Summer’s eve on the Lackawaxen
by Bob Rancan
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
-Summer began four days before – days were getting shorter.
-Forecast: Showers and T-Storms til noon, possible afternoon showers.
-Water levels after a rainy week: 590 cfs at Hawley gauge, 1610 cfs being discharged from power plant at Kimbles, midday level at Rowland gauge, 2480 cfs…too high?
-Outlook – NOT a day for canoeing into the evening on the mighty Lackawaxen.
REGARDLESS, five of us met by the Zane Grey Museum at 4PM, one after running a segment of the Delaware with the Mohawks. We put 5 boats on 3 vehicles, drove up about 9 miles and got on the water by 5PM. The sky was blue with a few puffy white clouds. The water was high enabling us to glide over most of the pesky rocks. We had almost no company on the river…one fisherman and two kids on a big tube. A couple of folks waved from the shore.
Thorough enjoyment was the order of the day. We took one break and finished at 7:40PM with more than an hour of daylight to spare. Yes, the standing waves are bigger at 2450 but this time of year the splashes are refreshing. And of course there were birds – Great Blue Herons, Belted Kingfishers, Cedar Waxwings, swallows and three adult Bald Eagles, an immature Bald Eagle and best of all, a new nest in a tall pine along the river with two fledglings standing and watching us go by.
Have I mentioned that it doesn’t get any better than this? You have to always have faith that it will all come together. Thanks Al, Teri, Garrett and Dean.
Bob