Hi steve,
We've been having the oddest weather here this summer. Weeks of high temperatures in the 90s and virtually no rain until yesterday. The damage to the creeks and rivers has been extraordinary in places. I'm hoping that the various wildlife habitats will be able to recover once we get some precipitation. I've been photographing the scene for my own records to see what happens in the next year or two.
I often think about the turtles and how lucky ours have been to be overlooked as a human food source... at least, thus far. By far, the biggest threat to the turtles up here are the roads and traffic. As more and more development takes place, the marshes are being divided by road systems and the turtles get killed, literally by the dozens in some places, as they try to cross to get to their nesting areas. I just about always try to stop to move turtles across the road when I see one out on the pavement. Unfortunately, a lot of them have already been damaged or killed by the time I happen along. Lately, I've noticed that other people are making a point of stopping to move the turtles too, so that's good to see.
We were just out scouting for new put-ins on the weekend and have found a couple of long, narrow lakes with a lot of high granite islands scattered along the length. These are often forested with spruce, cedar, or pine. Very typical rugged landscape in our part of Ontario. I think you'll know what I mean as the terrain is similar to some of lakes in the Adirondacks. I'm hoping to spend a lot of time out on the water this autumn. Quite a few friends have asked to come along for daytrips, so I think I'll be able to get out quite a bit.
Would really enjoy hearing any reports from your own paddling trips over the next while. Always sounds like such a wonderful place for paddling...but then, all rivers and coasts seem that way to me... different, but always fascinating in their own way. |
