For the first time in my life- I mean EVER, I think- we had a camping trip without any rain. No drizzle, no downpours, not even a sprinkle. It was a little warm, but being the beginning of July, not too surprising. A nice time!
Short and sweet hike in Fernow Forest, near Rollins Pond.
We stayed at Rollins Pond campground, in the Northwest Lakes district of the Adirondack Mountains. It was Jack’s first trip, and he had a blast! I’m very proud of him. We had only one slight hiccup, and that was after I set up my tent. I had taken him out of the ex-pen and was walking him towards the car, when he kind of sidestepped and leapt at the tent. My Mom (and Dad) who we camped with, witnessed the whole thing. We aren’t sure whether he thought it was a super-sized inflatable dog bed, and tried to jump on it? ROFL. It was really amusing. Thankfully, my trusty tent withstood the 75 lb. greyhound!
Bog near Floodwood Mountain
The first night was amazing, because our camp site was right on the water and there must have been 20 or so loons calling all night long. They have a very eery voice, halfway between a turkey gobble and wolf howl? And they are large, large birds. At one point in the night, I woke up to them howling so loudly… I looked over at Jack, and could see him very alert, ears so erect I thought they’d fly off his head! Old hat to Cliff- he slept like a champ. Of course, the boys are used to a dog door so we were up a few times, but other than that it was nice sleeping.
View from Floodwood Mountain
One morning, Jack and I climbed Floodwood Mountain, while Cliff spent some quality time at the campsite with my folks. It was a muddy, rough climb, shrouded in forest the whole way- definitely not as scenic/dramatic as climbing Bald (Rondaxe) Mountain near Old Forge but certainly steeper. We only had one little peep out at the summit, and it was crowded with another family so we didn’t stay too long.
...but long enough for "someone" to get a good drink and power nap-!
Sundown on Rollins Pond
We didn’t see too much wildlife this trip. I went out kayaking once though, and saw one of Rollins’ loons in a small inlet. As soon as I picked up my camera he ducked under water, and dove off into the murky reaches. Never saw him come up again, although I hung around for awhile. But surprise surprise, I did spot one of these, sitting far above the shore:
(Taken with my new Canon SX20 IS. Zoom wasn’t too bad. I don’t think the color is as vivid and rich as the Olympus and Kodak I tried out, but oh well. You can’t have everything, I guess.)
Pretty neat seeing such a bird, especially on the Fourth of July! He hung around for a bit preening himself before taking off into the mountains. It’s the first time I’ve really seen an eagle “in person”, in the wild!
We have one more camping trip planned for the summer- another one to the Adirondacks. This time we’ll be in the Hah-De-Ron-Dah Wilderness area, I think, farther south and central. Wishing for good weather that trip, too. 
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