for me. I watched a number of individuals participating in karaoke at the Waterhole before walking back to my rental. Great entertainment and some of them were very talented! I am not a karaoke singer but encouraged one fellow to get up and sing a song that I recommended. He sang Rooster by Alice In Chains. A grunge era classic and the crowd loved his performance! I made the best of my last evening there and enjoyed my walk back beside the quiet streets. Living at the farm homestead does not offer those kinds of moments. It’s nice at times just to have a little social interaction. A throwback to my former days decades ago but very different for me now. Time has changed many things. Me most of all. And I have wandered far from the story. But I wanted to try and capture a little something of the energy of the village itself. The lights of the Hotel Saranac lighting up the night sky over the town. Noisy revelers heard in several of the bars I passed on my walk back closed doors where they were busy talking about who knows what topics. There’s a certain romantic charm hanging over the village where most have settled into warm confines as I walk the streets alone to return to my own cozy space for the night. Perhaps you must experience it. Perhaps it’s just me. Distant yet part of something at the same time. That’s pretty heavy! 😂

The drive up Monday. Music and watching for deer in a blurry quick photo.

I met Patrick Bourcy Monday morning in Tupper Lake and caught up on recent news on the short drive to Saranac Lake. We had both decided to support the Creepy Carnival theme and had brought masks. He’s a big Friday The 13th fan so his Jason mask was no surprise. I had my leftover Halloween costume from my October stay at Birch’s Lakeside in Cranberry Lake from when I participated in the Halloween party there. We hit the ice prepared! Ice saw in hand and ready for action! Lots of laughs and some pretty funny photos!

The ice cutting went by way too fast it seemed. There were lots of volunteers and we were disappointed that that didn’t cut a lot more. But we had a good time and wandered over to help the ice carvers for awhile. It was a pretty warm day really so getting cold wasn’t a problem. People loved our costumes and we got in a bunch of photos!

We spent a lot of our day making slush and hauling it up to the palace. I had no interest in walking the now much higher walls. The palace was growing nicely and there was an abundance of volunteers so finding a job was challenging at times. But we managed to stay busy and the day would pass. Part of me wanted to return to finish the ice palace but I knew that I couldn’t spare anymore time there. Due to everyone’s tremendous effort the ice palace was finished on time for the opening date of Winter Carnival. Photos of the fireworks were awesome and Patrick Bourcy was actually there that Saturday with his daughter to see them.

In reflection I am very happy that Patrick and I got to volunteer with the build this year! It’s always a great time! I hope to return next winter to continue my trend. This made year 4 for me assisting as a volunteer. I’d go everyday if I could figure out how to rent the time properly. That’s hard to calculate with the weather being such a wild card. But it’s very far in the future now it seems. Or is it? Time speeds by quickly and those things that seem so far away often find us quicker then we expect. My time in the Adirondacks is the ultimate battery charging moment. Throwing energy into beautiful settings and into life changing moments. The farm homestead grounds a piece of me yet the call of the wild beckons always. Finding the balance is the goal. Perhaps I have already found it. Things can cloud the mind and hide the sun at times. Overthinking can be detrimental but focus remains important to me. I do know this: I am searching for something. Beautifully elusive and connected to nature in a grand series of invisible dots. I don’t know what waits for me out there over that next hill. Or even who will join me in this grand wander of time and circumstance. But isn’t that what awakens our spirit energy? Hope and belief in the future? The exciting arrival of new seasons and new adventures? MOONTABS continue to add up with each passing day. All kinds. Life is unpredictable. I’m happy. I’m sad. I’m just ok. Blissfully lost in simple moments or bogged down in heavy mud. But I am moving forward. Making better health decisions and following most of my doctor’s orders. (Sawing ice wasn’t on my list of rehabilitation exercises!)I can’t control many things but I can control my reaction to those things when I choose that level of resolve. Writing here on this page is a good place to settle my thoughts for a few moments in time. Remember those forests of Tazmania? That fictional destination I take you where you might get lost or be lost right about now? Don’t worry I’ll get you back! I’m wandering around there identifying trees in the forest. The snow continues to fall and add up here at the tiny cabin. What to do next…🤔✍️

The Wake-up Call

Posted on January 14, 2024January 14, 2024 by Greg Washburn

So here we are at the soon to be midpoint of January and so much has happened! So many things have and will change now. On January 1st just hours after my last post an episode occurred that I should not have ignored but I did. Post dinner I experienced rather severe chest pains but as I had no other symptoms I dismissed it as indigestion. Things settled down and I had a restful night. But Friday morning things were bad. The chest pains returned shortly after waking up and only stopped if I sat down. A walk to the warehouse and back left me seriously short of breath. I kept needing to sit down. Zane and I had already done a few things that morning. We had taken the truck and picked up some slab wood they had buzzed up for us. We were preparing to put up a mailbox also. I walked out to the road to help Zane and told him I wasn’t well. So after he drove me to the ER in Gouverneur it was determined that I needed to go to Syracuse to St. Joseph’s Hospital for a cauterization procedure. So that’s where I was from 10:30pm Friday night until about 2:30pm on Sunday afternoon. I am happy to report that I did not have a heart attack. My heart is in good condition. However I needed to have 3 stents placed in the arteries of my LAD. My RCA has some rather troubling plaque but functions beyond the placement of stents. I received excellent care at the hospital and feel fortunate to have dodged a major heart event.

So my new reality involves medication, new diet, and scheduling doctor visits. Honestly I am taking all this very seriously and will stay the course. I have come way too far in life not to heed this wake-up call! I spend a couple days recuperating at my Sister and brother-in-laws place at Black Lake next to Camp Edith. A huge wind storm knocked out power all over upstate New York and we were on generator power for awhile. They were still on generator power Thursday when Zane and I decided to move back to the farm where we had power. So after gathering up groceries, medications, and miscellaneous things we settled back into Little Red. We restarted the wood stove as the cabin had been being heated by its backup electric heat since Friday. We got pounded by heavy rains but the mild temperatures weren’t too hard to take. Zane and I resumed the mailbox project as we knew our days of unfrozen ground were about to change. He felt quite the sense of accomplishment in that small task.I knew it was because it marked a continuation of something we had started together and a move forward into the new reality. I felt it also. That strange sense of realizing that things could have ended much differently and the whole future would take different directions. I was ok. Things were going to return to normal. I just need to do my part to make that happen!

The Amazon drop box. No deliveries without it!

We had to cancel our trip to California unfortunately so that big adventure is off. We have spent our time regrouping at the farm and making plans as for the best way forward. I have suddenly become less obsessed with the cabin project as we continue to modify the space in a manner that better fits our living needs. We brought in an old metal topped table so we can better sit and enjoy meals.We added a second small fridge for all my healthy veggies and new diet items. The loft is working out for sleeping and we were smart to include it into the build. My new diet involves less cheese,red meat, and high fat foods. I hope to lose weight as I work my way back to a healthy me. The project can wait I have decided. It’s time to consider the present and how best to live in it. I can’t say what happened to me was good but it certainly wasn’t horrible. My body warned me that’s all. So here I am one week plus from the event totally reevaluating my life. It’s refreshing and I feel really good actually.

Being prepared never hurts! We may need our generator here sometime!

The last couple days have been all about small details given that another storm was coming. Groceries,generator gas, and going through things here in the cabin. We made a trip to a favorite sport shop of ours to grab some MRE’s and get some target shooting ammo. Zane and I the occasional round of skeet shooting here at the farm. Given the location it’s not bothersome to anyone. The storm hit yesterday as forecast. High winds and blowing snow throughout the night. I hunkered down and enjoyed the warm bliss of the cabin. There’s nothing like that peaceful feeling of being prepared!

Today the strong winds continued and we got more snow. There’s at a foot now and it keeps coming. It’s going to stop later but the wind is going to keep blowing. It’s feeling a lot more like January. This weather has been unbelievable in its strangeness. Black Lake is barely frozen over. All this snow will keep it from freezing properly in my opinion. I took a nice walk earlier close by. Up on the plateau behind the barn I gazed down onto Beaver Creek and wondered when it might be safe to trek there. I am going to stay clear for some time given all the fresh snow. I want to continue my “Tales of an Icewalker” series but not at the expense of falling through! So I will watch and wait. There’s other things that need my attention at the moment.

This is the last week Zane is off before his college resumes. We are going to need firewood for this cabin very soon. I also hope to put a temporary skirt around it so we can bank it with snow. I decided against a permanent skirt due to summer snakes, rodents, and the potential for moisture issues. Our ancestors frequently banked their buildings with snow. It’s the ultimate insulation if it’s abundant enough to throw up alongside your building. Living here within sight of the barn makes me think of years past. The barn was the sanctuary of our livestock. I have mentioned it in the past and there’s nothing like a patch of stormy weather to wake up those memories. I am enjoying this time here in the tiny and unfinished cabin. I hope to get my energy back soon and be able to enjoy the new me. All that restricted blood flow now makes perfect sense. It happened so slowly that I never noticed it. I’m serious about getting back to the better conditioned me. Syrup season is on the far horizon. Snowshoeing isn’t that far out either. Winter must be enjoyed while it is here. So far it’s been mostly absent but there’s still time! Time for “WHIMs”. Winter has its moments. Time for the Icewalker’s to take to their frozen avenues. Time for enjoying nature as this time plays out. It’s a time to reflect while sipping maple syrup infused coffee. Time to recharge the batteries and get back on track. Time to see the smallest details and the largest. But mostly it’s time to acknowledge the gift of life itself. To be present in the present. It’s a time for making MOONTABS!✍️