Blue Mountain Fire Tower

This week we followed in the foot steps of Verplanck Colvin, an early Adirondack surveyor, and climbed to the summit of Blue Mountain to visit the fire tower. The difficult two mile hike climbs 1350 feet in elevation, but the views and special collection of Adirondack ecosystems made for a very worthwhile effort. The 35 foot fire tower was built in 1917, in response to forest fires in the early 1900s caused by the sparks of railroad locomotives and the massive amounts of slash left by logging. Even with a cloudy sky, the view from the tower revealed Whiteface and Marcy to the north and lake Durant to the south. Here are a few pics:

The "Halibut Whisperer"

This past weekend I joined Hairbone on a two day offshore fishing trip out of Glouster, Mass. When I was shown my cramped bunk below decks I was a little concerned about the prospects for this adeventure, but in the end we caught alot of fish and had a great time.

Here are some pics from the trip:

During one drop Harry hooked up on one that took drag and felt really big. When he called to the deck that he was hauling on a halibut the crew came a running given what a prize it would be for the boat. In the end when the fish turned out to be a foul hooked 20 lb class cod, Hairbone was given his new nickname by the crew - the "Halibut Whisperer." Here is the video:

Camp Chores

Spent the day at camp catching up on chores and ended up mowing the lawn, some clover and sprayed grasses and weeds with Round-Up. Checked the main plot and the Round-Up application from two weeks ago was a major success as it burned everything to the ground, including the invasive broadleaf plantain that I am trying to eradicate. Deer sign is abundant and the blackberry bushes are in full bloom revealing a sea of white flowers as far as the eye can see. I will be looking for volunteers to pick berries come the first week of August. Should be a banner crop. Look closely and you will see a newborn fawn at the foot of this mature doe:

Here is some video of me cutting the clover at the Firetower. The knee high clover is so lush and tender that deer are hitting it very hard:

Trolling for Lakers and Landlocked Salmon

With the exception of a break-in that cost us an old .22 and a hunting knife, things have been quiet at camp. Last weekend I began to prep the fall plots and its clear that there are plenty of deer around. This weekend, Haribone and I took his new boat up to Schroon Lake to troll for lake trout and landlocked salmon. The boat was trimmed out and equiped for the job, but alas the fish were not biting. We did land a smallmouth when we went in close to escape the gusting wind. Here is a video from the day: