Good evening, on this hot and sticky Sunday evening. 77 degrees and pretty sticky. Going to be warm evening tonight, only getting down to 66 degrees. Tommorow will be a scorcher, with temperatures expected to reach 92 degrees in the city by mid-afternoon. Lots of humidity to make the weather feel even warmer, with dewpoints pushing 70.

I ended up deciding to go to Piseco Powley Road this weekend with the temperatures expected to reach 90 degrees and preferring the increased shade and Potholers over camping at White House and driving into Wells in the daytime to fish and swim. I’d rather be in the deep Adirondack woods in this weather.

Friday night driving up to the Adirondacks was not too bad with traffic being light leaving the city but once I got to NY 5 near Rectors it started to pour and it was almost tricky driving at times. The rain mostly stopped by the time I got to St. Johnsville, and I stopped at Stewart’s to buy worms and firewood. Gathering and trying to burn wet wood is no fun. I then had to stop at Price Chopper in Johnstown to buy salsa which I forgot to buy and plates and forks to replace the ones I left home. The Hefty-brand Styrofoam plates are much more durable then the Walmart ones, you don’t end up needing to double up the plates, which ends up reducing the number you use. And they help the garbage burn just fine.

The rain had stopped by the time I got to camp but I set up a tarp to be safe. It didn’t rain at all after I got set up but the trees were shedding rain all evening. A group of people were fishing off Powley Bridge until almost 11 p.m. so I kept the music down and didn’t spend the time I would have liked staring at the stars on the bridge. Later on it didn’t matter much for the stars as it was pretty cloudy, so the stars were either really soft or non existent. Plus by then I was a pretty drunk.

The next morning was cloudy. I made up a nice breakfast of eggs and all the fixings on the grill. It was pretty good. All morning though it looked like it was going to pour. I was a bit hung over from the night before, so I didn’t get much of an early start – plus why drive all the way to Piseco if you think it’s going to rain. I saw some hunters head back to Big Alderbed. They were in camo and had shotguns slung on their backs. Struck me as unusual, but then I realized, they’re probably our looking for buck scrapes and many hunters carry long guns in NY because not everyone has a pistol permit in our fine state.

Went up to Piseco but it looked like the swimming beach at Poplar Point Campground was closed. I probably should have stopped and asked the attendant, but I figured it was getting late and I’d rather spend my afternoon paddling Big Bay off of NY 10. Piseco Lake is kind of big and choppy for kayaking and you’d have to watch for power boats. It was really a bit too chilly for swimming on Saturday with clouds and a breeze making it seem cooler than what the mercury said.

Big Bay was nice but didn’t catch any fish. I could only use the artificial lures that I had because I was out of fish hooks again. I did buy worms but without hooks they were pretty useless. Big Bay is a nice paddle, however it is shallow in many places and you will bottom out your canoe or kayak quite easily. The pointy Irondequoit Mountain on the north-side of the lake adds visual interest, as does Mud Lake Mountain and Three Sisters Mountain to the east. You can paddle Big Bay up through the narrows on the west end until it turns north, heading up to Piseco Lake. At that point boulders block the way. If the lake level was higher, you still wouldn’t be able to reach Piseco Lake as there is a small dam at the end of Piseco Lake. Campsite 3 at the end of the narrows looked quite nice. For details, see the map of Big Bay on the blog .

Got back to camp a little before 5 pm. It was kind of hot and it looked like a storm was about to come through. Got the charcoal fired up and started getting dinner set up. Discovered that I left the hamburger home. Fortunately, I packed Italian sausage from last week and had some rice to go with it along with freshly grilled mushrooms and broccoli that I got at the farmers market of Friday to go with it. Had a brief rain shower, but with the tarp up it was no big deal. Probably was over in 5 minutes.

Read some more of the Gun Guys book until well after dark. They were back fishing on the bridge but quit around 9:30 p.m., so I could once again crank up the music. The fire started good then kind of burnt out while I was reading. Found some tinder and with a quick squirt of lighter fluid was burning brightly again. Stayed up to 11 PM when I was exhausted and ready for bed.

Had another great grilled breakfast on Sunday, the same thing that I had Saturday. Eggs with all the fixings. It was a beautiful sunny morning, not too hot or humid, at least in the Adirondacks. Had a couple of cups of coffee then took down camp. Did a little shooting, until the shotgun magazine tube jammed. I got the shotgun unjammed and managed to get dirt in the muzzle after removing it and proceeding to accidentally stick it in the dirt. I wasn’t able to clean it because the solvent leaked out in my truck and I was out of solvent. Fine, I was done shooting for the weekend.

Paddled about the 1/2 mile stretch of the East Canada Creek between the beaver dams. The water level was a foot lower than last time so if I wanted to go beyond the first beaver dam downstream I would have to get out of the kayak and portage it. I hate portaging beaver dams so I skipped that and headed back. It was fine, I was running somewhat late.

Get the kayak mostly loaded up and the ropes tied, and I start tying the final bungees and rachet straps and I fall from the side of the cap step onto the ground. It’s only a two foot fall but there is a small drainage ditch somebody has dug there for a potholes in the can driveway – and I hear a loud crack – my left ankle. Sitting in the mud, I know I have a problem. I didn’t cuss or scream but I could have. Using my upper body, I pull myself into my truck seat and sit. I’m fucked I tell myself. I guess I can flag down a few passing motorist and get help tying that last set of bungees and rachet straps to the truck. After a few minutes I can put a little weight on the ankle and decide I can pull my body up to at least do the rachet strap and the bungees. I manage to get up there mostly on one foot and tie it on. I didn’t think I could do the front ropes but they are mostly for my peace of mind and to keep an eye on the kayak while driving.

I leave the campsite not doing a final sweep to look for things left behind. At the time I just didn’t have the strength to do much walking. Tightening up that final rope was tough. But by the time I got to the Potholers, by not using my foot it seemed better. I limped out of the truck, and climbed up one last time to get the front rope hooked up. I was able to climb up there one more time with my one leg and hands. I then limped down to the Potholers, and proceeded to spend some time there. I had to walk back to my truck (1/4 mile away) to get the sunscreen. I was okay, but in a little bit of pain and doing a lot of limping. The sore foot didn’t help the cooling off much. The potholers were low, and I was kind of afraid of slipping and falling on granite, being that I was doing so much limping. The water was refreshing but it’s fun when there is a bit more water going over the falls.

I drove back to the campsite and did a visual inspection to make sure I had everything. I didn’t really get out of the truck but the campsite looked fine with nothing left behind, and I knew I had my keys, and a few other critical and relatively expensive or important things in my truck. I drove home barefoot, not stopping once. My foot didn’t bother me much on the way home.

I got home and was able to again climb up with my hands to get to the roof to untie the kayak. Dropping the kayak off the roof wasn’t too difficult once I got the ropes off, I could do it by leaning against the truck and gravity doing most of the work. I didn’t actually drop it, but carefully lowered it with my hands. Granted, that’s not a good way to do it with my back, but I wanted it off because if the sprain sets in overnight, I might otherwise be stuck with the kayak on my roof for a while. Certainly you have to be tall and nimble to get it on and off.

I got things cleaned up and put away in about two hours which is longer then usual, but I was limping around. I wanted to make sure I didn’t leave out any dirty dishes or food, because again, I’m unsure of how bad the ankle will be in the morning. The stairs were mostly crawled up and down, because I could only put minimal weight on the ankle before it started to hurt like a mother.

Dad picked me up for Sunday dinner so I wouldn’t have to climb into Big Red on Monday. I could probably do it but if my ankle is really bad, it could be very difficult. After dinner it started to set up a little more and become more sore, but hopefully it will only last a couple of days. Tommorow I will go to the doctor and get an x-ray and the ankle checked out. Hopefully I will be feeling good enough to take a trip on Thursday through Sunday next week, but at this point I’m skeptical. WebMD says it only will last a few days, but it hurts something awful right now.