A new appreciation for plumbing (PAH)

Dave Yates (PAH)

Just back from a week of canoeing in the Adirondacks. There's nothing like digging a "cat" hole to make one appreciate the modern plumbing we take for granted!

On Wednesday evening, we were camped at the end of Long Lake (appropriately named) and our guide was standing out at the tip of a marsh. I ventured out to see the sunset too & we decided that was the perfect spot for our evening's Roses, Buds & Thorns (group gathering to talk over the day's great events, the anticipated next day's great events and anything not liked from that day). The sun was giving us a magnificent show as it slipped below the mountains to our west, clouds were tinged with hues of red and orange. To the south, those mountains were tree covered with mist rising from the towering pine forest (recent heavy rain). To the east, a tall mountain range punched out a 3-D image as long shadows accented the numerous peaks and the sun's red tinge colored nights advance. The now calm waters of Long Lake reflected all of this beauty. One of the boys, upon arriving in this swampy environ, asked me why we chose such a spot to hold our evening R, B & T discussion. I had him turn to the west, then to the south and lastly to the east to gaze upon the wonders we were witnessing & asked him what was his question again? He said - never mind(G). Not one among them could come up with a single thorn for the day.

I felt as though we were truly in the cathedral of the Gods at that moment.

Living life in a postcard.

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Mike Kraft

Hey PAH!

Welcome home!Its great to be alive.There aint no theater like the wonders the earth provides.Enjoy the toilet:)

cheese

Art Pittaway_2

Sounds like Boy Scouts

Been there, Done that many times and loved every minute. No cell phones or distractions. Try north western Wis. in January with a lake that is frozen. The ice groans and crackels as it shifts and the moonlight reflection looks much different than in summer. Gives you a whole new appreciation for what it was like to be a pioneer. Thanks for the visual. Art

Dave Yates (PAH)

Right you are Art

A Boy Scout high adventure trip it was. My last one was some 20 years ago & an old buzzard hoodwinked me into going along so he could bow out of going on any more trips. I took the boys on four trips to Seeboomic base in Maine and one to the scuba base in the Florida Keys. Then our oldest outgrew Scouts. Afterwards, had to bide my time till Mike was born & I could re-enter the Scouting program(g).

Funny thing is, that old buzzard was the age then that I am now! The wheel has turned a full circle & I couldn't help but think of Walt this past week. He's been residing on the other side of the lawn for a few years now, but I spent time thinking of him and saying a silent thanks for his having tricked me into taking that first group out into the wilderness. I think I saw the twinkle in his eyes reflected in the night sky on those nights that were clear.

Wild blueberries were abundant in several campsites & I gathered a fistfull for my glue-stew pancakes the boys "cooked" that next morning.

They had mixed pancake batter with coffee cake mix and then added boiling hot lake water. Hint - never add hot water to a batter unless you want something akin to elmers glue for your breakfast!

Best damned uncookable pan seared blueberry pancakes I've ever had the priveledge to slurp down(G).

On another night, that night's cook spilled the beef & gravy into the fire - all we had left were the instant mashed taters! He almost got a lynching for that one. GORP came to his rescue.

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Vernon P. James

Everyday

I wake up to those same beauties. Live about 40 miles from there in Saranac Lake and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Great palce to raise children too.

ScottMP

views

I can't help thinking, how much more peacefull our world would be if more people could see that view. To many of us speed thru the day with out ever stopping to look at the beauty around us and the magnificance of this world.

Your a good man Dave. Think of the young lives you touched.

Scott

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BillW@honeywell

Adirondacks

Glad to see you liked the Adirondacks...take your scouts cross country skiing up there some winter (if we ever get one again). If you think the place is beautiful in summer, try autumn leaf season, and then winter. Driving down the Northway on a crisp fall day, all windows and sunroof open, The Moody Blues on the CD player...It doesn't get any better than that. This ex-Adirondacker misses the place.

PJO

The Adirondack Effect...

Dave,

What an excellent piece! I haven't spent much time there, except with my cousin Dan...he was the former president of the Adirondack Council which fights for environmental change/protect the park/acid rain issues, etc. He is one of the most calm, positive and peaceful people I have ever met.

He is now in Siberia, saving a tribe of reindeer herding people from extinction (yes, I am serious). The natives of the Adirondacks are hauntingly familiar to the natives of this area of Siberia, and he is doing all he can to save their way of life. He still lives in a cabin that can see Whiteface when he is in the states. The effect of his years there have undoubtably been positive, just as you Dave.

If anyone wants more information, go to www.totempeople.org and check out the biography on Dan Plumley - as well as the beautiful pictures and cool stories.

Take Care, PJO

Alan(CaliforniaRadiant)Forbes

For those of us

that are stuck in the city, we have to make do with day trips on the weekend, preferably on a mountain bike.

This is a view from Eldridge Grade looking at Bon Tempe Lake in Marin County last Saturday.

I've lived in the Bay Area for 45 years and now that I do more mountain biking, I'm amazed at all the places I've never seen before. It pays to go exploring...and you don't have to go very far.



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Dave Yates (PAH)

Plumley's Landing!

We tried to camp there on Long Lake, but the sights were already taken. Was that named for him???

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Dave Yates (PAH)

sites not sights - DOH!

Dag gonned lack of beer for a week is to blame, methinks(G).

Hey, I can't find his biography info on that site. Any idea where I can sight the info???

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PJO

Dave...

As far as I know, he's not that famous. You never know...is it a recent name change? He has done a heck of a lot for the area environmental-wise, but Dan's not the kind of guy that feels comfortable in those situations (picture Disney's Goofy character now)...."Oh gosh, Uhhh, Now I'm gettin' embarassed"!

Lucky for me (not you) I made up for your lack of beer this past week. Take Care, PJO

PJO

PAH - Plumley Update

Dave,

My cousin e-mailed back to me and said "Plumley Pond is named for Honest John Plumley, noted as the "first white man born in the town of Long Lake, New York" early in the first decade of the 1800's. A distant relation to be sure, and, as I once was, an Adirondack Guide."

He is currently in Georgia working with the Native Americans there, and is heading back to Siberia in the fall. He says the website has not been worked on for a while, and the site needs some attention. He will hopefully fix things - including the biographies - soon. If you go to the "older" pictures on the site, he's in a picture with two native women by a lake...no, he's being a gentleman! The rest of the pictures were (mostly) taken by him.

Dave, I'd like to thank you for initiating all of this...I got his updated e-mail address and "chatted" with him for the first time in months. Take Care, PJO

Dave Yates (PAH)

My pleasure Patrick

Funny how those six degrees of seperation come up so often. Turned out our guide went to the same college as my nephew & knew him quite well!

I have a picture of my Dad from WWII standing between two young native women while stationed on Makin Atoll. Nothing savage about either of those topless beauties! Grass skirts were the order of the day.

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