Happy Thursday!
This past week in a nutshell… Good weather! Some rain here and there. Dipped down into the 40s a couple nights. Apples on the ground, flowers turning brown. Red maples showing color around town. There's a rowdy Racoon quartet gettin' around. Drum circle at the labyrinth the other night. PARKING LOT OVERFLOW!!! This week/end the parking lot across the footbridge was overflowing! Not in a bad way, in our opinion. Definitely the busiest weekend here in the Five Ponds Wilderness all summer... this is saying A LOT since it has been full/busy all summer. Seems like a lot of folks start the CL50 in Wanakena and head clockwise towards RS; to avoid beaver activity between High Rock and High Falls. Also folks just doing the High Falls Loop and day hikes.Very aggressive mice chewing through peoples' backpacks up at the south shore high falls lean to. Supposidly there was a missing canoeist out on Cranberry Lake over the weekend. The DEC did a whole helecopter search and everything. Turns out the guy rented a canoe from Lakeside General Store in Cranberry Lake Village and decided to stay out on the lake an extra night... Someone asked the distance between the top of the river and the bottom of the footbridge… 9 ½ feet. In case you were wondering. The river is still low and getting lower. Mosquito still bite ya in the woods.
Cool and rainy weekend ahead of us! Friday looks nice. Daytime temps wont get above 70. Thunderstorms Saturday. BIG CHICKEN BBQ and CAR SHOW and MORE at the American Legion in Star Lake Saturday! This weather forecast is brought to you by Wanakena’s own PATTIJACKNAN weather team – a Wanakener garage pole mounted weather station and crew. THANKS, TEAM! This weather station can be found at: https://www.wunderground.com/weather/us/ny/wanakena/KNYWANAK8
Bridgework continues! Big work on the south shore abutment – structure going-up, up, up!!! Concrete being poured. Middle-of-the-river-crater deep! The pump keeps running to keep the river out. The traffic lights remain friendly to bikes! WOW! This project is going STRONG!!! The above photograph is taken from the north shore. You can see the OTHER temporary bridge crossing the river to the crater. The photo below is taken from the south shore.
All of a sudden: LOG AT THE BEACH. The log seems to have appeared somewhere at the beginning of the week. Monday? Perhaps Sunday? Either way. There is a log and cones. We dont know who put it there. We didn't put it there. There has been talk of folks unnecessarily parking their vehicles on the grass... most likely a direct connection there. Reminds us of those boulders someone rolled down in front of the "Wanakena Boat Launch" a couple years ago. An opinion nobody asked for: perhaps if the log-roller really wanted to do beach-goers a favor they would look *up* and notice the GIANT, DEAD white pine that looms over the family-friendly waterhole.
This past week Rene gave us a heads-up that local News Channel 7 WWNY's BLAST FROM THE PAST featured good ol' WANAKENA, NY! Check the video out, you might see some familiar faces from August 1999! Here's a link to the video------> https://www.wwnytv.com/2020/08/21/blast-past-wanakenas-footbridge/
RANGER SCHOOL IS BACK! Here’s a message from the Ranger School: The Ranger School's James F. Dubuar Memorial Forest will be closed to the public for an indefinite amount of time beginning Saturday, August 15, 2020. The Cranberry Lake 50 trail, which passes in front of the school, will remain open. This action is necessary to protect students and staff as they begin a new academic year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but it is a critical precaution as we work to ensure the health and success of the Class of 2021. Thank you for your cooperation.
Down at The Abode we remain busy during the pandemic. Lots of folks out and about hitting the woods. Can you blame them? We've got a NEW Lows Lake Paddle+Hiking Map created by Raquette River Outfitters out of Tupper Lake. It's a fantastic map! Fresh cheese curd every Friday afternoon. Camping, fishing, etc.. supplies in the shop. Grocery items and cold drinks. Gifts and goodies. HOT COFFEE! The TWENTY FIVE YEARS Microburst Exhibition remains on view. ART ON VIEW: JACK WILLIAMS PHOTO EXHIBITION. Jack Williams resides in Wanakena during the extended summer months and more times than not seen snapping shots with his camera. Jack has selected 15 photographs from his collection to be framed and on-view here at Otto’s Abode at least through Labor Day Weekend. Copies of the photos are available for purchase and a majority of the proceeds will go to the Wanakena Historical Association’s efforts concering the future Wanakena History Center. GREAT JOB, JACK! Want to show your art at Otto's Abode? Give us a shout! We'd love to work with you.
Blackwaters Café and Trading Post in Wanakena is open for pick-up/take-out Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat 11-6:30 pm. Picnic tables and port-o-john out front! Picnic tables out back by the river, too. Order though their take-out window or better yet do it online at their website www.blackwaterscafe.com
Cranberry Lake State Campground – closes **early** after Labor Day Weekend.
Someone said Packbasket Adventures is renting rooms. Stone Manor Diner and Motel in Cranberry Lake, Lakeside General Store in Cranberry Lake, UB’s Mercantile & Adirondack Rustics in Oswegatchie, Coffee Fever, Todd Hardware, Adirondack Pharmacy and Circle K in Star Lake, Mountain Gate Redemption near Benson Mines, and Sevey Point remain open for business in one way or another (open, take out, pick up, drop off, etc…). The Clifton-Fine Municipal Golf Course is open seven days a week. Post Offices are open too (Thanks, Mary!) Duck Decoy and MORE showroom open for pop-ins. “Showroom FILLED” 481 Tooly Pond Rd, Cranberry Lake – 315-848-4223. Always beautiful photography at the Wanakena Tracks facebook page. The Clifton Community Library in Cranberry Lake is open for curbside!
Hillside Diner in Oswegatchie, Twin Lakes and SOS in Star Lake remain temporarily closed.
Kim’s Lost Dog Report: As of today, there are NO lost dogs in Wanakena.
All for now!
Any questions, comments, concerns, trail condition inquiries, legends, jokes, animal sightings, etc… feel free to email otto@ottosabode.org or call 3158483008 or pop-in the shop! Wanakena Weekly archive here: http://www.ottosabode.org/p/wanakena-weekly.html
While we wait for the napkin, the soup gets cold, while the bonnet is trimming, the face grows old, when we've matched our buttons, the pattern is sold, and everything comes too late - too late. - From the poem by FITZHUGH LUDLOW (1836 - 1870)