PART 1 - Off to Sabattis
Friday, August 31, 2007
Ann and a group of her friends spend every Labor Day weekend in the Adirondacks camping. For as long as we've been together, they've been going to the Sabattis Scout Reservation (receiving permission to do so because the trip organizer and his brothers have done an incredible amount of work for the Reservation) and camping at a primitive site right off of Lows Lake. The Reservation itself is private property, surrounded primarily by state-owned wilderness (though there is also some privately-owned property in the vicinity.) As a result, the group Ann goes with is generally the only one actually at the site that weekend, though it is quite common to see folks canoeing, kayaking, or boating by on the lake.
I've gone up there three or four times, which initially may seem odd - after all, most of my recreational activities are focused on being outdoors and I love being in the mountains. I have to admit, that part of the weekend is very appealing to me. On the other hand... I guess I've become very attached to hot showers, flush toilets, and a comfortable bed (as opposed to cold dunks in the lake, an outhouse, and anything from sleeping on the floor of a tent to using a foam camp mattress.) They've also had a couple of years where it rained much of the weekend, and spending three days in primitive conditions cold and wet isn't an appealing option to me. The timing is also tough - right at the point where I need to mentally (and possibly physically) get prepared for another 9 1/2 months of teaching. So I always have mixed feelings about going, though since Ann enjoys it so much (and comments on how much she missed me if I don't go) I try to suck it up and go at least every other year. More recently, I've tried to find a happy medium by only going for part of the weekend... which is how Friday evening found me driving north and west into the Adirondacks (with several stops to pick up items I'd forgotten to pack) camping-bound. One big plus - the weather forecast called for great weather all weekend.
The drive out was uneventful, other than one wrong turn (which ended up being easy to correct) and very slow going for the last few miles as I tried to find the turnoff to their camp site (which I now know is called Lookout Point.) It was easy to find in the daylight, slightly more difficult at night, but finally I coaxed my Civic down the fairly rutted road to the parking area just down the hill from the campsite. (It turns out I had a very easy time of it... one of the other late arrivals ended up all turned around in the dark, went down the wrong road, and had a run-in with some overly aggressive trees, leaving dents in the front and rear of her SUV. OK, I have to admit I found it more than a bit ironic that I made it there just fine in my little low-slung car and someone in an SUV ended up having problems...)
Ann and I lugged my stuff up to the tent, then spent a while sitting by the fire before turning in. Morning would no doubt come all too soon...
JMH
I've gone up there three or four times, which initially may seem odd - after all, most of my recreational activities are focused on being outdoors and I love being in the mountains. I have to admit, that part of the weekend is very appealing to me. On the other hand... I guess I've become very attached to hot showers, flush toilets, and a comfortable bed (as opposed to cold dunks in the lake, an outhouse, and anything from sleeping on the floor of a tent to using a foam camp mattress.) They've also had a couple of years where it rained much of the weekend, and spending three days in primitive conditions cold and wet isn't an appealing option to me. The timing is also tough - right at the point where I need to mentally (and possibly physically) get prepared for another 9 1/2 months of teaching. So I always have mixed feelings about going, though since Ann enjoys it so much (and comments on how much she missed me if I don't go) I try to suck it up and go at least every other year. More recently, I've tried to find a happy medium by only going for part of the weekend... which is how Friday evening found me driving north and west into the Adirondacks (with several stops to pick up items I'd forgotten to pack) camping-bound. One big plus - the weather forecast called for great weather all weekend.
The drive out was uneventful, other than one wrong turn (which ended up being easy to correct) and very slow going for the last few miles as I tried to find the turnoff to their camp site (which I now know is called Lookout Point.) It was easy to find in the daylight, slightly more difficult at night, but finally I coaxed my Civic down the fairly rutted road to the parking area just down the hill from the campsite. (It turns out I had a very easy time of it... one of the other late arrivals ended up all turned around in the dark, went down the wrong road, and had a run-in with some overly aggressive trees, leaving dents in the front and rear of her SUV. OK, I have to admit I found it more than a bit ironic that I made it there just fine in my little low-slung car and someone in an SUV ended up having problems...)
Ann and I lugged my stuff up to the tent, then spent a while sitting by the fire before turning in. Morning would no doubt come all too soon...
JMH
