Missing The Woods

 Been back here in Long Island for three weeks now and like the title of this post says,I'm missing the woods. Lately I'm starting to think that my plan to move to Arizona is never going to materialize .I always had it in my mind that I could head north to my camp as plan B  and as time goes on I'm starting to think of this as a very real possibility.Been looking at houses up in St Lawrence county on the internet.I'd rather go west where I can ride my motorcycles year round in relative comfort but the housing out where I want to head just keeps on getting more and more out of reach financially .Sometimes I think I could use my camp as a shop where I can build motorcycles and sell parts from .I could get a house 20 or 30 miles away in any direction and have a pretty good life.The real problem with this plan is the weather up north .It rains too much when it's warm enough to ride and for six months it is a frozen forest with four feet of snow or more on everything . Well,I have two years to really commit to one plan or the other. The fires and drought out west made me somewhat worried about moving to southern Arizona but it seems there is something everywhere that is a concern . I have a strong suspicion that motorcycling year round will win this battle in my mind but for now it rages on . This is my camp 

It's such a beautiful place . I've owned it 44 years now ! 

Arizona is calling , I've been working hard towards saving the money needed for a down payment on a house there and getting some motorcycles prepped for sale to lighten my load.It's a hard thing to choose but something that must be done . The wet green of the Adirondacks or the stark beauty of the desert 

Well,who knows what the next two years will bring .I may go broke or hit lotto , get organized , get some bikes and parts sold , maybe even see the price of houses drop rather that increasing like they have for the past two years. Everyday I look.I get those emails from Zillow . The one thing that is certain is that I don't want to stay here in the insanity of the New York Metropolitan Area . I'm back 3 friggin weeks and I'm already climbing the walls and missing the woods.

Late September In The Adirondacks

I always head up to my camp in late September .I love this time of year up north in the woods.Autumn comes early in the North Country and it is truly a sight to behold. After fooling around with the 1976 Dodge Aspen I finally had a car I could do the trip in.It was a long haul fixing up this car.It fought me every step of the way but in the end I got it all finished and roadworthy so off I went.The trip up went well ,No real problems to report but the voltage regulator wasn't putting out enough to run the car with everything going  .Just before dawn it started to show signs that it was letting me down.The radio quit and the lights were starting to dim.It came back to life for 15 or so minutes and once it got light out and I could turn off the lights it was all good so I just continued on my way. Made it up fine and all was just as I left it at my camp back in July when I made my last visit.The next morning I put in my spare voltage regulator and headed into Potsdam to buy a new one. Got that but never used it.The spare was working fine so it's still in the car a month later.I had my Kayak with me.Had all these plans to go into the back country but it was cold . Not really kayaking weather without a wetsuit so I never got into the water. I did have a great twelve days hiking around in all these great places and hanging out at my little piece of paradise in the mountains. Had the wood stove going most days.It got down into the upper 30'sF at night so I needed heat.I was sure glad I cut all this wood the year before.

  

 

The woods were really beautiful .I hiked on St Lawrence County trails that pretty much cover the whole county.Here are some photos of the trail off the Lake Ozonia Road .

                                                     

The next hike I took was along the west branch of the St Regis River over in Parisville off Sylvan Falls Road. This hike was more interesting with some good hills and a section along the river. Both these places were deserted which made it even better for me .No such thing as crowds up in this part of the Adirondacks .The High Peaks Areas are over run with city people  and the problems they bring with them like traffic and garbage. It has gotten so bad the state has closed off some areas and there have been articles in Adrondack Life about how the quality of the water and the trails themselves has gone down because of this huge influx of covid 19 refugees from the urban areas. Well,thankfully I'm in the forgotten part of the park where there are few tourist attractions and lots of wild open spaces.Best thing I ever did in my entire life was to buy this little place out in the middle of nowhere.I was so lucky to meet Howard  and Barbra,the previous owners on my first day of my hich hiking trip to Alaska way back in 1971.Yeah,that's how I got this place,hiching to Alaska .Well,that was 50 years ago.I bought the place in 1977 and have never regretted it for one second.It's changed over the years some,become more civilized and up to date but the area still has this charm that is almost impossible to find in most other places.The North Country of New York is a pretty special place. So back to the second good hike .I set out to go kayaking  but again it was just too raw out to be on the water with no wetsuit. Really enjoyed this place.It was rocky and hilly terrain and I was somewhat worried about my leg that is still giving me shit from the fall I took back in late December but I did ok and it actually helped doing all this hiking. Here are some photos from this hike

Every day I got out and about.I pretty much just wander around in the car looking for cool places to check out and hit the food coop at the end of the day to get fresh food. It's nice being retired up at my camp. Life is simple . Usually start the generator up in the afternoon to run the pump so I can shower with stream water.It's ice cold of course but very refreshing. While I'm showering and doing my dishes I am also charging my 12volt car battery that I run my stereo with .I can have the radio  and my MP3 player hooked up so I can get news and weather plus listen to all my favorite music at night while laying in bed.It's very comfortable buy basic in my little off the grid cabin , Kerosene lamps and lanterns , 12v car stereo with small but decent house speakers , Colman gas lanterns for when I need bright light , and , lots of LED flash lights. Sometimes the mice wake me up but they have really dropped off in numbers in the past 2 years.There must be some animal that is taking them .I do hear a pack of coyotes out in the woods that I hear carrying on late at night howling and doing their thing. They keep the mice in check I'm sure. The third hike was a bit more civilized.I hiked the trail in Potsdam on both sides of the Raquette River on both Clarkson University campus and Potsdam State  campus on the other side of the river.It was a really nice few hours on my next to the last day at my camp for 2021.Here are some photos from this hike

On my way back to my camp I stopped at the short trail to Allen Falls and walked back to the falls.This is on the west branch of the St Regis river near Parishville NY 

After leaving the falls I saw something I wanted to photograph while driving.I pulled over to turn around when all these cows came over to say hello 

After hanging out with these friendly cows I finally did turn around and went back and took this photo. These last two photos pretty much capture St Lawrence County New York  and the North Country in general . 

It sure was a good 12 days up at my camp !